Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Bookselling Money Magic

Ryan J. Reilly | February 4, 2012, 5:04PM

She may, famously, not be a witch, but here's a bit of money magic from former Delaware Republican Senate candidate and recent Mitt Romney endorser Christine O'Donnell: her political campaign gave $142,000 to her super PAC, which proceeded to buy copies of her book.

Federal Election Commission reports filed by her campaign and super PAC this week show that the money her campaign gave to her super PAC represents just under 62 percent of the $229,985 the PAC took in during 2011. $19,912.30 of that money went towards an August 20th purchase labeled "PAC Fundraising Non-Residual Books" from a book shop in Philadelphia.

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Michael Grimm

GOP Rep Michael Grimm: I'd Be 'Very Stupid' To Take Cash Near FBI Building

Ryan J. Reilly | February 3, 2012, 4:25PM

House Speaker John Boehner said Friday that he was "not familiar with the details" of the unfolding campaign finance scandal involving Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY). Let's bring him up to speed.

The New York Times reported this week that Grimm worked closely with Ofer Biton (a top aide to the orthodox Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto) back in 2009 to recruit the rabbi's followers to donate to Grimm's campaign. Together, they collected more than $500,000 for his campaign, helping convince Republican leaders Grimm was a viable candidate.

Now Biton is now under investigation by the FBI, which just happens to be Grimm's former employer. Grimm himself is accused of accepting a cash donation of $5,000 "near the FBI building" and three followers of the rabbi told the New York Times that Grimm or Biton said they would find ways for the campaign to accept donations over the legal limit.

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Herman Cain

CHART: Herman Cain Fundraising Spiked After Sexual Harassment Allegations

Ryan J. Reilly | February 3, 2012, 3:05PM

Herman Cain announces 'suspension' of his presidential campaign, in Atlanta, Georgia. December 3, 2011 (Associated Press)

Turns out the media firestorm over charges that former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually harassed women was pretty good for the Cain campaign's bottom line.

A TPM analysis of campaign finance data filed with the Federal Election Commission this week confirms the Cain campaign's assertion that their fundraising got a boost after Politico first reported that the National Restaurant Association reached two sexual harassment settlements with women who accused Cain of inappropriate behavior in the 1990s.

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Jan Brewer

Brewer Distances Herself From Arizona's Anti-Union Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 3, 2012, 2:19PM

Gov. Jan Brewer distanced herself on Friday from a series of Republican proposals in the Arizona Senate that could devastate organized labor in her state, saying she was never consulted on them and has other priorities.

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Mike Vanderboegh

GOP 'Sons-A-Bitches' Going Soft On Gunwalking, Says Blogger Who Broke 'Fast And Furious'

Ryan J. Reilly | February 3, 2012, 6:27AM

Mike Vanderboegh is drinking Diet Mountain Dew in the cafeteria of the Rayburn building on Capitol Hill, and he is pissed.

Not because his flight from Alabama was almost "as bumpy as [his] first marriage," nor because he almost got into a physical altercation with an "idiot street urban adventurer" outside the National Archives who said Vanderboegh looked like Newt Gingrich.

The former militia man turned gun rights blogger is angry because he thinks the Republican "sons-a-bitches" on the House Oversight Committee put on the "ultimate display of public limp dickery" during a Thursday hearing in which Attorney General Eric Holder testified about ATF's botched Operation Fast and Furious.

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Joe Arpaio

DOJ To Sheriff Joe Arpaio: See You In Court

Ryan J. Reilly | February 2, 2012, 5:24PM

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio

The Justice Department has written a very pointed letter to a lawyer for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, telling him that they'll sue Maricopa County Sheriffs Office very soon unless they go forward with negotiations to settle issues regarding the office's alleged pattern of civil rights abuses.

DOJ and MCSO officials are supposed to meet on Feb. 6, but Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin wrote in a letter to Arpaio's lawyer on Thursday that if the purpose of the meeting "is solely for you to tell us in person that you do not agree with our findings, there is no reason for us to meet."

