CHINESE TIES NOTED. Story here. “Besides APCO, Huawei has also built an in-housing lobbying shop stocked with former members of Congress and top congressional staff, at a cost of $1.2 million. The Chinese firm also retained the Chicago-based law firm Sidley Austin whose most famous alumnus is First Lady Michelle Obama.”
OBAMA AND CFR. The Post. “The vacancy issue came up at last Thursday’s regular FEC meeting, which featured nearly two dozen schoolchildren in the audience for Take Our Children to Work Day. The scene prompted FEC Chairman Ellen Weintraub — whose term officially expired in 2009 — to pose a question.’Anyone want to be commissioner?’ she asked. A few kids raised their hands. ‘Write the president and tell him you want to be a commissioner, because we need somebody.'”
TECH AND (C)(4)’S. Politico. “Google, Microsoft, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and other digital heavyweights increasingly are borrowing a favorite technique from the world of politics: secret money.”
CREW TERMINATION. Roll Call. “The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a first quarter lobbying report and stated it was a termination report, effective April 19th. The report indicated the committee had spent less than $5,000 on lobbying during the first quarter.”
AZ: WHAT’S NEXT FOR LOBBYIST REGULATION? Here. “But any agreement on solutions, not to mention the political will to enact them, still eludes lawmakers two years after the Fiesta Bowl lobbying scandal roped in dozens of politicians, top bowl officials and a handful of lobbyists.”
AR: BALLOT MEASURE NEEDS CLARITY. Story here. “Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel rejected a proposed ethics reform ballot title Monday on grounds of ambiguous language.”
NJ: PAY TO PLAY MOVE URGED. Here. “The confusion of laws now on the books is no excuse for manipulating them or ignoring them completely. But simpler, all-inclusive regulations spelling out what is wrong and what is right will put all candidates and public officials on the same page.”
NY: PUBLIC FUNDING UPDATE. Story here. “Using public money to help fund political campaigns is either a bona fide way to bolster the influence of small donors or a serious waste of taxpayer dollars, depending on whom you speak to at the state Capitol and which party they belong to.”
NY: GIRLFRIEND AND ETHICS. Story here. “A conservative group wants a ruling on whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s girlfriend, Food Network TV star Sandra Lee, should disclose financial information as if she’s the governor’s wife.”
VA: FBI AND GOV. The Post. “FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor’s daughter, according to four people familiar with the questioning.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.