52 U.S.C. § 30101(8)(A)
were the secret payments, in fact, “contributions” subject to federal regulation? FECA’s definition of “contribution” in 52 U.S.C. § 30101(8)(A) includes “any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything of value made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office.” Importantly, there is no requirement that a “contribution” be labeled as such or that the money actually pass through a campaign’s coffers: a third-party’s payment of a candidate’s campaign or personal expense qualifies as a “contribution,” except where “the payment would have been made irrespective of the candidacy” (11 C.F.R. § 113.1(g)(6)). Candidates may spend personal funds to support their campaign—and, importantly, these contributions are not subject to the $2,700 per person per election limit applicable to other donors (52 U.S.C. § 30116)—but these contributions still must be disclosed (11 C.F.R. § 104.3(a)(3)(ii)) and properly reported on FEC filings.
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In response to this post by MasterRusty)
Link: https://blog.harvardlawreview.org/the-coming-storm-hush-money-and-the-federal-el
Posted: 07/20/2018 at 12:25PM