Category Archives: conflict of interest laws
In Missouri, Sex (With Lobbyists) Might Be a “Gift”
“How Obama failed to shut Washington’s revolving door”
Josh Gerstein with this year’s most important piece on lobbying:
The vow of a novice Chicago senator to freeze out lobbyists and nail shut the revolving door was no throwaway line in Barack Obama’s stump speech. It was central to… Continue reading
“Harry Reid Directly Solicited Contribution From Private Equity Giant Before Controversial Rider”
HuffPost:
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy argued that legalizing unlimited election giving to groups such as super PACs would have no corrupting effect on democracy because PACs are independent from the candidates. Luckily for Kennedy, he was not among… Continue reading
“Political Intelligence Firm Fined $375,000, Underscoring Need to Tailor Insider Trading Policies to Interactions with Government”
“Tighter Lid on Records Threatens to Weaken Government Watchdogs”
What happened to the Obama administration’s commitment to be the most transparent Administration? Not looking good. NYT:
The continuing Honduran inquiry is one of at least 20 investigations across the government that have been slowed, stymied or sometimes closed… Continue reading
“Congressional Energy Chairs Form Fundraising Committee, Rake In Oil, Gas Cash As They Push Bills For Fossil Fuel Industry”
“Sacramento County elections office needs overhaul”
Brad Buyse oped in the SacBee:
As a former employee of Sacramento County for 30 years – including 20 in the elections office and the last 12 as its campaign services manager – I am indeed concerned about aconflict … Continue reading
“Watchdogs Press for New Rules Allowing Review and Audits of Taxpayer–Funded Expenditures by Members of Congress”
Release:
Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Common Cause, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen urged the Committee on House Administration to adopt new rules making clear that expenditures from Members’ Representation Allowances (MRAs) are subject to review and… Continue reading
“Donald Trump’s candidacy raises novel ethics questions”
Fredreka Schouten for USA Today:
If voters decide to hire billionaire Donald Trump as their president in 2016, they couldn’t actually fire him from the job he now holds.
Federal law doesn’t explicitly prohibit President Trump from continuing to run… Continue reading
“Ethics probe finds California Rep. Honda may have mixed official and campaign business”
WaPo:
A congressional ethics panel announced Thursday that Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) may have improperly used tax-payer funded congressional staff and resources for campaign activity in 2012 and 2014.
A report from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) found… Continue reading
“Lawmakers Introduce Solution to Wall Street Conflicts of Interest; New Public Citizen Report Highlights Extent of Problem”
Release:
In an effort to rein in conflicts of interest and revolving door abuses within financial regulatory agencies, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) today introduced the Financial Services Conflict of Interest Act – a… Continue reading
“Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton’s State Department”
“10 members of Congress took trip secretly funded by foreign government”
WaPo:
The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference at Baku on the Caspian Sea in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, according to a confidential ethics report obtained… Continue reading