Open Secrets: Foreign lobbyists and agents acting on behalf of foreign interests have reported hundreds of millions of dollars in payments since January 2017, an analysis of OpenSecrets’ exclusive new Foreign Lobby Watch data reveals. Today we’re making available, for the first … Continue reading
Category Archives: lobbying
CPI reports. … Continue reading
The Atlantic reports. … Continue reading
Quite a story in the WSJ. … Continue reading
Raymond Fisman writes. … Continue reading
Ellen Aprill oped in the Hill: As a result of these changes, estimates of the percentage of taxpayers who will itemize has fallen to somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent. The vast majority of taxpayers will benefit more from taking the standard deduction. Those … Continue reading
ProPublica: When the Trump administration took office early last year, hundreds of staffers from lobbying firms, conservative think tanks and Trump campaign groups began pouring into the very agencies they once lobbied or whose work they once opposed. Today we’re … Continue reading
CPI: By law, corporations and organizations that lobby the federal government must disclose certain charitable contributions to nonprofits, including ones such as the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation that are intimately tied to lawmakers. They also must disclose spending to “honor” lawmakers and … Continue reading
Roll Call reports. … Continue reading
Fredreka Schouten for USA Today. … Continue reading
The Hill reports. … Continue reading
Fredreka Schouten for USA Today. … Continue reading
Bloomberg Businessweek. … Continue reading
Legbranch.com reports. … Continue reading
What a lede on this NYT story; Vanessa Alarid was a lobbyist in New Mexico when she asked a lawmaker over drinks one night if she could count on his support for a bill that appeared to be coming down … Continue reading
BuzzFeed: The threat of serving hard time for failing to disclose foreign lobbying work is rattling Washington’s multi-billion dollar influence industry following Monday’s 12-count indictment against Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates. And although the charges … Continue reading
NBC: The sources said the investigation into Podesta and his company began as more of a fact-finding mission about the ECMU and Manafort’s role in the campaign, but has now morphed into a criminal inquiry into whether the firm violated … Continue reading
From the Miami New Times. … 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
NYT: The sweeping tax rewrite unveiled by President Trump and Republican lawmakers this past week leaves many of the details to Congress, but two sentences in the nine-page framework have Washington lobbyists salivating over a payday that some industry experts … Continue reading
Nick Confessore has this piece for the NYT magazine, with the subhead: “”His presidency has changed the rules of influence in the nation’s capital — and spawned a new breed of lobbyist on K Street.” … Continue reading
NYT: About a week after leaving his old firm, Mr. Lewandowski started a new consulting business, according to corporate filings. And now, as he takes on an increasingly broad role as an unofficial White House adviser, he is building a … Continue reading
What could go wrong? … Continue reading
Roll Call: If you bemoan lobbyists or the revolving door that spins between government service and K Street, blame Congress. The shift on Capitol Hill to centralize much of the major policymaking in leadership offices, as opposed to committees, along … Continue reading
Politico: At least a half-dozen former lobbyists are working in President Donald Trump’s White House even though they haven’t received waivers from the administration’s ethics rules, raising questions about how much the rules do to prevent conflicts of interest. … Continue reading
Matea Gold for WaPo. … Continue reading
Eric Lipton for the NYT: The White House unexpectedly backed down Friday in a confrontation with the government’s top ethics officer, announcing it will publicly disclose waivers that have been quietly handed out since January to let certain former lobbyists … Continue reading
Interesting project. … Continue reading
NYT: The federal government’s top ethics officer is challenging the Trump administration’s issuance of secret waivers that allow former lobbyists to handle matters they recently worked on, setting up a confrontation between the ethics office and President Trump. The move … Continue reading
WaPo: Industries from around the world spent nearly $1 billion to lobby the federal government during the first quarter of this year, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics — the highest in five years. The uptick … Continue reading
New GAO report. … Continue reading
Release: Today, in the spirit of Sunshine Week, the Center for Responsive Politics introduces Foreign Lobby Watch, allowing users of its OpenSecrets.org website to search filings required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). … Continue reading
ProPublica: While President Trump has not moved to fill many jobs that require Senate confirmation, he has quietly installed hundreds of officials to serve as his eyes and ears at every major federal agency, from the Pentagon to the Department … Continue reading
NYT: These are just a few of the more than 90 regulations that federal agencies and the Republican-controlled Congress have delayed, suspended or reversed in the month and a half since President Trump took office, according to a tally by … Continue reading
The Stetson Law Review will be hosting a symposium on the intersection of election law and corporate law on Friday, March 24, 2017. Great line-up and live webcast! … Continue reading
CPI reports. … Continue reading
Justin Elliott for Pro Publica. … Continue reading
Riveting, must-read by Brody Mullins in the WSJ, with the subhead: “Evan Morris, a high-flying corporate lobbyist, is suspected of embezzling millions of dollars in what is shaping up to be a sprawling Washington influence scandal.” … Continue reading
Justin Elliott for ProPublica. … Continue reading
The Hill reports. … Continue reading
Roll Call: K Street has entered the Trump era. Lobbyists and organizations that seek to influence Washington mostly neglected the presidential campaign of Donald Trump early last year, but by the end of 2016, the sector had begun to embrace … Continue reading
Eric Wang oped in The Hill. … Continue reading
Anchorage Daily News report. … Continue reading
Matea Gold for WaPo: President Trump on Saturday signed a far-reaching ethics policy that will make it harder for administration appointees to profit off their time in government as lobbyists, while also carving out loopholes that government watchdogs said will … Continue reading
The Hill reports. … Continue reading
Politico: Despite President-elect Donald Trump’s much-publicized efforts to keep lobbyists out of his administration, they have continued to offer policy advice, recommend job candidates and contribute money to his transition team, according to a POLITICO investigation. And while they’re barred … Continue reading
CNN: One of President-elect Donald Trump’s top congressional liaisons is making the jump to K Street instead of joining the Trump administration. Scott Mason, who worked as the Trump campaign’s director of congressional relations for the House of Representatives, is … Continue reading
Roll Call reports. … Continue reading