Ellen Weintraub

Last updated

Ellen Weintraub
Ellen Weintraub - Collision 2023 - Future Societies AL7I8176 (53005972199) (cropped).jpg
Weintraub in 2023
Chair of the Federal Election Commission
In office
January 1, 2019 –December 31, 2019
Preceded byKarl Sandstrom
Personal details
Born1957 (age 66–67)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party Democratic
SpouseBill Dauster
Education Yale University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Ellen L. Weintraub is an American attorney who serves as a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission.

Contents

Career

Ellen Weintraub began her career in private practice as a litigator with the New York firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel. [1] Weintraub was then counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for the U.S. House of Representatives (the House Ethics Committee), where she advised members on investigations. [2] She focused on implementing the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)  101–194) and subsequent changes to the House Code of Official Conduct. She also served as editor in chief of the House Ethics Manual and as a principal contributor to the Senate Ethics Manual. Weintraub subsequently returned to private practice as counsel at Perkins Coie LLP, where she was a member of its Political Law Group. There, she counseled clients on federal and state campaign finance laws, political ethics, nonprofit law, and lobbying regulation. During the election contest arising out of the 1996 election of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Weintraub served on the legal team that advised the Senate Rules Committee.

Weintraub received a recess appointment to the Federal Election Commission on December 6, 2002, and took office on December 9, 2002. [3] She was renominated on January 9, 2003, and confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on March 18, 2003. Shortly after her arrival at the FEC, Weintraub was elected Chair of the Commission for 2003. She is the third woman to serve on the Commission, following Republicans Lee Ann Elliott and Joan Aikens. [2] In June 2008, two more women, Democrat Cynthia L. Bauerly and Republican Caroline C. Hunter, joined Weintraub on the Commission. [4]

Weintraub has been vocal about the need for strong regulations in campaign finance - especially to curb "soft money" influences and upholding governmental authority to deter corruption in election campaigns. [5]

In July 2013, while Weintraub was serving as Chair, the Commission ruled that legally married same-sex couples must be treated the same as opposite-sex couples under election law. [6]

In March 2016, following the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United v. FEC, Weintraub published an op-ed in the New York Times where she expressed the dangers of foreign national interests - by way of corporations, who most likely have international shareholders - intruding upon American politics via campaigning. [7] She also appeared before Judiciary Committee in February 2020 to testify about Citizens United on campaign finance, opining for regulations on super PACs. [8]

In February 2017, Weintraub called on President Donald Trump to reveal his evidence of voter fraud after the president claimed that it caused him and former Senator Kelly Ayotte to lose in New Hampshire in the 2016 U.S. election. [9] “The scheme the President of the United States alleges would constitute thousands of felony criminal offences under New Hampshire law,” Weintraub said in a statement printed on FEC letterhead. [10] As a result, an organization funded by the Koch brothers, Cause of Action, issued a statement calling for her to be investigated for ethics violations. [11] [12] Weintraub subsequently defended her actions and maintained that the alleged fraud would constitute a violation of federal campaign finance laws, which is germane to her position as a FEC commissioner. [13] After Trump repeated these claims at an August campaign rally in 2019, Weintraub wrote a letter asking Trump to produce evidence of his assertions. [14] [15]

During 2017, Weintraub championed greater disclosure of political ads on the internet, and helped move the FEC to open a rulemaking on the matter with bipartisan support. [16] On December 18, 2018 she was once again elected Chair. [17]

Weintraub's term ended April 30, 2007, but she continues in office until her successor takes office. [18] [19] She is not eligible for reappointment.

