Matthew Sanderson leads Caplin & Drysdale’s political law group. He helps corporations, political committees, lobbying firms, law firms, candidates and advocacy groups comply with the complex federal, state and local laws that govern political activity, including campaign finance, “pay-to-play,” government ethics and lobbying disclosure regulations.
Sanderson also advises clients on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, and defends parties before the Department of Justice and Congress that face FARA-related inquiries. Sanderson has served as counsel to Sen. John McCain, Sen. Mitt Romney, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., and many other candidates for national office. He was a legal consultant for Netflix’s hit series “House of Cards” and received the Peabody Award, alongside Stephen Colbert’s “The Colbert Report” team, for efforts related to the “Colbert Super PAC.” Sanderson was also a founder of PlayoffPAC, which was nominated for Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year award for its work in bringing down college football’s prior post-season system, the Bowl Championship Series.
Sanderson is the co-editor of Thomson Reuters’ legal treatise on political law, a member of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Election Law, and a co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Task Force on the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He serves as editor of FARA.us, a comprehensive online resource of information about FARA. He is also a trustee for the American Council of Young Political Leaders, a nonprofit that connects rising political leaders in the U.S. and around the world.