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Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged: Part Two Will Likely Hit Theaters Right Before The Election

Jillian Rayfield | February 2, 2012, 4:02PM

Apparently gluttons for more movie critic punishment, the producers of the first Atlas Shrugged movie have announced that production on Part Two will begin in the spring.

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Schaeffer Cox

Schaeffer Cox-Linked 'Sovereign Citizen' Gets 3.5 Years For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud

Jillian Rayfield | February 2, 2012, 1:57PM

(Katherine Welles / Shutterstock)

A sovereign citizen in Washington state, who calls himself the treasurer of the "Assemblies on the Counties at Large," was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for defrauding the IRS out of more than $2.5 million.

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Jan Brewer

Brewer Pledged Cash For Immigration Fight, Instead Spent It Buying Copies Of Her Own Book

Nick R. Martin | February 2, 2012, 11:47AM

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) signing copies of her book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," in Irvine, CA in November 2011.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) launched a special fundraising political action committee in October, pledging to use the money to fight illegal immigration and take on other issues she believes in. But based on financial disclosures filed this week, she has so far used it to do little more than buy copies of her own book.

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire Republicans Fight Over How To Take Marriage Away From Gays

Jillian Rayfield | February 2, 2012, 6:24AM

The New Hampshire legislature is gearing up for a fight over whether to repeal the state's marriage equality law, but the fate of the bill will come down to how the divided Republican caucus dukes it out.

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Super PAC

The $100K Club: Presidential Super PACs Almost Entirely Funded By Six Figure Contributions (CHART)

Ryan J. Reilly | February 2, 2012, 5:47AM

Mitt Romney

Six major "super PACs" backing former and current Republican presidential candidates were almost entirely funded by massive contributions from individuals and corporations of at least $100,000, according to a TPM analysis of campaign finance data.

Take Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting but totally not coordinating with Mitt Romney: 58 donations of over $100,000 given to the super PAC made up 82.59 percent of its intake during the second half of 2011.

It shouldn't come as much of a shock that big donations as opposed to a large number of small or medium-sized donations are really what matter most to independent expenditure-only political action committees. But the numbers really demonstrate just how little moderate donations -- the kind typically touted by political campaigns proud of their grassroots support -- are playing a part in the new age of unlimited campaign cash.

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Arizona

Unions Scramble As Arizona GOP Moves Quickly On Labor Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 1, 2012, 11:54PM

Union members were searching for a way out of the wilderness on Wednesday in Arizona as the Republican-controlled Senate moved ahead quickly on several bills that could devastate organized labor in the state.

The measures caught many union leaders by surprise, being introduced on Monday night and passed in committee less than 48 hours later.

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Joseph Maturo

'Taco Mayor' On New Appointee: 'Is He Not Dark Enough For You?'

Ryan J. Reilly | February 1, 2012, 2:58PM

The mayor who responded to a federal investigation into his town's alleged abuse of Latino residents by saying he might eat tacos for dinner is back for seconds.

After a reporter with the New Haven Register observed during a long interview with East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. that the sole minority member of an eight-member committee seeking to improve the police department was Puerto Rican (while most members of the town's growing Latino community are Ecuadorian), Maturo asked why anyone would have to choose "a certain type of Latino."

"If there's a certain type of Latino that I should have picked, well then let somebody write it down on paper," Maturo said, according to the newspaper. "'I want a 5-foot-2, I want a certain sex.' You tell me what you guys want. You want me to order it?"

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Eric Massa

Long Gone From Congress, 'Tickler' Eric Massa Still Pays Wife With Campaign Cash

Nick R. Martin | February 1, 2012, 12:40PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.)

Eric Massa may be long gone from the US House, but that hasn't stopped the confessed congressional tickler from using leftover campaign cash to pay his wife a nice monthly salary.

The former New York congressman resigned two years ago amid a bizarre scandal in which he admitted to tickling and roughhousing with male staffers while insisting it wasn't sexual.