Personal life

Weintraub is married to Bill Dauster (former director of policy for Senator Chris Van Hollen and former legislative director for Senator Russ Feingold). [20] She is a Reform Jew. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Election Commission</span> United States independent regulatory agency that regulates federal elections

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act, the commission describes its duties as "to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act</span> 2002 American law regulating political campaigns

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA, is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ). The law became effective on 6 November 2002, and the new legal limits became effective on January 1, 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Election Assistance Commission</span> American government agency

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). The Commission serves as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration. It is charged with administering payments to states and developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment. It is also charged with developing and maintaining a national mail voter registration form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kris Kobach</span> American lawyer and politician (born 1966)

Kris William Kobach is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the attorney general of Kansas since 2023. He previously served as the 31st secretary of state of Kansas from 2011 to 2019. A former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach rose to national prominence over his support for immigration controls, including involvement in the implementation of high-profile anti-illegal immigration ordinances in various American cities. Kobach is also known for his calls for stronger voter ID laws in the United States, reinstating the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, and his advocacy for anti-abortion legislation. He has made claims about the extent of election fraud in the United States that some studies and media have said are unsubstantiated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans von Spakovsky</span> American lawyer

Hans Anatol von Spakovsky is an American attorney and a former member of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). He is the manager of The Heritage Foundation's Election Law Reform Initiative and a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. He is an advocate for more restrictive voting laws. He has been described as playing an influential role in making concern about voter fraud mainstream in the Republican Party.

James Bopp Jr. is an American conservative lawyer. He is most known for his work associated with election laws, anti-abortion model legislation, and campaign finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States presidential election</span> 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket, businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state and First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton and the junior senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine, in what was considered one of the biggest political upsets in American history. It was also the fifth presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in 1860, 1904, 1920, 1940, and 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew S. Petersen</span> American attorney (born 1970)

Matthew Spencer Petersen is an American attorney who served as a member of the United States Federal Election Commission. In 2017, he was nominated by President Donald Trump to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Petersen withdrew his nomination following a confrontational exchange with Senator John Kennedy during his confirmation hearing. On August 26, 2019, Petersen announced his resignation from the FEC, effective August 31. In September 2019, Petersen joined the law firm Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky as a partner where he practices political law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline C. Hunter</span> American government official (born 1971)

Caroline Critchfield Hunter is a former Republican member of the United States Federal Election Commission. She was appointed in June 2008, and served as chair in 2012, 2018, and 2020. On June 26, 2020, she resigned from the FEC, effective July 3, 2020, leaving the FEC without a quorum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign Legal Center</span> American nonprofit organization

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) government watchdog group in the United States. CLC supports strong enforcement of United States campaign finance laws. Trevor Potter, former Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission, is CLC's founding president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Ravel</span> American attorney (born 1949)

Ann Miller Ravel is an American attorney who was a Democratic Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an independent regulatory agency created by Congress to administer and enforce campaign finance law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 United States Senate election in Hawaii</span>

The 2018 United States Senate election in Hawaii took place on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono ran for reelection to a second term. Hirono ran unopposed in her party's primary and was easily reelected, defeating Republican challenger Ron Curtis. She won the highest vote percentage of any U.S. Senate candidate in 2018. This election was the fifth consecutive cycle in which a senate election was held in Hawaii after elections in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Voter impersonation, also sometimes called in-person voter fraud, is a form of electoral fraud in which a person who is eligible to vote in an election votes more than once, or a person who is not eligible to vote does so by voting under the name of an eligible voter. In the United States, voter ID laws have been enacted in a number of states by Republican legislatures and governors since 2010 with the purported aim of preventing voter impersonation. Existing research and evidence shows that voter impersonation is extremely rare. Between 2000 and 2014, there were only 31 documented instances of voter impersonation. There is no evidence that it has changed the result of any election. In April 2020, a voter fraud study covering 20 years by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found the level of mail-in ballot fraud "exceedingly rare" since it occurs only in "0.00006 percent" of individual votes nationally, and, in one state, "0.000004 percent — about five times less likely than getting hit by lightning in the United States."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity</span> Presidential commission created by President Donald Trump in 2017

