How the GOP used Twitter to stretch
election laws
Republicans and outside groups
used anonymous Twitter accounts to share internal polling data ahead of the
midterm elections, CNN has learned, a practice that raises questions about
whether they violated campaign finance laws that prohibit coordination. The
Twitter accounts were hidden in plain sight. The profiles were publicly
available but meaningless without knowledge of how to find them and decode the
information, according to a source with knowledge of the activities. The
practice is the latest effort in the quest by political operatives to exploit
the murky world of campaign finance laws at a time when limits on spending in
politics are eroding and regulators are being defanged. The law says that
outside groups, such as super PACs and non-profits, can spend freely on
political causes as long as they don't coordinate their plans with campaigns.
Sharing costly internal polls in private, for instance, could signal to the
campaign committees where to focus precious time and resources.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/17/politics/twitter-republicans-outside-groups/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Posting the information on
Twitter, which is technically public, could provide a convenient loophole to
the law, or could run afoul of it. At least two outside groups and a Republican
campaign committee had access to the information posted to the accounts,
according to the source. They include American Crossroads, the super PAC founded
by Karl Rove; American Action Network, a nonprofit
advocacy group, and the National Republican Congressional Committee,
which is the campaign arm for the House GOP.
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