Thursday, April 29, 2004

Toolbox: OpenSecrets Offers Online Campaign Money Updates   Reporters who track political contributions will want to subscribe to a new service from the Center for Responsive Politics. It alerts the subscriber by e-mail whenever new data is added to its searchable online database of campaign finance information. The CRP collects and processes campaign finance data reported by  presidential and congressional candidates to the Federal Election Commission.   To subscribe to the new-data alerts, click here. CRP Contact: Steven Weiss, 202-857-0044; info@crp.org . Or visit the searchable online database here. 8:55:36 PM

Patriot Act Blacks Out News of Challenge to Its Own Constitutionality   From the Washington Post -- "The American Civil Liberties Union disclosed yesterday that it filed a lawsuit three weeks ago challenging the FBI's methods of obtaining many business records, but the group was barred from revealing even the existence of the case until now."   "The lawsuit was filed April 6 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, but the case was kept under seal to avoid violating secrecy rules contained in the USA Patriot Act, the ACLU said. The group was allowed to release a redacted version of the lawsuit after weeks of negotiations with the government."   Full story: "Patriot Act Suppresses News Of Challenge to Patriot Act," Washington Post, April 29, 2004, by Dan Eggen. 9:56:02 AM