As Norm Eisen departs for Prague, the White House announces his replacement: nobody. Well, technically, Bob Bauer will take over Eisen’s “portfolio” at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, and Steven Croley will also join the ethics team. Article at the Washington Post. Also: the Sunlight Foundation doesn’t take kindly to the announcement, listing several ethics promises on which they have yet to see follow-through from the Obama Administration. CREW (which Eisen co-founded) is also not enthused.
Federal Judge Ellen Huvellerefused to throw out charges against accused Jack Abramoff associate Kevin Ring this week. Ring’s attorneys had asked Huvelle to vacate the charges after the Supreme Court’s decisions in three recent cases diminished the power of the honest services fraud statute, one of the statutes under which Ring was charged.
Rep. Maxine Waters‘ ethics charges were revealed – and she plans to fight back. Most of the charge appears to focus on the actions of Rep. Waters’ chief of staff, Mikael Moore, in trying to secure federal funding for OneUnited Bank, an entity in which Rep. Waters’ husband held financial stake. This case, in which Waters is being reprimanded for the actions of her staff, bears some resemblance to Rep. Charlie Rangel’s getting in trouble for his staff’s knowledge about the infamous trip to the Caribbean.
“With Mr. Eisen headed to Europe as an ambassador, his move from the White House ‘is the biggest lobbying success we’ve had all year,’” – Tony Podesta, Washington Post, Aug. 6
“Violations of campaign finance laws are clear cut and lend themselves to easy proof beyond a reasonable doubt… It sounds like this is both the beginning and possibly the end of the PMA matter in terms of prosecution.” – Jan Baran, on the Paul Magliocchetti indictment, Roll Call, Aug. 9
Dave Wenhold, President of the American League of Lobbyists, appeared on CSPAN’s Washington Journal program to discuss potential changes to the Lobbying Disclosure Act reporting structure.
Wenhold mentioned the Sunlight Foundation’s actions on behalf of transparency. A recent Sunlight blog post on Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy’s LDA Amendment Act talks more fully about actions that Sunlight would like to see taken on disclosure.
Alex Mistri has been named a managing director in the government affairs practice at the Glover Park Group.
David Sanders has joined the National Community Pharmacists Association as director of federal government relations. Sanders was director of federal government affairs for Teva Pharmaceuticals. He has also worked on legislative issues for former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).
Melissa Dodson Schooley has been hired as senior director of government affairs at MedTronic Inc., a medical technology company. Schooley was previously head of government affairs for Coventry Health Care. She has also served as a fellow for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight and the Courts.
Thomas Spulak, writing in The Hill on Monday, made some fantastic points about problems facing the lobbying industry right now. Lobbyists are de-registering in droves, he says–a result of stricter HLOGA rules and the rush of anti-lobbyist sentiment stemming from Obama’s ongoing campaign against the industry.
Singling out lobbyists is, in fact, a source of the sense of corruption the administration is seeking to end. Spulak writes:
The singling out of lobbyists and the attendant attachment of the Scarlet L has caused individuals to seek loopholes and exceptions to avoid registration. When someone, no less than the president of the United States, says lobbyists are bad, who would want to be one? It is ironic that those who want to go beyond the letter of the law and adhere to its spirit by registering are thrown into a class subject to suspicion and disdain by the leaders of our government.
The problem, Spulak says, is that demonizing an entire profession does us all harm because there will always be lobbyists; the right to lobby is, after all, protected by the Constitution. Further, not all lobbyists are advocating for “evil corporate interests”–there are lobbyists for Boy Scouts! And whales! And poor people! And puppies! Spulak says it best:
There will always be lobbyists; they are mere advocates for interests. Certainly, not all interests are as popular as others, but shouldn’t unpopular causes have a chance to be heard? Government officials can always ignore what they hear or even refuse to meet with certain industries or interests. That has always been the case anyway. Continuing to rail against lobbyists may be good political fodder in the short term, but in the long run it creates a false sense of corruption in Washington that makes all government officials guilty by association with the bogeyman that they created.
A blog post on OMB Watch (“Greater Disclosure Reduces Sense of Corruption”) makes an excellent point to complete this discussion: instead of demonizing an industry which may have some bad actors but overall offers a necessary democratic service, let’s move towards improving the disclosure system to obviate the impulse for corruption in the first place. “The registration process is cumbersome and unevenly recorded by the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate,” OMB writes. “And don’t try getting information out of those systems … the demand should be focused on better systems of disclosure.”
Join the Young Leadership Network for a networking happy hour from 5-7 pm at Ping Pong Dim Sum in Chinatown next Thursday (8/19).
