Essential Ethics

Latest Developments: The United States Department of Justice announced that a “New Jersey woman was sentenced [this week] to two years in prison for engaging in a bribery and procurement fraud scheme while she served as a…

Latest Developments: The Federal Election Commission issued Advisory Opinion 2021-03, which permits “Members of the United State Senate and United States House of Representatives… (to) use campaign funds to pay for bona fide, legitimate, professional personal security personnel…

Latest Developments: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated a guilty verdict in United States v. Rafiekian. The defendant was accused of failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) when lobbying for Turkish…

Latest Developments: The Governor of California issued a memo to his staff and department heads expanding a “ban on political consultants lobbying him and his administration to include unpaid advisers.” According to the Sacramento Bee, the Governor’s staff “asked…

Latest Developments: The Federal Lobbyist Registration threshold has increased from $13,000 in activity per quarter to $14,000 per quarter. The increase is effective for activity from January 1, 2021. As the Senate’s website explains, “An organization employing…

Latest Developments: The Governor of Montana signed SB 1, which revises the definition of “lobbying.” The bill deleted references to “public officials” as the object of lobby efforts and instead uses the term “legislator” to clarify that lobbying…

Latest Developments: The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office issued a revised campaign contribution limit chart for the period from February 25, 2021 to February 24, 2023. For example, the limit on contributions from a PAC to a statewide candidate, such…

Latest Developments: The Governor of Montana issued Executive Order 3-2021, which repeals the Previous Governor’s Executive Order 15-2018. That prior order required certain state contractors to disclose their political expenditures, including contributions and electioneering communications. The Chair of the…

Latest Developments: The Los Angeles County District Attorney announced the indictment of the former Mayor of Maywood, the former City Manager, and the former Building and Planning Director, among others, for corruption involving campaign contributions and bribes in…

Reminders: Contribution Limits Update: Nielsen Merksamer tracks contribution limit changes at the federal, state, and select local levels. During this period in the election cycle (between the November 2020 election and the beginning of 2021)…