Latest Developments:
- The California Fair Political Practices Commission adopted a new regulation requiring disclosure when a committee pays for website advertisements or third-party social media advertisements. The commission also amended two other regulations related to online communications paid for by committees. These changes take effect January 1, 2022.
- The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics changed its course on investigating former Governor Cuomo at its meeting this week. The commission voted to ask the New York Attorney General to investigate a leak at the Commission regarding an investigation into one of the former governor’s associates. The commission also agreed to revisit the commission’s permission for the former governor to publish a book while in office, which will appear on the September meeting agenda. The New York Post explains the actions and notes that “JCOPE, often criticized as a lapdog instead of an ethics watchdog, is being more assertive now that Cuomo is out of power.”
In Case You Missed It:
- Another Unregistered Foreign Lobbying Investigation: The Hill cites a Wall Street Journal report that the Department of justice is investigating a lobbyist who “set up an advocacy group without disclosing its ties to Qatar.” The lobbyist reportedly “did not disclose his ties to Yemen Crisis Watch, or register the group under foreign lobbying laws, despite receiving $250,000 from the Embassy of Qatar.”
- More Personal Use: Roll Call reports that the Office of Congressional Ethics found that a West Virginia Congressman “spent thousands of campaign dollars on personal expenses, including numerous fast food meals and family excursions to West Virginia resorts.” He has since “paid his campaign back more than $12,000.” The report also found that the “campaign failed to properly disclose at least” $40,000 in accordance with Federal Election Commission regulations.
- Afghanistan Spurs Lobbying Activity: Politico observes that, as a result of geopolitical changes, “a slew of Middle Eastern countries — Qatar, Libya and Turkey among them — have put out feelers to D.C. lobbying firms in an effort to bolster their presence in the U.S. capital… A few lobbying firms, meanwhile, have already reached out to pitch their services to Ali Nazary, Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Massoud’s head of foreign relations and spokesperson.” The article also notes that “Government officials and organizations in Saudi Arabia, among the most aggressive countries in its D.C. lobbying presence, reported paying $31 million to their FARA-registered lobbyists and public relations professionals in 2020.”