About the YLN: The Young Leadership Network, an extension of the American League of Lobbyists, exists to provide young professionals with a peer-to-peer network designed to foster deep roots in Washington and throughout the lobbying community. The YLN hosts monthly networking happy hours in the DC metro area on the 3rd Thursday of each month as well as other events throughout the year.
Ping Pong Restaurant
900 7th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001 Map it
Legislation has passed the House revising the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to establish further enforcement measures in order to “investigate and prosecute” underdisclosure or failure to disclose by entities lobbying the federal government.
The bill, H.R. 5751, originally titled “The Fee on Lobbyists Act,” was amended and passed as titled the “Lobbying Disclosure Enhancement Act.” Sponsored by Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), the legislation passed the House by voice vote on Wednesday, July 28. Referred to the Senate, it is now awaiting action in the Senate Judiciary Committee. With both houses of the Congress on August recess, the bill will likely not see action in the immediate future.
The bill as now amended is significantly different than the original legislation. It does three things:
1. Establishes an “Enforcement Task Force” for purposes of “investigating and prosecuting” cases referred under the LDA to the DOJ.
2. Replaces the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia with the Attorney General for purposes of referral and enforcement.
3. Inserts the language “Section 6(b)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by striking `by case’ and all that follows through `public record’ and inserting `by case and name of the individual lobbyists or lobbying firms involved, any sentences imposed’.”
The original language about fee structures and increased enforcement, including a proposed $50 fee per LDA filing and fee structure for failure to disclose, is not in the final legislation.
Paul Magliocchetti, the former president of now-defunct PMA Group, an Arlington defense lobby shop, has been indicted on 11 counts, according to the Department of Justice.
The counts against Magliocchetti include: four counts of making illegal campaign contributions in the name of someone else; four counts of making illegal campaign contributions from a corporation; three counts of “causing federal campaigns to unwittingly make false statements.” Magliocchetti appeared in an Alexandria federal district court on Thursday, August 5.
Magliocchetti had to post a $2-million bond and surrender his passport. The former lobbyist also checked into a Baltimore-area facility to undergo treatment for “anxiety.”
Interestingly, the indictment stressed that all the lawmakers given donations were unaware of wrongdoing. This follows on the heels of a House Ethics Committee probe that cleared several legislators, including the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) of wrongdoing in the lobbying group’s pay-to-play scheme.
In a separate plea, Magliocchetti’s son, Mark, pleaded guilty to a charge of making illegal campaign contributions. Mark Magliocchetti had worked at PMA Group, and, according to the Washington Post, portrays himself as being initially unaware that it was illegal to be reimbursed for campaign contributions.
The Democrats’ signature campaign finance bill failed in the Senate on a cloture vote on July 27. After a contentious road to final passage in the House on July 24, the act needed a supermajority of 60 affirmative votes to invoke cloture, leading to passage, but was only able to gain 57 votes.
The vote broke down on party lines, with no Republicans crossing the aisle, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) absent, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), voting no in order to preserve the majority’s right of cloture. The Act provoked strong reactions – supporters hyped the bill’s ability to “overturn” the Supreme Court’s Citizens United campaign finance decision, while opponents decried the legislation’s stifling of First Amendment political speech rights.
To pass the contentious legislation in the House earlier this summer, Democrats created an exemption that allowed a few large advocacy nonprofits to bypass the bill’s disclosure requirements. In order to qualify, the groups had to have at least 500,000 members, among other things; qualifying groups included the National Rifle Association (for which the “carve out” was patched together), AARP and Sierra Club.
Sierra spokesman David Willett said that despite falling under the exemption, the organization is against the bill. “We opposed the idea of a two-tier system. The irony is, the bigger groups like NRA and Sierra Club have the resources to … handle the additional disclosure requirements” found in the bill, he said. “We just feel the rule should apply to everybody, so we remained opposed. [The exemption] is not in line with the spirit and goals of the bill.”
When the bill was first introduced, the NRA stated its opposition and announced its intention fight vigorously for its First Amendment rights. Shortly after the organization’s stance on the bill became known, House Democrats crafted the initial exemption. When the exemption became public, the outcry caused Democrats to revise the original language to include other qualifiers, widening slightly the applicable-organization pool.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NM) vowed to continue the push on the DISCLOSE Act; however, with lawmakers leaving DC for August recess, new action is delayed until at least September.
De’Ana Dow has been hired as senior vice president of Ogilvy Government Relations. Dow was formerly managing director of government relations at the CME Group. She has also served as senior vice president and chief legislative counsel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Julia Wanzco Lawless has been appointed director of the Washington office of Story Partners. Lawless was press secretary for Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine).
Daniel Barry has been promoted at the Financial Planning Association, to managing director of government relations and public policy.
Ashley Patterson has been hired as director of government relations at Ameresco. Patterson was press secretary for Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).
