Latest Developments:
- The United States Department of Justice announced indictments against eight people for “conspiring to make and conceal conduit and excessive campaign contributions.” Politico reports that, among those indicted is George Nader, a “(l)obbyist known for Trump ties (who is) charged with steering illegal contributions to (Hillary) Clinton” during the 2016 election.
- The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a District Court’s holding that a Maryland law, which required online platforms (websites, social media, etc.), including those of press entities, to publish records about anyone sponsoring political speech on the platform and to maintain them for government inspection, is unconstitutional as applied to press entities. In Washington Post v. McManus the court found the requirements burdened activity protected by the First Amendment and were insufficiently tailored the stated purpose of combating foreign meddling.
- The Washington, D.C. City Council held a special meeting this week and voted 12-0 to expel a member for ethics violations. According to the Washington Post, the member is accused of “repeated ethics violations.” The vote “was the first step in the process of expulsion, which requires approval by 11 members.”
- The Governor of Illinois signed S.B. 1639, which requires lobbyists to disclose sub-lobbyists, any local governments in the state where the lobbyist is or will be registered, and any office the lobbyist holds in the state. This bill also directs the Secretary of State to create a searchable public database of lobbyist information within 90 days. The bill took effect December 5.
- The Governor of Massachusetts approved H.B. 4087, which requires certain legislative and mayoral candidates and committees to designate a bank or other financial institution as their depository. Thus, the measure will require those banks to file reports directly with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance that disclose the candidates and committees’ activities. The measure takes effect April 30, 2020. According to the Cape Code Times, this brings legislators and mayors into the same reporting system that statewide candidates have been using.
- The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board announced the appointment of Mike Marshall as Executive Director. He is the chief of licensure at the state’s Department of Public Health, but is best known as having served as the Secretary of the State Senate for 18 years.
In Case You Missed It:
- JCOPE Backs Down in the face of F-Bombs and Negative Publicity: The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics has dropped any further action against a victim of child molestation who spent her own money to advocate for passage of the Child Victims Act. The Albany Times-Union reports that the Commission sent the woman a 5-page letter concluding that, while she likely “exceeded the $5,000 spending threshold that requires registration as a lobbyist in New York by paying for signs promoting passage of the law,” the Commission “would not take further action.” The letter lays out the Commission’s case, but also recites the woman’s profane and threatening communications to the Commission, noting that her responses were “in such a manner that the Commission was unable to resolve the matter.” JCOPE threatened future enforcement if she doesn’t register or stop her activity. The woman maintains that she spoke for herself, was not a lobbyist, and didn’t spend more than $5,000.
- LA to Ban Developer Contributions – After all Contributions are Collected: According to the Los Angeles Times, the city’s leaders are about to approve an ordinance that would ban contributions from real estate developers with projects pending in City Hall. However, the fundraising restrictions will “go into effect after the March 2022 city primary election,” leaving “more than two years” to collect contributions. In addition, officials will “still be able to ask real estate developers pursuing L.A. projects to make contributions to their favored charities and governmental initiatives – a practice known as “‘behesting.’”
- Pay-to-Play Indictment: The former head of the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum Authority has been charged with a crime for negotiating a deal on naming rights with RingCentral that included a $50,000 fee to the executive. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the executive “sent three emails to RingCentral – on June 17, June 20 and June 25 – each with a different invoice for $50,000.”
- Lobbyist Contributions Still Flow: The Hill reports that lobbyists gave over a half million dollars to 2020 presidential candidates, despite pledges of some candidates not to accept lobbyist money. The figure includes contributions from federal, state, and local lobbyists and unregistered employees of lobbyist firms, but does not include contributions from in-house lobbyists.
- Misuse of Nonprofit by Legislator in the Keystone State: A West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania legislator will resign and plead guilty after being charged with “stealing more than $500,000 from her own nonprofit and spending it on family vacations, designer clothing, furs, personal bills – and her bid for the legislature.” According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, she won a special election last March to replace a member of the legislature who was convicted of “bribery and other charges.” The prosecutor states that the legislator “faces jail time.”
- Colorado Dark Money: Complete Colorado reports that a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit spent nearly $11 million in Colorado in connection with the 2018 election. The spending included a substantial amount spent on the state’s attorney general who bemoaned dark money spending during the campaign and called on his opponent to disclose sources of dark money.
- Lobbyists as Ghost Writers: According to the Washington Post, lawmakers in various states have admitted that editorials written in support of health care changes were, in fact, largely written or heavily edited by health care industry lobbyists. The Post points out that “(n)one of the lawmakers’ columns discloses that they were written with the help of a lobbyist.”