WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 4, 2012 – The Washington Post published an article this week on the Arent Fox Political Law Group’s representation of two political consulting firms in a groundbreaking petition asking the Federal Election Commission to approve political contributions through text messages.

The Washington Post reports that the petition filed by Craig Engle and Brett Kappel on behalf of Red Blue T, a Republican consulting firm, and ArmourMedia, a Democratic one, “could reshape the way many campaign donations are collected.”

According to the Post:

The idea has attracted support from campaign-finance watchdogs, who view it as a way to broaden participation in political campaigns and push back on the influence of interest groups funded by billionaires and corporations. The strategy would be limited to donations of $50 or less, which can be made anonymously under federal guidelines. If the FEC approves it, President Obama, Mitt Romney, and other 2012 candidates could begin using the approach in time for the November elections. …

Attorney Brett Kappel of Arent Fox, who brought the proposal to the FEC along with Arent Fox partner Craig Engle, said the approach is similar to the way credit card transactions are carried out. Previous FEC rulings allowing campaigns to sell mailing lists and other assets should apply to selling pledges as well, he said.

Maryland and California already allow state and local candidates to accept text donations, but allowing the practice nationwide could transform political fundraising, Kappel said. “Our clients believe this would be a great fundraising tool for all candidates,” he said. “It allows for that kind of instantaneous fundraising and should bring more people into the system.”

The Hill, a Washington, DC-based newspaper covering government and politics, has also covered Craig and Brett’s work on this matter. In a recent article, The Hill reported:

“The mobile communications industry is advancing rapidly,” counsels Craig Engle and Brett Kappel wrote. “And with all due respect for the Commission's 38-year-old statute: the [Federal Election Campaign Act] should be interpreted to keep pace with modern telecommunications technology, rather than trying to fit the digital mobile wireless industry into the time of rotary phones.” … The counsels also promoted the use of cellphone donations as a way to increase the presence of small donors in the campaign process. Allowing the contributions from cellphones could counter the new campaign finance world of super-PACs, where big donations overshadow small donations, they wrote.

“Through modern day texting we can return to the days when candidates could receive a large number of small contributions rather than trying to raise a small number of large contributions,” Engle and Kappel wrote.

To read the full Washington Post article, please click here.

To read the entire article from The Hill, please click here.