Bob Bauer
Related to this is the question of whether it matters that a state would endeavor to keep this information off the public record, for its use only. In another case testing the facial constitutionality of this requirement, the Center for Competitive Politics has argued unsuccessfully that the harm to its donors was complete with the exposure of their identities to state officials. The court in this as-applied AFP challenge did not squarely take on this question. But this is a point in contention on both sides of the ideological divide. Other comments on the California rule and by no means from conservative quarters also reflected this worry about what the government might do with the information.