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, also called the Voter Fraud Commission, was a Presidential Commission established by Donald Trump that ran from May 11, 2017, to January 3, 2018. The Trump administration said the commission would review claims of voter fraud, improper registration, and voter suppression. The establishment of the commission followed Trump's false claim that millions of illegal immigrants had voted in the 2016 presidential election, costing him the popular vote. Vice President Mike Pence was chosen as chair of the commission and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was its vice chair and day-to-day administrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Delaney 2020 presidential campaign</span> John Delaneys 2017–2020 efforts to become the 46th President of the United States

The 2020 presidential campaign of John Delaney, the former U.S. representative who represented Maryland's 6th congressional district from 2013 to 2019, was announced to the public on July 28, 2017. Delaney was the first prominent Democrat to announce a campaign for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, far earlier than other candidates. If elected, Delaney would have been the first Marylander to serve as President of the United States, and the second Catholic, after John F. Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James E. Trainor III</span> American lawyer

James Edwin "Trey" Trainor III is an American Republican lawyer and government official. He is a member of the Federal Election Commission after President Donald Trump nominated him and the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed him. He served as chair of the commission in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">For the People Act</span> Election reform and anti-corruption bill in the 117th Congress

The Freedom to Vote Act, introduced as H.R. 1, is a bill in the United States Congress intended to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.

Alexandra (Ali) Chalupa is an American lawyer who was co-chair of the Democratic National Committee's (DNC's) Ethnic Council. She is also the founder of the political consulting firm Chalupa & Associates, LLC and a pro-Ukrainian activist.

Sean Joseph Cooksey is a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission.

Red-boxing is a tactic used by American political candidates to coordinate with their political action committees (PACs) in a way that circumvents campaign finance laws. Political campaigns place statements or requests on public campaign websites which are then used by PACs to support the candidate. The name for the practice comes from the red-colored box that often surrounds the instructions for PACs on campaign websites. It is used by both major American parties, but was noted for its use by Democratic candidates in primary elections in 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub Biographical Information". Federal Election Commission. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Ellen L. Weintraub Official Biography". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  3. ↑ "President Bush Announces Recess Appointment". The White House. December 6, 2002.
  4. ↑ "FEC Commissioners". Federal Election Commission. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  5. ↑ Weintraub, Ellen L. (June 2004). "Perspectives on Corruption". Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. 3 (2): 354–359. doi:10.1089/153312904322907937. ISSN   1533-1296.
  6. ↑ "Gay spouses have same rights as straight couples, FEC rules". The Washington Post. July 26, 2013.
  7. ↑ Weintraub, Ellen L. (March 30, 2016). "Opinion | Taking On Citizens United". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ Weintraub, Ellen (February 16, 2020). "Citizens United at 10: The Consequences for Democracy and Potential Responses by Congress" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Elections official asks Trump for evidence of voter fraud". Reuters. February 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Statement of Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub Regarding Allegations by the President of the United States of Widespread Voter Fraud in New Hampshire," Archived 2017-02-11 at the Wayback Machine February 10, 2017.
  11. ↑ "FEC commissioner: 'I will not be silenced' on Trump's voter fraud claims". Washington Examiner. February 21, 2017.
  12. ↑ "What The Media Should Know About Cause Of Action, The Koch-Backed Group Suing Over Clinton's Emails," Media Matters, July 9, 2015.
  13. ↑ "FEC member: I have the right to demand Trump prove voter fraud claims". CNN. February 21, 2017.
  14. ↑ "FEC chairwoman calls out Trump over New Hampshire voter fraud claims". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  15. ↑ "FEC chair challenges Trump to provide evidence of voter fraud in New Hampshire". www.msn.com. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Election officials move closer to placing new rules on Facebook and Google". The Washington Post. November 16, 2017.
  17. ↑ "FEC elects Weintraub as Chair, Petersen as Vice Chairman for 2019". FEC.gov. December 18, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  18. ↑ 52 U.S.C. § 30106(a)(2)(B)
  19. ↑ "Their terms expired years ago, but Trump, Congress won't replace them". NBC News. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Who Runs Gov: Bill Dauster". Washington Post. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  21. ↑ Rosenblum, Jonah L. "A Jewish perspective on the Federal Election Commission". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.