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Non-profit

Campaign Legal Center (CLC)

Logo (link)
Website:

campaignlegal.org
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

04-3608387
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2023):

Revenue: $21,481,014
Expenses: $17,725,339
Assets: $45,817,252
Type:

Litigation and Advocacy Organization
Formation:

2002
President:

Trevor Potter

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is an advocacy group aligned with left-of-center interests that supports strict enforcement of campaign finance laws. Campaign Legal Center attorneys track and participate in a variety of cases around the country involving campaign finance law at the federal, state, and local levels. 1

The CLC is affiliated with Campaign Legal Center Action, a lobbying and electoral advocacy group.2 Both groups received substantial funding from disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried from 2021-2022, with Business Insider reporting that Bankman-Fried gave more than $2.5 million to the Campaign Legal Center and its affiliates. 3

Background

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) was founded in 2002 at the University of Utah to advocate for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as McCain-Feingold. During that time, the CLC defended the legislation in court during the 2003 Supreme Court case McConnell v. FEC. 4 In the early years of the organization’s history, the CLC was mainly funded by Pew Charitable Trusts before later expanding its litigation practice to include other election-related activities and redistricting issues. 5

Activities

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is focused on four overarching issues: campaign finance, ethics, redistricting, and voting and elections.6

The CLC developed a Litigation Strategy Council for potential election-focused litigation. As of March 2019, CLC has been involved in almost 70 cases and actions related to election activities. 4 CLC has been involved with litigation challenging partisan gerrymandering, opposing voter ID laws meant to protect elections from potential voter fraud, supporting suffrage for released felons, and preventing the state of Texas from requiring potential voters provide proof of their citizenship. 7

In September 2022, the CLC filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging that the National Republican Senatorial Committee improperly spent funds that were earmarked for legal expenses on campaign advertisements. End Citizens United joined the CLC’s complaint, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee made a separate request to the FEC for an advisory ruling on whether the practice was legal.8

In December 2024, the CLC filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that between August and September 2024, over $1.425 million in donations from apparel company Patagonia passed through “straw donor” group, Save Our Home Planet Action, Inc. (SOHPA), towards several Democratic Party-affiliated super PACs and committees that backed Democratic campaigns including the presidential campaign of then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Such groups included Senate Majority PAC (SMP) ($450,000), League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund (LCV Victory Fund) ($450,000), House Majority PAC (HMP) ($450,000), Future Forward PAC (FF PAC) ($50,000), and the PAC for America’s Future (also known as Future Now Fund) ($50,000).  9

On March 5, 2025, CLC announced on its X (formerly Twitter) account it was suing technology entrepreneur Elon Musk as well as the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) due to claims they were “unconstitutionally acting beyond their power to slash the federal budget, fire federal workers and threaten executive agencies.” 10

In April 2025, CLC advocated that the U.S Congress reject the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. In a statement, the group claimed, “Under this legislation, millions of voters would face unnecessary hurdles when trying to register, mail and online voter registration would be disrupted, harmful voter purges would be mandated, and nonpartisan election workers would face severe criminal penalties while trying to do their jobs.” 11

In May 2025, CLC filed a lawsuit with the Wisconsin Supreme Court challenging the state’s congressional map. The group argued “the current congressional map in the state lacks population equality among the eight congressional districts in violation of the bedrock one-person, one vote principle.” 12

In May 2025, CLC argued for the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold birthright citizenship following the second Trump administration’s executive order disqualifying the children born of two illegal immigrants from receiving birthright citizenship. 13

In August 2025, CLC joined Public Citizen and Common Cause in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in support of the Johnson Amendment, which forbids 501(c)(3) organizations including churches from engaging or supporting candidates for elections while accepting tax deductible contributions. The group claims that the amendment “prohibits wealthy special interests from using charities to engage in secret spending and receive a tax write-off in the process.” 14

In September 2025, CLC opposed a series of bills which would increase federal oversight over the District of Columbia and expand federal law enforcement presence in the city. The group also supports D.C. statehood and demanded that Congress move towards that goal. 15

In September 2025, CLC announced a lawsuit on behalf of a group of Missouri voters in the Fifth Congressional District against the state’s mid-decade redistricting process. The proposed redistricting map the state adopt would split the district into three separate districts. CLC alleged that the redistricting plan would violate Missouri’s constitution since it does not explicitly authorize mid-decade redistricting. 16

