Campaign Finance Reform - in Oregon

Portland needs to make both short-term and long-term changes to the Small Donor Elections Program to ensure it remains free of political interference, write Amy Sample Ward, Berk Nelson and Cristina Nieves, who serve on the Portland Elections Commission.

“I just want to hear if we think we have enough money to cover what’s coming up.”

The Washington, D.C.-based fundraiser who secured a $500,000 donation last year for Oregon Democrats from an FTX executive has a long history of working for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden's campaign.

The party will tap state's most powerful Democrats to repay the contribution to the U.S. Marshal's Service.

The Democratic Party of Oregon says it will send a half-million dollars to the U.S. Marshals Service to conform with a request from the U.S. Department of Justice

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Democratic Party of Oregon said Friday it will send a half-million dollars to the U.S. Marshals Service that had been donated by a former executive at the disgraced cryptocurrency exchange FTX , to conform with a request from the U.S.

A former executive at the disgraced cryptocurrency exchange FTX donated $500,000 to the state’s Democratic Party under a false name. Here are the events that led up to the misreported donation and Oregon’s response.

See a timeline of the events that led to the misreported donation coming to light and the ensuing response from the Secretary of State’s Office.

Documents first reported here confirm the need for an investigation into whether DPO committed a crime when it misreported the source of a $500,000 donation it used to help elect Kotek governor

Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden's paid fundraising consultant -- "all things Ron Wyden" -- arranged the details of a record-breaking donation under scrutiny by the Oregon Department of Justice.

The Oregon Senator has refused to return a personal contribution from Sam Bankman-Fried, breaking from other Democrats and Republicans who returned his donations.

Nossaman’s Chris Hughes and Bill Powers analyze the next clawback targets of FTX bankruptcy proceedings: campaign vendors and political action committees—saying they must comply with Federal Election Commission rules.

The Democratic National Convention and other organizations announced their plan to return funds given by the FTX founder

Oregon elections officials are still deciding whether there is enough evidence to ask Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to pursue a case against former FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh for donating $500,000 to the Democratic Party of Oregon under a false name.

In just three years, the FTX co-founder built a massive operation to woo politicians, regulators and nonprofits to support his crypto goals.

At least $73 million of political donations tied to Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX may be at risk of being clawed back as bankruptcy lawyers sort through the remnants of his crypto empire in search of assets to repay creditors.

Taking FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s money was already a bit of a controversial subject. Now it’s looking downright scandalous. But Democrats aren’t speaking up.

It was the largest contribution the committee had ever reported receiving in the 15-year time frame covered by Oregon’s campaign finance database.

Election officials opened the investigation into Nishad Singh and the Democratic Party last October after the party identified the donor of its largest ever campaign contribution as cryptocurrency wire service Prime Trust.

Rosenblum recused herself from the investigation into disgraced cryptocurrency executive Nishad Singh, whose $500,000 donation to the Democratic Party of Oregon was falsely reported as coming from a Las Vegas company. Rosenblum should have ensured independence long ago, considering the cozy relationship she and former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan have had with the Democratic Party.

A spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Justice said on Friday that the agency is reviewing whether to open a criminal investigation of the Democratic Party of Oregon for misreporting the donor of $500,000 last fall.

A Bend lawyer has asked Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to open a criminal investigation into whether the Democratic Party of Oregon knowingly reported false information about who gave a $500,000 campaign contribution.

The assistant attorney general representing the Elections Division wrote that a Democratic party official “should not have been — and any other reasonable person would not have been — satisfied when (donor Nishad Singh told the party) that Mr. Singh ‘prefers Prime Trust (though not strongly) so go w[ith] that.’”

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Udland will oversee the department’s investigation into Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering at the disgraced cryptocurrency firm FTX.

A recent settlement that substantially slashed a fine for the Democratic Party of Oregon for misreporting a $500,000 donation raises significant questions about the ability of Democrats to hold their own party accountable, the editorial board writes.

Election officials will fine the Oregon Democratic Party $15,000 and ask the attorney general to investigate a cryptocurrency executive.

A $500,000 contribution made to the party in October by FTX exec Nishad Singh was falsely filed under the name of a different company.