NEW TRIAL DENIED. SDU. “Federal prosecutors charged José Azano with orchestrating a scheme to funnel campaign contributions to two mayoral candidates, Democratic Rep. Bob Filner and Republican District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The money came in the form of straw donations and contributions made to independent committees via either a shell corporation of Azano’s or through businesses owned by a La Jolla luxury car dealer who was a friend and associate of Azano.”
ACTIVISM AFTER WORK AND THE LAW. WP. “There is also no federal law that explicitly protects private-sector employees for off-duty political activism, though the National Labor Relations Act gives protection for union-related political activity…”
CHARITIES AND POLITICS ALLEGED. WP. “Charities have been around since the nation’s beginning, as citizens sought to help schools, churches and the poor. Decades ago, Congress created a special section of the IRS code to define and regulate charities, which are known as 501(c)(3) groups under the code. They have a special allure for donors: They can deduct contributions from their taxes.”
AZ: INDICTMENT OF LOBBYIST AND OTHERS. USN. “Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is urging people not to jump to conclusions in the indictment of a lobbyist, who is his friend, and three other people.”
DC: MINOR FINE. WP. “A D.C. Council member who assured the public last month that he had ‘completely accounted for and properly reported’ campaign contributions at the center of a city audit failed to meet the deadline and has been ordered to pay $5,100 in fines.”
MI: SPOTLIGHT ON LOBBYING. DFP. “A court fight between the State of Michigan and electric car manufacturer Tesla could give Michigan taxpayers a rare glimpse at what goes on between powerful lobbyists, state lawmakers, and the governor’s office.”
MO: APPEALING DECISION. STL. “Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is trying to keep the state’s limits on campaign contributions intact after a federal judge put parts of the new law on hold this month.”
NJ: PAY TO PLAY PRISON SENTENCE. APP. “Two more former executives with the defunct Birdsall Services Group were sentenced to jail terms Friday for their roles in the pay-to-play scandal that toppled the Eatontown-based engineering giant.”
NY: COUNTY REFORM. HV1. “Flanked by good-government advocates County Executive Mike Hein on Wednesday, May 31 unveiled proposed legislation that would make Ulster the first upstate county to offer public matching funds for elections.”
PA: SENTENCING DELAY. MC. “Sentencing hearings scheduled Wednesday were delayed for a former Allentown elected official and for the president of an engineering firm who pleaded guilty in the ongoing pay-to-play investigation focused on City Hall.”
TX: WHAT HAPPENED ON ETHICS? TT. “Elected officials who commit felonies while abusing their office will lose their public pensions. State officers and politicians who make money from government contracts will finally have to reveal their relationships. And lawmakers who leave the Legislature with fat campaign accounts will be restricted from using the cash to prop themselves up as lobbyists.”
FRA: ETHICS OVERHAUL. NYT. “President Emmanuel Macron’s justice minister François Bayrou presented legislation on Thursday that would drastically rein in abuses in French politics, and would amount to a vigorous reinforcement of the existing ethics apparatus.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.