Leadership and Staff

Trevor Potter is president of the Campaign Legal Center (CLC). Potter previously served as general counsel for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in his 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Prior to his work for the McCain campaign, Potter was a partner at Wiley Rein & Fielding and served as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) from 1991-1996. 17

Adav Noti is executive director of the CLC. He previously worked in the general counsel’s office at the FEC and was a special assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.18

Courtney McKay is the interim vice president, communications at the CLC. Previously, she led all communications and marketing efforts for a Washington, D.C.-based trade association. 19

Jo Deutsch is the director of federal advocacy at the CLC. She was formerly president of the lobbying firm Deutsch Initiatives Group, and the federal director of Freedom to Marry. She has also worked with labor unions including the Association of Flight Attendants, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the United Food and Commercial Workers.20

Brent Ferguson is senior legal counsel, voting rights at the CLC. He was previously senior counsel at the National Redistricting Foundation, and counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice.21

Alice Huling is the director of voting rights litigation at the CLC. She was previously counsel at the Campaign for Accountability from 2018 to 2020.22

Brendan Quinn is senior manager of media relations at the CLC. He previously held editorial and press relations roles at OpenSecrets.23

Kelsey Rogers is senior manager, state advocacy at the CLC. She previously held communications and legal positions at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and was involved in former President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. 24

Anna Baldwin is the director, voting rights litigation. Prior to joining CLC, she worked for 14 years in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. 25

Blair Bowie is director of the Restore Your Vote. Previously, she worked for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group as its Democracy Advocate. 26

Financials

On its 2023 tax returns, the Campaign Legal Center reported total revenues of $21,481,014, expenses of $17,725,339, and net assets of $43,368,869. 27

Notable Funders

The CLC was originally funded by Pew Charitable Trusts, but has over time received donations from more overtly left-of-center organizations. 4

Notable funders of the Campaign Legal Center have included:

The CLC has reported receiving donations from the Wyss Foundation, a private foundation established by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss.36 In 2021, the right-of-center group Americans for Public Trust filed a complaint with the FEC, asking for an investigation into whether Wyss, as a foreign national, had improperly contributed to American political campaigns. The complaint argued that Wyss may have “indirectly funded federal electoral advocacy through his nonprofit organizations, the Wyss Foundation and the Berger Action Fund. The intended recipient of these funds was ultimately a variety of organizations whose primary purpose is to engage in electoral advocacy.”37 In 2019, the CLC submitted testimony to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) opposing an IRS proposed rule that would stop requiring certain nonprofits, such as those organized under Section 501(c)(4), to disclose the identities of their donors on Schedule B of their Form 990. Among other things, the CLC argued that doing so “would effectively invite illegal foreign spending in U.S. elections.”38

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Donations

Between 2021 and 2022, the CLC received over $2.5 million from now-disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, who was later charged with multiple fraud offenses after his crypto-currency company FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. 39 40 According to CLC spokesperson Brendan Quinn, CLC was unable to return Bankman-Fried’s donations because the money had already been spent. 39 Quinn explained that the CLC would not consider sending back a similar amount that was donated because “when a campaign is asked to disgorge an already-spent contribution, it generally does so by giving an equivalent amount to a charity. CLC is a charity.” 39

Quinn later released a statement which confirmed that on December 16, 2022, the CLC board had voted to place the $2.5 million in donations it had received from Bankman-Fried into a separate account “until instructions are received from bankruptcy courts.” 41 Quinn’s statement further explained that the CLC had accepted the donations by Bankman-Fried “after careful vetting,” 41 which included consulting and discussing the matter with similar nonprofit organizations that had “vouched for his apparent legitimacy at the time.” 41 Quinn conceded that the allegations and charges against Bankman-Fried did “betray C.L.C.’s mission.” 41

In December 2022, Business Insider reported that Bankman-Fried “almost single-handedly funded” the Campaign Legal Center’s 501(c)(4) affiliate Campaign Legal Center Action in 2021. Bankman-Fried reportedly gave $760,000 to Campaign Legal Center Action that year, and tax filings reviewed by Business Insider revealed that this “amounted to more than 95% of CLC Action’s revenue for that year and roughly 94% of its expenses.” Bankman-Fried also reportedly gave $300,000 to Campaign Legal Center Action in 2022.42

