Ep. 79 Former FEC Chairman Bradley Smith

Former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley A. Smith is
perhaps best known for opposing many campaign finance regulations
on First Amendment grounds. On today’s episode of So to Speak:
The Free Speech Podcast, we talk with the former chairman about
how political campaign activity is regulated in America and how
this regulation implicates the First Amendment. We also explore
some of today’s hot-button campaign finance controversies.


Smith is a professor of law at Capital University Law School in
Columbus, Ohio. From 2000 until 2005, he served as a FEC
commissioner. He was FEC chairman in 2004 and vice chairman in
2003. In 2005, Smith founded the Center for Competitive Politics,
now known as the Institute for Free Speech.


Show notes:


Podcast transcript

Cases: Buckley v. Valeo (1976), Randall v. Sorrell (2006)
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010),
Speechnow.org v. FEC (2010), McCutcheon v. Federal Election
Commission (2014)

Timeline: The history of campaign finance regulation

Faulty Assumptions and the Undemocratic Consequences of
Campaign Finance Reform by Bradley A. Smith (1996)

Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform by
Bradley A. Smith (2009)

Stormy weather for campaign-finance laws

National Enquirer didn’t commit a crime by killing Trump
affair stories



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