The Campaign Legal Center is an advocacy group aligned with left-of-center interests that supports strict enforcement of campaign finance laws. 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.
Background
The CLC was founded in 2002 at the University of Utah with the purpose to advocate for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as McCain-Feingold. During that time, the CLC actively defended the legislation in court during the 2003 Supreme Court case McConnell v. FEC. 1 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. 2
Political Activities
After initial branding as a bipartisan organization, the CLC developed a Litigation Strategy Council for potential election-focused litigation. As of March 2019, the CLC has been involved in almost 70 cases and actions related to election activities. 3
As of March 2019, the CLC is involved in arguing against the practice of “partisan gerrymandering” in the Supreme Court case Gill v. Whitford. 4 Other cases that the CLC has advocated on include fighting against voter ID laws meant to protect elections from potential voter fraud, suffrage for released felons, and preventing the state of Texas from requiring potential voters provide proof of their citizenship.5
In 2020, CLC co-signed a letter addressed to president Donald Trump which advocated for hiring Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioners to reach quorum and to enforce election laws.
Leadership
Trevor Potter
Trevor Potter serves as president of 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 later served as a commissioner on the FEC from 1991-1996. 6
Jason Jaffery
Jason Jaffery serves as the chief development officer of the CLC. Jaffery previously worked as the director of development at the left-of-center Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). For seven years, Jaffery was the development director for another left-wing organization, the ACLU of Ohio Foundation, but later moved to the Aspen Institute and then the Democracy Collaborative. 7
Funding
Major Donors
The CLC was originally funded by Pew Charitable Trusts, but has over time received donations from more overtly left-of-center organizations. 8 Some of the major donor organizations include the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, ActBlue, the MacArthur Foundation, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, and NEO Philanthropy’s State Infrastructure Fund. Pierre Omidyar, the left-wing founder of eBay, also donates to the CLC through various foundations.
Institutional Doners
The CLC website includes a list of institutional donors. 9
- Actblue
- American Constitution Society
- Apple Employee Matching Gift Program
- Laura and John Arnold Foundation
- Atlantic Philanthropies
- Anne & Don Ayer Charitable Foundation
- The William Backer Foundation
- The Battery Foundation
- BayTree Fund
- Bessemer National Gift Fund
- The Blue Heron Charitable Fund
- BMO Charitable Fund Program
- Brach Family Fund of the Tides Foundation
- Brico Fund
- Bright Funds Foundation
- The Brokaw Family Foundation
- California Forward
- The Carroll and McNally Charitable Fund
- Center for Biological Diversity
- The Chase Family Philanthropic Fund
- Chockstone Fund of Marin Community Foundation
- Clark Philanthropic Fund
- Community Foundation of Louisville
- Common Concerns
- Cow Hollow Fund
- Democracy Fund
- Democracy Fund Voice
- The Eacho Family Foundation
- Edwards Family Fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation
- The Evergreen II Fund of the Northern Trust
- FairVote
- Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
- Ford Foundation
- Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust
- Georgetown Law Center
- Gilfoyle-Ma Charitable Fund
- Amy P. Goldman Foundation
- Horace Goldsmith Foundation
- Google Vouchers
- Grassroots Comedy
- The Green Street Foundation of San Francisco
- Harwood Family Fund
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- Jonathan Holman Charitable Fund
- Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation
- Impact Fund
- Institute of International Education
- Issue One
- The Jeffrey Family Fund of the Community Foundation of New Jersey
- Moritz Jenkins Charitable Fund
- Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
- Joyce Foundation
- David Kadish and Michael Norton Charitable Gift Fund
- The Kenswil/Holler Donor-Advised Fund
- Kirshenbaum/ Slater Family Charitable Fund
- The Klarman Family Foundation
- Paul H. Klingenstein and Kathleen R. Bole Family Fund
- The Kolar Foundation of Buckley Sandler LLC
- Leadership Conference Education Fund
- Leaves of Grass Fund
- Leon Fund II of the Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- The Robert Matlock Fund
- The McCullers Family Fund
- The Clement & Linda McGillicuddy Fund
- DJ McManus Foundation Inc.
- Mertz Gilmore Foundation
- Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust
- Network for Good
- New York Community Trust
- The Next Generation Foundation
- Open Society Foundations
- The Oran Kessler Family Charitable Fund
- The Polaner Family Charitable Fund
- Marc and Tracy Porosoff Charitable Fund
- Present Progressive Fund
- The Jerold J. and Majorie N. Principato Foundation
- Prudential Financial Inc
- Puri-Punian Family Charitable Fund
- Qualcomm Matching Grant Program
- Red House Fund
- Reed Family Foundation
- Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc.
- Resources Legacy Fund
- Rockefeller Brothers Fund
- Rockefeller Family Fund
- The Samarth Foundation
- Sandler Foundation
- Scott Sandler Charitable Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund
- Schmeltzer MLJ Charitable Fund
- Schwab Charitable
- The Sedgwick Family Charitable Trust
- Shames Family Foundation
- The Shewood Foundation
- Shute, Mihaly, & Weinberger LLP
- Skadden Fellowship Foundation
- SLC Giving Fund
- Kevin W. Smith Charitable Fund
- Soltani-Plotz Charitable Fund
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- State Infrastructure Fund of NEO Philanthropies
- Susi and Dick Stoll Charitable Fund
- Stuart Family Foundation
- Sustainable Grantmaking Partners Fund
- Thornburg Foundation
- University of Guam
- University of Pennsylvania Law Review
- Vanguard Charitable
- Vmware Foundation
- The Adam J. Weissman Foundation
- Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
- The West Bend Matching Gift Program
- The Yentis Foundation
- The Susan Zappone and Mitchell Bacharach Fund
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Political Donations
Between 2021 and 2022, the CLC had received over $2.5 million from crypto-based entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, whom as of December 2022 is being charged with multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy following his crypto-currency company FTX filing for bankruptcy in November 2022. 10 11 According to CLC spokesperson Brendan Quinn, CLC is unable to return Bankman-Fried’s donations because “the money is already spent.” 12 but according to Quinn 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.” 13
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.” 14 Quinn’s statement further explained that the CLC had accepted the donations by Bankman-Fried “after careful vetting,” 15 which included consulting and discussing the matter with similar nonprofit organizations that had “vouched for his apparent legitimacy at the time.” 16 His statement, however, also conferred that the allegations and charges against Bankman-Fried did indeed “betray C.L.C.’s mission.” 17
References
- 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.
- “About CLC.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://campaignlegal.org/about.
- 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
- “About CLC.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://campaignlegal.org/about.
- “Cases & Actions.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://campaignlegal.org/cases-actions.
- “Trevor Potter.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 8, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-potter-9336354.
- “Jason Jaffery.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 8, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-jaffery-b604a46.
- 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.
- “Foundation & Institutional Donors.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed March 07, 2019. https://campaignlegal.org/about/support/institutions.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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