The lower court ruled to show the names connected to dark money.

Knowing that it will get appealed to the Supreme Court, they called off the requirement to release the names until they get a chance to see it.

It seems like it will ultimately go to the Supreme Court. It will either get upheld (show the names) or overturned (keep the names hidden). There is some logic to that since showing the names is something that cannot be undone. The SC is preserving their power to make the decision.

That is my read of it.

The key is in this paragraph:
"U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell in August issued a ruling invalidating a Federal Election Commission regulation that has allowed donors to so-called dark-money groups to remain anonymous. "

In other words, Judge Beryl wanted transparency, but Roberts (GOP stooge) does not.

expedite the case into the hands of SCOTUS in order to prevent dragging it out for years with no real resolution in sight.
Granted, he could be seeking to kill it because he is a Repugnant appointed by a Repugnant but there is still a chance that his real goal is to simply make sure the case is heard promptly but then again there is also a chance I could win the powerball one day.

People seem to forget that Roberts is the rightwing scumbag tool who interfered in Florida in 2000. Then lied under oath during his confirmation hearings.

And then asked that Citizens United be filed "differently" so that he could rule it the way he wanted. He's largely responsible for the problem of outside money, he's not gonna change that now.

win back to back 1 billion lottery drawings LOL

Crossroads still has to Petition for Certiorari. If SCOTUS grants Cert, looks bad for daylight. Their claim is insane: we will suffer irreparable harm (in November, perhaps?) if the public knows who our donors are, and we’re a goddammed political organization, and money rules so fuck the public.

Here’s the Conclusion to their Motion: “The district court’s ruling is unprecedented and its timing extraordinary. Rather than force Crossroads and similarly situated organizations to choose between sacrificing their core First Amendment speech rights just prior to a major national election and their donors’ associational and privacy rights – neither of which can be restored if Crossroads prevails on appeal – this Court should stay the district court’s ruling pending appeal.”

[link:https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18A274/63755/20180914130255230_SCOTUS%20Crossroads%20Petition%20for%20Stay%20Pending%20Appeal.pdf|

Personally, I'm holding out a very real hope that Roberts becomes the next swing vote on the court.

I hold that hope in part because of his vote on Obamacare's individual mandate where he not only voted to allow it, he actually instructed the defendants on the language needed to pass constitutional muster. He then added that language to the case.

Roberts is very conservative indeed, so he'll usually side with big business on mergers and such, but I believe he takes his position with the great weight required. He may end up being the least politically partisan member of the SC, for what that's worth. I've heard hints that he's not that fond of Donald Trump too.

... we'll have this problem. It is interesting, too, that "free speech" is also equated with "anonymous speech," which kind of implies that anyone can say anything he damned well pleases and not be liable for it, which would seem to invalidate centuries of law about libel and slander.

-- Mal

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Jeez, we look foolish blaming every single thing on Putin. The repub position on campaign finance long pre-dates Putin being a significant player on the world scene.

There should be enough information to prove these republican SHILLS are ready for their own witch hunt ......Sending these corrupt people to prison should signal to the country that justice will be done. ....I am ready to shine a light into the darkest republican hole to send the RATS scattering. ....It was bad during Obama's time that the republicans did so many witch hunts which proved NOTHING but was time and money .........COOK THE BASTARDS .......

From foreign or domestic enemies of democracy from the Koch Bros to Putin.

California has some laws against dark money and we actually caught the Kochs in 2012 for funneling/laundering illegal dark money in CA Props 30 &32 campaigns. The Kochs were fined, "disengorged" and, probably worse for the "who me?" Koch Bros, publicly exposed/humiliated.

No one in the RW Pravda Infrastructure wants national or state laws against their very life blood(i.e. dark money) on the books. So expect more assaults on states' right to legislate ag dark money to reach SCOTUS and those rights to be unilaterally overturned by the Roberts Court.

Once you start pretending that money is speech you have to be careful that nobody finds out who is doing all the screaming.