In an interview with OpenSecrets Blog, Potter discusses the seriousness of Colbert’s super PAC, how political speech isn’t for “sissies,” and how the U.S. Supreme Court is made up of “theorists” who are “not in touch with reality” when it comes to how money is being raised and spent.

Trevor Potter discusses super PACS on Fresh Air.

Potter debunks myths about super PACs.

Video of Trevor Potter’s appearances on The Colbert Report.

On the heels of the FEC's February filing deadline, the Governance Studies program at Brookings hosted a discussion exploring the role of super PACs in the broader campaign finance landscape this election season.  Anthony Corrado, a leading authority on campaign finance, and Trevor Potter, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former chairman of the FEC, presented.

The limited goal of the legislation was to remove the obvious corruption of six-figure individual contributions, and corporate and labor donations (increasingly solicited by elected federal officials) to national committee coffers.

Jonathan Soros, son of a prominent liberal financier, is helping to launch an independent advocacy group with hopes of spending up to $8 million targeting House lawmakers, primarily Republicans, who oppose public matching funds for elections and other campaign finance reforms.

The newest super PAC ready to make a splash in the fall elections may be the least likely. Friends of Democracy -- which is headed by Jonathan Soros, son of billionaire hedge funder George Soros; Ilyse Hogue, former MoveOn political and communications director; and David Donnelly, executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund -- seeks to build political power on the issue of reducing the political power of big money.