Deborah Lee James has been promoted to executive vice president for communications and government affairs at SAIC.
PMA Group President Paul Magliocchetti was indicted on 11 counts in a federal court on Thursday. According to Politico’s report on the indictment, Magliocchetti “sought to enrich both PMA and himself by increasing the firm’s influence, power and prestige — both among the firm’s base of current and potential clients as well as among the elected public officials to whom PMA and its lobbyists sought access.” A good round-up of stories on the charges is at Political Activity Law. The Department of Justice’s press release is here, “Lobbyist Indicted for Orchestrating Illegal Campaign Contribution Scheme.” Look for our story on the PMA Group in our free bi-weekly regulatory alert email, the Government Relations Alert, on Monday.
Rep. Waters wants in on the ethics trial thing too! Well, more accurately, she at least wants her name cleared before November’s elections. Politico’s latest story is here, “Waters asks for release of allegations.”
State & Federal Communications’ Compliance Now newsletter is now available. State & Fed has also started an excellent blog, “Lobby Comply.”
Other political law and campaign finance newsletter updates:
Reviewing quarterly LDA reports is a good way to take the pulse of lobbying in the federal government and Congressional offices. This quarter, contentious political provisions including financial services reform, campaign finance reform, health care reform, and oil spill accountability, have all been issues of interest to lobbying entities. This report will look at several topics, including:
Q: Who is considered a registered lobbyist for purposes of filing the LD-203 semi-annual certification? That is, if you did lobbying a year ago but have done none during the reporting period, do you still have to certify?
A: The first question to ask yourself is: Are you still registered? That is, are you still shown on the LDA report for that particular client?If you are listed on a LDA report for a client as the lobbyist, then you must file and certify the LD-203. If you have truly done no lobbying for a client in a year, then you need to be terminated off the lobbying report.
For example, in this old screenshot from a 2008 US Chamber lobbying report, the following lobbyists are on Line 18 as having lobbied on behalf of the issues listed:
If you haven’t been marked as terminated from a lobbying report, you’re still under obligation to file the LD-203.
In a recent press release, Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) explained the purpose of her Lobbying Disclosure Enhancement Act, saying,
“When Americans on Main Street try to cheat or break the law; there are repercussions… [this bill] will go after the lobbyists who engage in shoddy practices and hide behind ignorance of the law.”
However, what Kilroy is trying to fix is not as much a lobbying problem as it is a federal government problem. Lobby disclosure may not be the most popular rule on K Street but it is still the law of the land and the vast majority of lobbyists willingly adhere to it. The only reason that lobbyists continue to hide behind “ignorance” of the law is because the Department of Justice has neglected its side of the bargain.
The idea behind Kilroy’s bill is nothing new; in fact some lobbyists have spoken out in favor of greater disclosure, saying that having a system of lobbying laws but no enforcement makes a mockery of the entire system. Following the law is the responsibility of each individual lobbyist. Enforcing the law is solely the responsibility of the Department of Justice. In short, Kilroy should be requiring the Department of Justice to change its “shoddy practices,” not lobbyists. But lobbyists are low-hanging fruit, since many citizens don’t understand the First Amendment political speech right of having a government relations representative.
Kilroy’s bill as originally introduced intended to place more impetus on the lobbyists themselves to ensure complete lobby filings, with fee structures and fines for underdisclosure.
Americans don’t speed down Main Street when a cop is sitting in the McDonald’s parking lot and lobbyists won’t be ignorant of the law if the federal government enforces its own regulations.
Charles “Chip” W. Roth has been hired as an associate at Strategic Marketing Innovations Inc. Roth was the principal at American Technology Specialists LLC. Before that, he was a program director at Fabiani & Co.
David S. Valdez has been hired as senior director of public advocacy for CompTIA, an information technology trade association. Valdez was vice president of public affairs, policy and communications at Verizon Northwest.
Corey N. Henry has been hired as vice president of communications at the American Frozen Food Institute. Henry was previously vice president of grass-roots advocacy for the National Mining Association, where he also served as director of public affairs.
Kimberly Parker has been hired at the Illinois Hospital Association. Parker isa former Congressional staffer, and will be the vice president of federal relations based in Washington, D.C.
De’Ana Dow has been hired as senior vice president of Ogilvy Government Relations. Dow was formerly managing director of government relations at the CME Group. She has also served as senior vice president and chief legislative counsel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
As Norm Eisen departs for Prague, the White House announces his replacement: nobody. Well, technically, Bob Bauer will take over Eisen’s “portfolio” at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, and Steven Croley will also join the ethics team. Article at the Washington Post. Also: the Sunlight Foundation doesn’t take kindly to the announcement, listing several ethics promises on which they have yet to see follow-through from the Obama Administration. CREW (which Eisen co-founded) is also not enthused.
