LA Times: Facebook, Google and Blue Shield of California are among the companies that contributed $226 million to government causes on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s behalf last year, an unprecedented level of spending that is raising alarms about the influence large … Continue reading
Category Archives: conflict of interest laws
WaPo: The decision by the Republican National Convention to feature President Trump conducting official business inside the White House underscores how he is leveraging the powers of his office for political gain, raising questions about whether an event featured Tuesday … Continue reading
Politico reports. … Continue reading
NYT: When President Trump holds official taxpayer-funded events outside Washington, his audiences are treated to campaign-style speeches and rock music playlists drawn from his political rallies. His appearances at the White House, most recently a rambling Rose Garden news conference, are … Continue reading
LAT: Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the novel coronavirus first struck the U.S., a law enforcement official … Continue reading
New CLC report. … Continue reading
AJC: U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s most recent financial disclosures show that millions of dollars in stocks were sold on her behalf at the same time Congress was dealing with the impact of the coronavirus.The largest transactions — and the most … Continue reading
ProPublica: Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of … Continue reading
My tweet thread begins here: It is easy to lose sight of what's going on given how Trump has been flooding the zone with craziness for so long. Today's comments publicly inviting China to investigate Biden, a political rival, while … Continue reading
New Yorker: Three years ago, the North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows sold a hundred-and-thirty-four-acre property in Dinosaur, Colorado. The buyer was Answers in Genesis, a Christian nonprofit based in Kentucky, which was founded by the Australian creationist Ken Ham. Answers in … Continue reading
With the complaint released today, I’ve been tweeting about the case in this thread: Among the most disturbing allegations are those of a cover up by White House lawyers and the deep involvement of AG Barr. He needs to resign … Continue reading
WaPo: Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a new plan Monday to tackle corruption in Washington, part of the Democratic presidential candidate’s ongoing promises to enact “big structural change” if elected.Warren’s wide-ranging new proposal seeks to dramatically limit the influence of federal … Continue reading
As the majority put it, “But while the existence of a political motivation for a lawsuit does not supply standing, nor does it defeat standing. “ … Continue reading
NYT: “The District Court did not adequately address whether — given the separation of powers issues present in a lawsuit brought by members of the legislative branch against the president of the United States — resolving the legal questions and/or … Continue reading
You can find the opinion here. I wonder whether this will go en banc to the entire 4th Circuit. The panel certainly went further than it had to here at this point given the procedual posture of the case. … Continue reading
NYT: An independent government agency recommended on Thursday that President Trump fire Kellyanne Conway, his White House counselor, for repeated violations of an ethics law barring partisan politics from the federal workplace.In a letter accompanying a report to Mr. Trump, the … Continue reading
Awful. … Continue reading
Mother Jones: Li Yang, the Florida massage parlor entrepreneur who created and operated a business that sold Chinese business executives access to President Donald Trump and his family at Mar-a-Lago, has yet another intriguing line of work. She is an officer of … Continue reading
Mother Jones: The latest Trump political donor to draw controversy is Li Yang, a 45-year-old Florida entrepreneur from China who founded a chain of spas and massage parlors that included the one where New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was … Continue reading
APNPR CBSCNNFoxNBC New York TimesWashington Post USA TodayWall St. JournalHuffPostMother JonesTPMVoxThe Hill (and here, and here) Roll CallThe GuardianTampa Bay Times (bonus: zombies!) … Continue reading
Final vote: 234-193. UPDATE: The text of the whole thing [will be] here. (As of 7:30pm ET on 3/8/19, the only text appears to be from an earlier version: the version actually considered is a combination of this, this, and … Continue reading
NYT: The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee delivered a flurry of document demands to the executive branch and the broader Trump world on Monday that detailed the breadth of the Democrats’ investigation into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and … Continue reading
David Dayen: Few have paid much attention to Kyl, who is wrapping up one of the strangest and — to his critics — one of the most corrupt tenures in the modern history of the Senate. Kyl was a registered … Continue reading
NYT: It was only a week ago that Rick Scott, the Republican governor of Florida and candidate for the United States Senate, claimed on television that “rampant fraud” was perhaps imperiling his election to Congress, and that he was asking the state … Continue reading
