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87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/gwargu87 and id is 1 raw text is: 











                                   NOTE













                        Of Birdies and Bribery:

        Closing the Corrupt Pathway Between Donors'
               Checkbooks and Candidates' Pockets




                                 Fahad Khan*

                                 ABSTRACT
         Each election cycle brings about new fundraising and spending tactics, and
    with them, new public concern about the corrupting influence of money in politics.
    But while past concerns have been focused on the origins and volume of money
    flowing into the campaign sphere, the 2016 presidential election cycle raised a
    new concern: its destination. Namely, the campaign of then-candidate Donald
    Trump moved unprecedented amounts of donor money into businesses and
    vendors from which Mr. Trump himself directly profited. This practice has
    continued into his presidency. A system like this raises at least the possibility that
    large donors will donate to a campaign knowing that a substantial portion of their
    money will be going directly into the candidate's pockets, and that expectations
    between donor and candidate will change accordingly. This Note argues (1) that
    Congress should amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to prohibit these
    types of expenditures by campaigns and surrounding independent groups; and
    (2) that doing so would be consistent with First Amendment restraints on
    regulating campaign-related spending.












    * J.D., expected, May 2019, The George Washington University Law School.

March 2019 Vol. 87

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