References

  1. “About CLC.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/about.
  2. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Campaign Legal Center. 2022. Schedule R.
  3. Brent D. Griffiths and Dave Levinthal. “Sam Bankman-Fried Funded More than 90% of a Leading DC Ethics Group’s Political Arm in 2021.” Business Insider. December 29, 2022. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-funded-90-of-campaign-legal-centers-political-arm-2022-12
  4. Rojc, Philip. “Litigating for Democracy: Who’s Backing the Lawyers Defending U.S. Electoral Institutions?” Inside Philanthropy. March 05, 2019. Accessed March 06, 2019. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/3/5/litigating-for-democracy-whos-backing-the-lawyers-defending-us-electoral-institutions.
  5. “About CLC.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://campaignlegal.org/about.
  6. “Our Issues.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 9, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/issues
  7. “Cases & Actions.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://campaignlegal.org/cases-actions.
  8. Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein. “Watchdog Group Accuses Senate G.O.P. Campaign Arm of Breaking the Law.” The New York Times. September 21, 2022. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/us/politics/fec-complaint-republican-campaign-finance.html
  9. Vogel, Kenneth P. (@kenvogel). “NEW @FEC COMPLAINT: @Patagonia or its executives used a dark money group to mask $1.425m in donations to super PACs backing @KamalaHarris & Democratic congressional candidates, @CampaignLegal suggests, asking the FEC to investigate.”  X, December 9, 2024. https://x.com/kenvogel/status/1866193783693480293.
  10. Campaign Legal Center (@Campain Legal). “BREAKING: Campaign Legal Center is suing Elon Musk and DOGE for unconstitutionally acting beyond their power to slash the federal budget, fire federal workers and threaten executive agencies. These actions are causing real harm to everyday Americans. We’re suing to stop it.” X, March 4, 2025. https://x.com/CampaignLegal/status/1897365247935308011
  11. “CLC Urges Congress to Reject the Save Act, Which Threatens the Freedom to Vote.” Campaign Legal Center, April 9, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/clc-urges-congress-reject-save-act-which-threatens-freedom-vote.
  12. “Campaign Legal Center Files Lawsuit Seeking a Fair Congressional Map in Wisconsin.” Campaign Legal Center, May 8, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/campaign-legal-center-files-lawsuit-seeking-fair-congressional-map-wisconsin.
  13. “CLC Urges the Courts to Uphold the Constitutionality of Birthright Citizenship.” Campaign Legal Center, May 14, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/clc-urges-courts-uphold-constitutionality-birthright-citizenship.
  14. “CLC Joins Partners in Defending the Johnson Amendment.” Campaign Legal Center, August 14, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/clc-joins-partners-defending-johnson-amendment.
  15. “Campaign Legal Center Urges Oversight and Government Reform Committee to Respect D.C. Residents’ Right to Local Control and to Full Democracy.” Campaign Legal Center, September 9, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/campaign-legal-center-urges-oversight-and-government-reform-committee-respect-dc.
  16. “Missouri Voters Challenge Mid-Decade Redistricting Effort.” Campaign Legal Center, September 12, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/missouri-voters-challenge-mid-decade-redistricting-effort.
  17. “Trevor Potter.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 8, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-potter-9336354.
  18. “Adav Noti.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 10, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/staff/adav-noti
  19. “Courtney McKay.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/courtney-mckay.
  20. “Jo Deutsch.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 10, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/staff/jo-deutsch
  21. “Brent Ferguson.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 10, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/staff/brent-ferguson
  22. “Alice Huling.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 10, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/staff/alice-huling
  23. “Brendan Quinn.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 10, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/staff/brendan-quinn
  24. “Kelsey Rogers.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 10, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/staff/kelsey-rogers
  25. “Anna Baldwin.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/anna-baldwin
  26. “Blair Bowie.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/blair-bowie.
  27. “Campaign Legal Center Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/43608387/202442719349300044/full.
  28. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Sherwood Foundation. 2018-2022. Part XIV.
  29. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Sandler Foundation. 2016-2022. Schedule I.
  30. “Grant Search.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed April 9, 2024. Available at: https://www.macfound.org/grants/?q=%22campaign%20legal%20center%22
  31. “Grants.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed April 9, 2024. Available at: https://hewlett.org/grants/?keyword=campaign%20legal%20center&sort=relevance&current_page=1
  32. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2022. Part XIV.
  33. “Grants Database.” Democracy Fund. Accessed April 9, 2024. Available at: https://democracyfund.org/for-partners/grants-database/?fwp_grants_search=%22campaign%20legal%20center%22
  34. “Grants Database.” Ford Foundation. Accessed April 9, 2024. Available at: https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?search=campaign+legal+center
  35. “Awarded Grants.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed April 9, 2024. Available at: https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=%22campaign+legal+center%22
  36. “Individual and Institutional Donors.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed April 10, 2024. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/about/support/individual-donations
  37. Melissa Klein. “Watchdog Calls for Probe Into Swiss Billionaire’s US Political Spending.” New York Post. May 15, 2021. Available at: https://nypost.com/2021/05/15/watchdog-calls-for-probe-into-swiss-billionaires-political-spending/
  38. “Comments on IRS Reg-102508-16: “Guidance Under Section 6033 Regarding the Reporting Requirements of Exempt Organizations.” Campaign Legal Center. December 5, 2019. Available at: https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/CLC%20comments%20IRS%20Reg-102508-16.pdf
  39. Levinthal, Dave. “Sam Bankman-Fried gave $2.5 million to a leading political ethics watchdog. The group says it can’t give the money back because officials already spent it.” Insider, December 8, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-sbf-donation-contribution-charity-campaign-legal-center-2022-12 
  40. Sundar, Sindhu. “The criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried carry big penalties and jail time if proven, legal experts say.” Business Insider, December 15, 2022. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/the-criminal-charges-against-sam-bankman-fried-carry-big-penalties-and-jail-time-if-proven-legal-experts-say/ar-AA15ko0C
  41. Vogel, Kenneth P. and Ken Bensinger. “U.S. Scrutinizes Political Donations by Sam Bankman-Fried and Allies.” New York Times, December 17, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/us/politics/sam-bankman-fried-political-donations-doj.html
  42. Brent D. Griffiths and Dave Levinthal. “Sam Bankman-Fried Funded More Than 90% of a Leading DC Ethics Group’s Political Arm in 2021.” Business Insider. December 29, 2022. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-funded-90-of-campaign-legal-centers-political-arm-2022-12
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: August 1, 2002

