News & Insights

In-Compliance: Holtzman Vogel's August 2025 Political Law Round-Up

By: Michael Bayes, Jared Bauman, Joseph T. Burns, David P. Johnson, William M. Klimon, Rebecca Layne, Mark I. Pinkert, Patrick Sternal, and Andrew D. Watkins, Alexandria J. Saquella

In Compliance: Holtzman Vogel's Monthly Round-Up

In this issue of In-Compliance, we cover the following topics:

Former FEC Chairmen Urge Supreme Court to Clarify Bribery Standard, Warn Against Criminalizing Routine Campaign Interactions

Matthew Petersen, former Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chairman and current partner at Holtzman Vogel, joined an amicus brief—along with three other former FEC Chairmen—urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a case involving a bribery conviction of a former Cincinnati city council member. In that case, prosecutors argued that the member’s acceptance of otherwise lawful campaign contributions constituted bribery, even though they presented no explicit evidence of a quid pro quo—an exchange of an official act for contributions. The former Chairmen’s brief contends that, without a clear requirement for such explicit evidence, ordinary interactions between elected officials and donors would be vulnerable to criminal prosecution.

Universities Face Stricter Data Reporting Requirements Under New Trump Policy

On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum to require greater transparency regarding university admissions practices. The Memorandum reinforces previous executive orders and memoranda regarding DEI practices. Under this Memorandum, the Secretary of Education is directed to take regulatory action to compel universities that accept federal funds to disclose additional information on admissions numbers, and more fulsome and accurate data, to the Department of Education to provide greater transparency for students, parents, and taxpayers.

Fifth Circuit Upholds Texas Mail-In Ballot Identification Number Requirement

Texas adopted the Election Protection and Integrity Act of 2021 in an effort to make mail-in balloting more secure and combat fraudulent votes. The law requires voters to provide their driver’s license, social security, or other personal identification number on both their initial applications to vote by mail and their eventual mail-in ballots, which the early voting clerks must then compare to the numbers on their voter registration forms. If the numbers do not match, the mail-in ballot may not be counted.  In an August 4, 2025 decision, the Fifth Circuit upheld the identification requirement and concluded that Texas’s law does not violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Third Circuit Strikes Down Pennsylvania Requirement that Undated or Misdated Mail-In Ballots Not Be Counted

On August 26, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated Pennsylvania’s requirement that mail-in ballots must be properly dated in order to be counted. The requirement was part of the state’s 2019 law adopting universal mail-in voting, known as Act 77. 

California Law Requiring Online Platforms to Police Political “Deepfakes” Invalidated

On August 5, 2025, Senior U.S. District Judge John Mendez ruled from the bench that California’s Assembly Bill 2655, a law designed to force online platforms to remove or include disclaimers on political “deepfakes,” was invalid and preempted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The enforcement of California’s law is stayed until Judge Mendez’s written ruling. 

New York Times Article Shines Light on Democratic Party’s Past Voter Registration Practices

On August 20, the New York Times published an article detailing Democrats’ recent voter registration woes. One paragraph midway through the article highlighted a key aspect of the Democrats’ voter registration efforts. According to the article, “For years, the left has relied on a sprawling network of nonprofits — which solicit donations from people whose identities they need not disclose — to register Black, Latino and younger voters. Though the groups are technically nonpartisan, the underlying assumption has been that most new voters registering would vote Democratic. ”While this has been widely known for years, it spotlights how Democrats have exploited ambiguities in the IRS requirements for nonprofit organizations conducting nonpartisan voter registration drives.

The Persistent Pitfalls of Taxpayer Funded Campaigns

Joe Burns writes in National Law Review about the growing scrutiny that New York State’s experiment with public financing of state campaigns is facing. Burns highlights a fundamental vulnerability in all public campaign finance systems: they invite abuse and scandals become the norm.

Meet the New Boss of New York Politics

Joe Burns explains how the Working Families Party came to dominate Democratic Party politics in New York State in City Journal.

Montana PAC Treasurer Accused of Wire Fraud Reaches Plea Agreement with Prosecutors

Abby Lee Cook, a campaign finance manager for multiple Montana Democratic political action committees, recently pled guilty to wire fraud charges and will be forced to repay the $253,000 that she embezzled from six different committees. Ms. Cook is scheduled to be sentenced in early September, with each charge carrying a maximum 20-year prison sentence and a fine of $250,000, although in the plea agreement the government agreed to recommend a “low-end guideline sentence.”

Holtzman Vogel Launches Formal Higher Education Compliance Practice

Holtzman Vogel’s Higher Education Compliance Group advises colleges and universities on aligning policies with federal and state law—from proactive planning and internal reviews to defending against state and federal investigations. Our attorneys bring experience from the Department of Justice, state Attorneys General offices, and federal and state courts, offering deep knowledge at the intersection of constitutional, education, and regulatory law.

View as PDF