Political law links for Tues., May 15th

HATCH ACT REFORM? Scott Coffina’s discussion of Hatch Act reform is online here. “The purpose of the proposed amendments to the Hatch Act are to spare government employees from some of this law’s harshest applications. This motive is to be applauded, but its execution should be complete, with comprehensive amendments that truly meet that goal.” House Oversight is holding a hearing tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.

EDWARDS TRIAL UPDATE. The N&O. “The treasurer for the John Edwards 2008 presidential campaign testified Monday that even after the criminal indictment was issued against the former Democratic candidate, she did not think it was necessary to change public finance reports to reflect the hundreds of thousands of dollars that now have him in court.”

JUDGE BARS TESTIMONY.  More here.  “In a setback for the defense, the judge in John Edwards’s corruption trial on Monday barred the testimony of a former federal elections official who was prepared to say Mr. Edwards did not violate campaign finance laws.”

NONPROFIT AND PAUL.  Story here.  “A libertarian organization that paid for plane tickets and other expenses for Rep. Ron Paul says after an audit that the Texas Republican defrauded the group for about $20,000.”

DEWEY CLIENTS.  Story here.  “The unraveling of legal giant Dewey & LeBoeuf could leave a small but lucrative lobbying practice up for grabs on K Street.”

FCC AND BROADCASTERS.  Story here.  “TV broadcasters look at the Federal Communications Commission’s recent drive to move them off frequencies and put their political advertising rates on the Internet and draw one conclusion: The FCC has it in for television.”

FORMER OFFICIAL GUILTY.  The Times.  “Pedro Espada Jr., the pugnacious former Democratic state senator who fought his way through a perennial cloud of suspicion to the top ranks of state government only to later become one of the most glaring examples of endemic corruption in Albany, was convicted on Monday of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the nonprofit health care network he founded.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Comments are closed.