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2023 Dec Form 990 $21,481,014 $17,725,339 $45,817,252 $2,448,383 N $19,300,677 $925,807 $1,247,313 $703,779
    2022 Dec Form 990 $25,659,692 $13,166,031 $42,141,820 $2,803,512 N $25,025,910 $399,703 $229,858 $579,555
    2021 Dec Form 990 $17,926,280 $11,047,025 $28,094,369 $1,249,722 N $17,712,936 $150,406 $25,457 $390,833
    2020 Dec Form 990 $15,501,191 $9,929,583 $22,291,468 $2,326,076 N $15,470,645 $4,988 $22,990 $435,364
    2019 Dec Form 990 $14,267,384 $7,430,324 $15,604,714 $1,210,930 N $13,974,789 $185,422 $22,316 $395,014 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $7,993,154 $6,015,755 $7,770,884 $214,160 N $7,838,886 $82,764 $18,612 $365,807 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $5,729,054 $4,833,452 $5,809,071 $229,746 N $5,715,840 $0 $9,281 $543,605 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $4,901,437 $3,262,688 $4,848,444 $164,721 N $4,884,587 $0 $7,402 $489,912 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $1,799,003 $2,153,587 $3,138,246 $93,272 N $1,785,059 $0 $4,790 $392,259 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $4,140,185 $1,924,465 $3,468,899 $69,341 N $4,127,881 $2,250 $3,656 $713,894 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,480,253 $1,481,011 $1,242,703 $58,865 N $1,459,353 $13,031 $2,649 $480,708 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $1,623,919 $1,132,047 $1,225,131 $40,535 N $1,606,217 $11,650 $2,359 $407,699 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $837,545 $1,107,705 $743,732 $51,008 N $833,488 $0 $4,057 $282,251 PDF
    2010 Dec Form 990 $706,227 $1,183,258 $1,008,523 $45,639 N $526,354 $167,025 $12,848 $361,317 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Campaign Legal Center (CLC)

    1411 K ST NW STE 1400
    WASHINGTON, DC 20005-3404