YouSaid · the spoken record

Ellen Weintraub

lines on the record: 123
first: 2019-10-04
most recent: 2019-10-04
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“So our lawyers can finish what they're doing, write up a report, present it to the commission, but the commission can't vote.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, with three, we cannot Make any decisions about enforcement. We can't issue advisory opinions. We can't write new regulations. We can continue doing the enforcement work that was pre-authorized. So any investigation that had four votes behind it before we lost the quorum, those investigations are ongoing. But if new complaints are filed now, we cannot launch any new investigations and we can't conclude any investigations.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Maybe, yeah, but you can't meet. But well, we kind of can, but we can't do anything important if we do. So at four is a quorum, and it was designed to ensure that most decisions have to be made with four votes so that any decision would be bipartisan by definition, if no more than three can be of one political party, and it takes four votes to get anything done, it's got to be a bipartisan decision. And that can be a good thing. It was put in as a protection to make sure that one side couldn't beat up the other with the campaign finance apparatus and find their political opponents. It had to be a bipartisan decision that the law had been violated.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's the way it's supposed to be, and that's the way it generally has been over time. Once in a while, we'll get down to five, but usually it's not lower than five, except that recently we had one commissioner who left a couple of years ago and another one who left about a year and a half ago, and those slots were not filled. And then at the end of August, one of my colleagues announced that he was resigning at the end of the week. And that brought us down to three. Therefore, the problem is three. And then there were three, one D, 1R, one I.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“There are about 315 people working for the agency right now. We have lawyers, analysts, auditors. We have IT people who keep our website up and running. The commissioners each have small staffs of their own, just a couple of...”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, as I just described, it would be an investigation, fines. We don't send people to jail. If it's a knowing and willful violation, we can refer it to the Justice Department and they can send people to jail. Right.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It is illegal to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign nation. Anything of value, anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election. And that is one area where we have jurisdiction over state and local elections, as well as federal elections.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Spent at that point, so they couldn't, but they find it cost them the amount of money. So the idea is trying to sort of keep one foreign influence. Talk about that idea of foreign influence within U.S. We are not supposed to collect anything from foreign countries seeking to create either discord or create a move it to one way or the other.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So we had a lot of work done for us by reporters, and it was presented by a nonprofit organization here in D.C. which filed a complaint based on the reporting. And the information was pretty compelling. So we did our own investigation after that and ultimately settled the case for close to a million dollars in penalties.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Okay, so I'll give you an example where we caught the Chinese instead of the Russians. One of the bigger cases that we've had in recent years, we resolved, I think earlier this year. Involved a $1.3 million contribution that was funneled from a Chinese-owned subsidiary with the encouragement of the Chinese board members. To their U.S. subsidiary to make a $1.3 million contribution to a super PAC that was supporting Jeb Bush. Back in the 2016 primaries. It's illegal to take money from foreign sources. So, this was based actually on a very good bit of investigative reporting.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, well, the original law that was passed back in the 70s had both contribution limits and spending limits in addition to these disclosure requirements. The Supreme Court back in the 70s in the Buckley decision struck down the spending limits. They said that you can express your First Amendment right to show which candidate you're supporting with a limited contribution, but if you are going to limit spending, then you're limiting the amount of money that they can use to get their message out. And that is ultimately a limit on free speech, according to the Supreme Court.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, the whole concept after Watergate was that we need transparency into the money where the money is flowing, even though the Supreme Court allowed Citizen United allowed so much more. funding to happen. You all are trying to be there to say, here's what's actually happening.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, if they're doing federal activity, yes, state party committees and the national party committees, the congressional committee, the Senate committee, the national committee.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Federal candidates. This is all at the federal level. So candidates for the House, for the Senate, and for the presidency have to register with the FEC and file regular reports with us. Also, the political party committees, also PACS.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We also have auditors who audit committees that seem to be not doing their job properly. So we need to take a deeper dive into those committees. And we have an enforcement function. Anybody can file a complaint with the FEC, and our lawyers will look at it and make a recommendation to the commission. And we will decide whether to open an investigation, whether there is sanction warranted, whether somebody has violated the law or they haven't.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's a little bit paled. It's a little bit more than legal requirements that they file certain information with us. We have analysts who review the forms and then we'll get back to committees if they think that there's something missing or something wrong. They send out what we call requests for additional information. That's all public. And then people will file amendments or correct the record however it needs to be corrected.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“$70 million. Yes. And so this funds the paperwork and the monitoring. And when you talk about monitoring, what do you mean that you do? You just make it available. You force them to file. Well, it's a little bit powerful than that. It's a little bit more than that.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, that's a good question. It varies, obviously, and it depends on how much they're willing to give us. But I think the last budget was in the high 70s.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“An independent agency. We're not part of the administration. We're not part of the legislature either or the judiciary, certainly. So we are our own thing. We get an appropriation from Congress and we use that money to do our job”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, there's a forum they can fill it out. We have software, they can fill it out online, and then most forms are filed electronically, and that makes it really easy for us to put it up on the web.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“These filings they have to make. Yes, they are required to file with us, they're required to register, they're required to file regular reports with us so that everyone in America can see who is supporting which candidate and what they're spending their money on. And so we collect all of this information, we put it up on the web, and reporters and analysts, scholars all take a lot of look and do deep dives and do great analysis of it and get it out to the American people.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Okay, so the FEC was set up to follow the money after Watergate. We take in all of the information from the candidates and the party committees and political groups.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I am Kara Swisher, editor at large of Recode. You may know me as someone who's pining for simpler times like when the number one threat to our elections was confuse people in Florida, but in my spare time I talk tech and you're listening to Reco Decode from the Vox Media Podcast Network. Today in the red chair is Ellen Weintraub, the chair of the Federal Election Commission. She's been a commissioner since 2002 and now is in her third year of chairing the group, which is an independent regulatory agency that enforces campaign finance law. Chair Weintraub, welcome to recode decode.”
2019-10-04 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT