FEC Opinion on Texting Political Donations Receives Wide Media Coverage

Caleb Burns, a partner in Wiley Rein’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, was mentioned by Bloomberg BNA’s Money & Politics Report after the Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved legal guidance allowing for small political donations by text message to be added to cell phone bills.  Mr. Burns and Election Law co-chair Jan Baran represented CTIA – The Wireless Association before the FEC.  The agency issued an opinion that placed compliance burdens solely on campaigns and recognized that wireless providers had wide business discretion on which candidates and political committees could use the service. 

The article reported that the FEC “has given final approval to two new advisory opinions that could encourage wireless companies to allow campaign contributions by text messaging.”

The FEC’s decision was also covered in other leading publications, including The National Law Journal, Reuters, Fox News and Campaigns & Elections.