POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE PROBE. CNBC. “A Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into stock trading after a leak involving a government decision is a ‘very gray area,’ former SEC attorney Jacob Frenkel told CNBC on Thursday.”
CLIENT ALERT ON DOMA AND CONTRIBUTIONS. Perkins Coie. “Going forward, same-sex couples who wish to make political contributions out of shared assets may take advantage of their separate, individual contribution limits simply by giving from a joint account and instructing the campaign to attribute the donation between the two contributors.”
KOCH PLANS. The Times. “While awaiting an internal audit headed by a top Koch Industries executive, the brothers have rejected any notion of stepping back from electoral politics. Strikingly, after years of nurturing a political network and donor base largely independent from traditional Republican circles, the Kochs are planning to substantially increase their involvement in party affairs.”
“LOBBYISTS AT WORK.” Professor Beth Leech’s new book looks interesting and is available for preorder here.
ZUCK LOBBYING CRITICISM. Here. “But given that Mark Zuckerberg and the other technology pioneers who are behind FWD.us have risen to prominence by spearheading disruptive innovations, reverting to such traditional lobbying tactics seems like a missed opportunity for meaningful change. Technology companies live and die by how innovative their products are, our organizing and lobbying tactics should be no different.”
CA: GREUEL ACCUSATIONS. News here. “Los Cerritos Community Newspaper journalists claim they conducted a six-month investigation into Greuel’s day-to-day activities and claim ‘a majority of her official city schedule has been dedicated to political activities including the solicitation of campaign donations to her Mayoral campaign,’ according to a letter distributed by the group.”
MO: BILL UPDATE. Story here. “The Missouri Senate declined to vote on an ethics bill, including a proposal to reinstate campaign contribution limits.”
NY: ETHICS BUMPS. WNYC. “A former prosecutor in then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office is resigning her post as executive director of the state’s Joint Committee on Public Ethics. Ellen Biben has led the ethics panel since its launch in February of last year, and is the second member to resign in recent weeks.”
VA: AG CAN WITHDRAW. The Post. “A judge ruled Thursday to recuse the office of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II from the prosecution of the former governor’s mansion chef, appointing a Norfolk prosecutor to handle the embezzlement case instead.”
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.