PROSECUTORS’ SUSPENSIONS REVERSED. The Times. “An administrative judge has overturned the suspensions of two federal prosecutors whom the Justice Department had tried to discipline for failing to turn over evidence that might have helped the defense in the botched corruption trial against Senator Ted Stevens.”
NPR ON HEARING. Here.
HEARING AND PROBES. Politico. “Obama administration officials on Tuesday acknowledged the difficulties of enforcing campaign finance laws in a post-Citizens United world, but remained tight-lipped over whether the influx of anonymous spending had triggered any federal probes.”
PETITION ON NONPROFITS. Roll Call. “The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a rulemaking petition with the Internal Revenue Service seeking to amend the rules that permit 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups with a ‘primary purpose’ of promoting social welfare to engage in electoral activities.”
LDA REPORT EXPECTATIONS. Roll Call. “We anticipate the 2013 first quarter lobbying expenditures to be above $750 million. Lobbying reports are due by 4/22 and many are already being filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.”
AZ: LIMITS INCREASE POSSIBLE. News here. “Arizona Republican lawmakers are poised to wildly increase the state’s campaign finance limits.”
FL: ETHICS AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE: IT’S COMPLICATED. News here. “Obviously, more to come.”
MD: “LLC LOOPHOLE” UPDATE. Story here. “The major news from the bill is the closure of the ‘LLC loophole,’ whereby the owners of many limited liability companies (mostly these are developers) could give the maximum amount to each candidate through each company. So instead of being limited to $4,000, they could give $4,000 times as many companies as they owned.”
NJ: THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG. Here. “A Democratic group seeking to raise unlimited amounts of money to support or defeat New Jersey candidates for the Legislature this year is suing in federal court to overturn contribution limits ordered last month by a state agency.”
NC: PERDUE CASE UPDATE. News here. “A Wake County grand jury is asking the district attorney to determine if a supporter of former Gov. Bev Perdue violated state campaign finance laws.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.