Category Archives: lobbying

“Prominent Lawyer’s Trial Will Test Crackdown on Unregistered Foreign Agents”

August 12, 2019, 7:21 amlobbyingRick Hasen

NYT: Not long before Christmas 2012, Paul Manafort, then a foreign lobbyist, congratulated Gregory B. Craig, a well-known Washington lawyer, on the release of a report that Mr. Manafort had commissioned to help Ukraine’s pro-Russian president polish his image… Continue reading

“Legal scholars say life lobbying ban might not be constitutional”

August 6, 2019, 12:50 pmlobbyingRick Hasen

Politico reports.

“Democrats swore off donations from lobbyists and fossil fuel execs. But some are skirting their own rules.”

July 29, 2019, 7:27 amcampaign finance, campaigns, lobbyingRick Hasen

WaPo: Among New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s donors to his presidential campaign is a vice president of a leading pharmaceutical company. The senior vice president of Comcast who oversees the company’s lobbying efforts hosted a fundraiser for former vice… Continue reading

“Federal Inquiry of Trump Friend Focused on Foreign Lobbying”

July 28, 2019, 6:13 pmlobbyingRick Hasen

NYT: As Donald J. Trump was preparing to deliver an address on energy policy in May 2016, Paul Manafort, his campaign chairman, had a question about the speech’s contents for Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a top campaign fund-raiser and close… Continue reading

“Dem front-runners cash in on slippery definition of lobbying”

July 23, 2019, 5:44 amcampaign finance, lobbyingRick Hasen

Politico: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and other leading Democratic presidential candidates have sworn off contributions from Washington lobbyists as a way to insulate themselves from those who might try to shape their agendas if elected.But they’re hardly… Continue reading

“‘Let’s make a deal’: AOC and Ted Cruz (yes, that’s right) teaming up to fix Washington”

May 30, 2019, 8:35 pmlobbyingRick Hasen

WaPo: Ocasio-Cortez tweeted an analysis from the watchdog group Public Citizen that found nearly 60 percent of former members from the last Congress who have jobs taken outside of politics are lobbying or influencing federal policy in some way,… Continue reading

Sixth Circuit Unanimously Rejects Challenge to Kentucky Lobbyist/Campaign Contribution Rules

May 30, 2019, 1:25 pmcampaign finance, lobbyingRick Hasen

See the opinion in Schickel v. Moellman here. Some rejections were on standing grounds and some on the merits.

“Pete Buttigieg Swears Off the Lobbyist Money He Once Accepted”

April 26, 2019, 8:55 pmlobbyingRick Hasen

NYT: Pete Buttigieg, whose upstart presidential campaign has benefited from an early surge of donations and national attention, will no longer accept contributions from federal lobbyists, his campaign said Friday, bowing to pressure from fellow Democrats who want to… Continue reading

“Ex-Obama Counsel Expects to Be Charged Soon in Mueller-Related Case”

April 11, 2019, 7:08 amlobbyingRick Hasen

NYT: Lawyers for Gregory B. Craig, a White House counsel in the Obama administration, expect him to be indicted in the coming days on charges related to his work for the Russia-aligned government of Ukraine.The case against Mr. Craig,… Continue reading

“Lobbying Case Against Democrat With Ties to Manafort Reaches Key Stage”

March 19, 2019, 7:35 amlobbyingRick Hasen

NYT: A long-running federal investigation into a former White House counsel in the Obama administration is reaching a critical stage, presenting the Justice Department with a decision about whether to charge a prominent Democrat as part of a more aggressive… Continue reading

“New Report Surveys Speech-Chilling Statutes Across the Country”

March 19, 2019, 7:25 amcampaign finance, lobbyingRick Hasen

IFS: The Institute for Free Speech today published a first-of-its-kind survey of campaign speech regulations and grassroots lobbying laws that implicate First Amendment freedoms.The survey looks at state laws in twelve distinct policy areas, ranging from electioneering communications statutes… Continue reading

“Justice Dept. to Step Up Enforcement of Foreign Influence Laws”

March 7, 2019, 2:00 pmlobbyingJustin Levitt

DOJ announces a step up in enforcement of statutes regulating foreign influence, including the Foreign Agents Registration Act … including a new team headed by a former Mueller prosecutor. And a useful thread here explaining the import.

8th Circuit Agrees to Rehear En Banc Case Involving Missouri Lobbying Registration

January 28, 2019, 5:36 pmlobbyingRick Hasen

Press release via email: The Institute for Free Speech applauds the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals’ significant and unusual decision to rehear Calzone v. Missouri Ethics Commission. The case concerns a Missouri law that forces unpaid citizen activists to comply… Continue reading

“Anonymous ‘ghost ship’ is among groups flooding drug pricing debate”

January 23, 2019, 7:10 amlobbyingRick Hasen

WaPo: The political war over prescription drug practices is spawning a frenzy of activity by outside lobbying groups, some with names that mask their ties to industry and one that has gone to great lengths to disguise its origins. The… Continue reading