BuzzFeed: Republican Gov. Rick Scott has filed at least five lawsuits since Thursday against county election officials and instructed state police to investigate them for “fraud.” But on Monday, a group of Florida voters and organizations filed their own lawsuit that alleges … Continue reading
Jeff Hauser explains. … Continue reading
WSJ: President Trump personally directed an effort in February to stop Stormy Daniels from publicly describing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, people familiar with the events say…. Mr. Trump told Mr. Cohen to coordinate the legal response with … Continue reading
NYT: Congressional Democrats cleared a key hurdle on Friday in their effort to sue President Trump over whether he is illegally profiting from business dealings with foreign governments, in a case that could give the lawmakers access to the Trump … Continue reading
Pema Levy for Mother Jones. … Continue reading
KC Star: No law requires Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to recuse himself from a recount in the governor’s race, but legal and political experts say that he should to maintain trust in the election. Republican legislative leaders said … Continue reading
WaPo: Activist groups in Georgia are calling on Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp to step down as secretary of state, a post that includes responsibility for overseeing the state’s elections. Kemp, through his campaign spokesman, has said he will not … Continue reading
NYT: A lawsuit accusing President Trump of violating the Constitution by maintaining a financial interest in his company’s Washington hotel cleared a critical hurdle on Wednesday when a federal judge allowed the case to move forward. In the first judicial opinion to … Continue reading
Release: A new report released today by Issue One and Campaign Legal Center (CLC) called, “All Expenses Paid: How Leadership PACs Became Politicians’ Preferred Ticket to Luxury Living”reveals how many federal lawmakers continue to exploit loopholes and lax enforcement to tap their leadership PAC funds … Continue reading
NYT: A federal judge on Monday sharply criticized the Justice Department’s argument that President Trump’s financial interest in his company’s hotel in downtown Washington is constitutional, a fresh sign that the judge may soon rule against the president in a … Continue reading
WaPo: The Senate Ethics Committee said Thursday that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who avoided conviction in a federal corruption trial last year, violated federal law and Senate rules in accepting unreported gifts from a friend and political ally whom Menendez … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
Common Cause release. … Continue reading
NYT: That type of arrangement — appointments go out, campaign cash comes back in — has vexed government reformers in Albany for generations. Things were supposed to change in 2007, when Eliot L. Spitzer, then the newly elected governor, issued … Continue reading
CNN reports. … Continue reading
NYT: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration is reinterpreting its reinterpretation. In the five days since The New York Times reported that Mr. Cuomo had construed an executive order to enable himself to collect roughly $890,000 in campaign money from his appointees to … Continue reading
AP: A statement released by the Trump campaign attributed to White House senior adviser Jared Kushner Tuesday is in seeming violation of federal law prohibiting the use of official titles in political work.. … Continue reading
CPI reports. … Continue reading
Great reporting from John Myers for the LAT: For three years, Lehane and Fabiani served as directors of Main Street American Values — an organization with no staff and a low public profile. In every year the nonprofit made donations, … Continue reading
WSJ: The hearing Wednesday marked the first public airing of arguments over the scope of the provisions and the definition of an “emolument.” Democrats in Congress and the attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland filed similar lawsuits … Continue reading
NYT: Donald J. Trump, Defendant” has graced reams of court papers through decades of dealmaking and New York real estate litigiousness. “Donald J. Trump, in his official capacity as President of the United States of America” remains a relatively new … Continue reading
Roll Call: A recent panel discussion about alleged governmental corruption in Ukraine, organized by lobbyist and former Rep. Connie Mack, has raised questions about the appropriate uses of meeting rooms under the House speaker’s jurisdiction. It also offers a glimpse into … Continue reading
Dan Weiner: The reality is that, notwithstanding anything OGE says, federal law contains broad prohibitions against bribery, conflicts of interest, and similar misconduct. Any government official or employee who uses her position to benefit a donor to her legal defense … Continue reading
Politico: The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has quietly reversed its own internal policy prohibiting anonymous donations from lobbyists to White House staffers who have legal defense funds. The little-noticed change could help President Donald Trump’s aides raise the money … Continue reading
CPI reports: A review of mandatory personal financial disclosure forms filed by all current members of the House and Senate reveals at least 19 have accepted loans from organizations or moneyed individuals instead of a bank or traditional financial institution. Often, … Continue reading
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs. … Continue reading