Matthew Sanderson Quoted in The Boston Globe, Scott Brown's Daughter Paid $9,500 to Sing at Campaign Events
02.03.2012
The Boston Globe
Excerpt taken from article.
Family members often help out on campaigns, stuffing envelopes, making phone calls, and smiling on stage. Usually, it's for free.
Senator Scott Brown's campaign has spent $9,500 since December 2010 to pay his daughter to sing at three campaign events, including a pair of Christmas parties.
Ayla Brown, a performer and a onetime "American Idol'' contestant, has been part of Brown's appeal since he won a special election in 2010.
Brown, a Republican, is now locked in a tight race against Elizabeth Warren, the likely Democratic nominee. His payments to his daughter appear in his campaign finance reports as disbursements to Ambient Entertainment LLC, Ayla Brown's representative.
Federal election law allows the campaign to compensate Ayla Brown at fair market value, but she can also choose to volunteer her services, according to two campaign finance attorneys and a 1980 Federal Election Commission opinion.
Big-name acts who perform at political events seldom charge a fee, said Matthew Sanderson, a Washington-based campaign finance attorney who has worked for the presidential campaigns of Senator John McCain of Arizona and Governor Rick Perry of Texas.
"The Obama campaign is not going to pay the going rate for Jay-Z to perform a small concert,'' Sanderson said. "That would be crazy.''
Click here to read the article on federal election law about compensating entertainers for their services at campaign events.
Family members often help out on campaigns, stuffing envelopes, making phone calls, and smiling on stage. Usually, it's for free.
Senator Scott Brown's campaign has spent $9,500 since December 2010 to pay his daughter to sing at three campaign events, including a pair of Christmas parties.
Ayla Brown, a performer and a onetime "American Idol'' contestant, has been part of Brown's appeal since he won a special election in 2010.
Brown, a Republican, is now locked in a tight race against Elizabeth Warren, the likely Democratic nominee. His payments to his daughter appear in his campaign finance reports as disbursements to Ambient Entertainment LLC, Ayla Brown's representative.
Federal election law allows the campaign to compensate Ayla Brown at fair market value, but she can also choose to volunteer her services, according to two campaign finance attorneys and a 1980 Federal Election Commission opinion.
Big-name acts who perform at political events seldom charge a fee, said Matthew Sanderson, a Washington-based campaign finance attorney who has worked for the presidential campaigns of Senator John McCain of Arizona and Governor Rick Perry of Texas.
"The Obama campaign is not going to pay the going rate for Jay-Z to perform a small concert,'' Sanderson said. "That would be crazy.''
Click here to read the article on federal election law about compensating entertainers for their services at campaign events.
Attorneys
Member
