CONVICTION UPHELD. CSmonitor.com. “A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the conviction of a Nevada lobbyist, attorney, and developer for making illegal campaign contributions in 2007 to Sen. Harry Reid (D) of Nevada.”
KOCH PLANS. NYT. “The political network overseen by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch plans to spend close to $900 million on the 2016 campaign, an unparalelled effort by outside groups to shape a presidential election that is already on track to be the most expensive in history.”
VOGEL HITS PACS. Politico. ” Since the tea party burst onto the political landscape in 2009, the conservative movement has been plagued by an explosion of PACs that critics say exist mostly to pad the pockets of the consultants who run them.”
CIRCUMVENTION ALLEGED. Statesman Journal. “Ostensibly, coordination isn’t allowed, but if you’re not a candidate there’s no candidate committee to coordinate with.”
OCE IS BACK. Here (h/t Brian Svoboda).
MO: ETHICS SILENCE. Stltoday.com. “Among other things, the bill would establish a two-year waiting period before lawmakers could become lobbyists, similar to the federal law governing U.S. senators. The bill would require much more disclosure among lobbyists. For instance, it would limit the rampant practice of reporting meals bought for entire committees instead of the individual lawmakers who accepted them. It would stop the practice of allowing lobbyists to obscure their clients by claiming to be lobbying for another lobbying firm. And it would ban the practice of sitting lawmakers also working as political consultants at the same time, as former Speaker of the House Rod Jetton did.”
MT: SETTLEMENT. MTstandard.com. “A Republican state lawmaker has agreed to pay a $4,000 fine and not run for public officer for four years to settle a lawsuit that accuses him of breaking campaign finance laws.”
VA: REVISITING ETHICS. Roanoke.com. “Virginia lawmakers will take a closer look at ethics legislation as the General Assembly session heads into its third week.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.