The Supreme Court upheld the soft money ban on state and local parties, says Roll Call. The Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that denied the Louisiana Republican Party's challenge to the federal soft money ban for state and local parties. The ban prohibits these parties from spending unlimited contributions to influence federal elections. "Although proponents of political money limits cheered the decision, they said that new Justice Neil Gorsuch’s position on the case confirmed their fears about his campaign finance views." Fred said in a statement that, "This should put to rest the issue of the constitutionality of the political party soft money ban." Read more 

Justice Department ethics experts clear Mueller to lead Russia probe, says the Washington Post. The ethics experts concluded that Mueller can oversee the investigation, "even though his former law firm represents several people who could be caught up in the matter." Mueller resigned from the job at WilmerHale law firm last week after he was appointed to oversee the investigation. Read more

"Kushner keeps most of his real estate but offers few clues about potential White House conflicts," says the Washington Post. Kushner is keeping almost 90% of his real estate holdings after he resigned from his family business and pledged to divide his business interests and White House position. "The value of his retained real estate interests is between $132 million and $407 million and could leave him in a position to financially benefit from his family’s business." Read more

"Government work has paid off handsomely for billionaire Carl Icahn," says Bloomberg. Icahn's oil refining company CVR Energy Inc. saved about $60 million in the first quarter of 2017 due to expectations that the federal government will ease renewable fuel regulations. "As a “special regulatory adviser” to President Donald Trump, Icahn himself has been advocating the kind of relief that will benefit his company. Icahn’s cost savings show how the Trump administration has let officials’ outside business interests influence policy decisions." Read more  Fred and Norm Eisen, Obama’s White House ethics lawyer, challenged Icahn’s self-serving role in a CNN op-ed and said he appears to be a “Special Government Employee” who would be prohibited from doing this advocacy.

FEC commissioner calls on FEC to investigate Russian ties, says POLITICO. Ellen Weintraub urged her fellow commissioners to investigate if Russian agents paid for anti-Clinton Facebook ads during the presidential election. Weintraub said, "I think there is potential there for finding a violation, but I don’t want to suggest that I have prejudged anything that could potentially come before me.” FEC rules bar foreign nationals or governments from donating to U.S. campaigns or from "making expenditures for the purpose of influencing an election." Read more