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Anthony Weiner

Report: Weiner Paid Private Investigators To Look Into Twitter Crotch Shot 'Hack'

Ryan J. Reilly | February 1, 2012, 12:30PM

A $13,290 payment to a private investigation firm for "legal services" appears on the Federal Election Commission report filed by former Rep. Anthony Weiner's campaign, a payment sources tell the New York Daily News was for an investigation into who "hacked" Weiner's Twitter account to post a photo of his underwear-clad lower torso.

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James Bopp Jr.

Citizens United Lawyer: I Hate Super PACs Too

Ryan J. Reilly | February 1, 2012, 10:38AM

The Republican lawyer on the case that arguably helped pave the way for the creation of so-called "super PACs" told TPM this week that he hopes politicians will realize that the contribution limits on their campaigns are putting them at a huge disadvantage, and will pass legislation dashing such restrictions.

An odd position for a key player in the opening of the anonymous-campaign-cash floodgates to have? James Bopp Jr. says no.

"I'm very hopeful and actually expect that incumbent politicians are going to look at themselves and say we are severely handicapped" in comparison to super PACs, Bopp told TPM, arguing that political campaigns were more accountable to voters than super PACs.

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Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon Adelson's Family Members Funded Half Of Newt Super PAC's 2011 Haul

Ryan J. Reilly | January 31, 2012, 9:53PM

Three Las Vegas residents and non-blood relatives of casino executive Sheldon Adelson who describe themselves as "self-employed" gave a combined $1 million to a "super PAC" backing Republican Newt Gingrich on the same day in December.

Sheldon Adelson reportedly didn't jump in to offer Winning The Future any help until early 2012, a period not covered by the Federal Election Commission report filed on Tuesday. But Adelson's wife's son-in-law provided $250,000 while Adelson's wife's daughters -- also "self-employed" -- tossed in $500,000 and $250,000 a piece. Their sum total accounts for nearly half of the $2,080,250 the group took in during December.

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Rick Tyler

Gingrich Campaign In Debt To Super PAC Head, Paid Newt $47K For Email List

Ryan J. Reilly | January 31, 2012, 6:05PM

Newt Gingrich's campaign, which closed out 2011 with $2.1 million to its name while carrying over a million dollars in debt, still owes $1,666.66 to Rick Tyler -- the former Gingrich aide who now runs a "super PAC" supporting his candidacy.

Figuring out a way to pay off the $1,666.66 debt owed to Tyler for "strategic consulting" might be a bit awkward since the Gingrich campaign isn't allowed to coordinate with Tyler's Winning Our Future "super PAC."

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Arizona

Tougher Than Wisconsin: Arizona Republicans Launch 'All Out Assault' On Public Unions

Nick R. Martin | January 31, 2012, 5:13PM

The Arizona State House of Representatives in Phoenix, AZ

With a sweeping series of bills introduced Monday night in the state Senate, Republicans in Arizona hoped to make Wisconsin's battle against public unions last year look like a lightweight sparring match.

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Sovereign Citizens

Jailed Sovereign Citizen Convicted For Tax Fraud, After IRS Mails $327K Refund To Prison

Jillian Rayfield | January 31, 2012, 5:39AM

A prison inmate in upstate New York was convicted on 11 counts of tax fraud after he filed -- and partially received -- tax returns worth around $890 million, using techniques he says he learned off of a sovereign citizen website.

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Hutaree

Judge: Bailed Hutaree Defendants Can Stay In Jail If They Can't Afford Trial Lodging

Jillian Rayfield | January 30, 2012, 12:08PM

Three defendants in the Hutaree militia case will not be staying in a taxpayer funded hotel for the duration of their trial, a federal judge has decided, but can instead take lodging in the local prison if they're too hard up to afford other accommodations.

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Jan Brewer

Brewer Has History Of Getting Facts Wrong

Nick R. Martin | January 30, 2012, 5:40AM

Back in 2010 as she defended her state's harsh immigration law, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) told a newspaper reporter that she was deeply hurt by the terrible names people were calling her. The worst, she said, were the comparisons to the Nazis.

"They are awful," she said. "Knowing that my father died fighting the Nazi regime in Germany, that I lost him when I was 11 because of that...and then to have them call me Hitler's daughter. It hurts. It's ugliness beyond anything I've ever experienced."

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