No RGIII, only today’s political law links

MEMBER WEALTH.  Roll Call.  “Rep. Darrell Issa — long one of the wealthiest lawmakers — is now the richest member of Congress with a reported minimum net worth of more than $355 million.”

TREASURER RESIGNS.  Story here.  “The treasurer of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s campaign committee has resigned less than a month after Jackson and his wife, Sandi, were sentenced to prison for the misuse of about $750,000 in campaign funds to buy luxury goods, vacations and celebrity memorabilia.”

DROPPING THE “L” WORD.  Story here.  “Leaders of a group that has long represented the lobbying industry recommend on Monday that it remove the word ‘lobbyist’ from its name.”

GAMES LOBBYING.  Story here.  “Activision has gone out and hired a lobbyist—one of the biggest lobbying firms in Washington—for representation when Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s violent video games bill, which would order research into any causal links between violent video games and violent behavior, comes to the Senate floor.”

NOMINEES SET TO MOVE.  Senate Rules.  “There will be a meeting of the Committee on Rules and Administration to conduct an executive business meeting to consider the nominations of Ann Miller Ravel and Lee E. Goodman to be members of the Federal Election Commission.”

MI:  ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT.  Story here.  “A former employee at a Grand Rapids political consulting firm allegedly embezzled $120,000 from the company and spent at least some of the funds on Keno, court records show.”

OH:  REQUEST TO INVESTIGATE.  Story here.  “A former political opponent of Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald’s has emerged to call for an investigation into a contribution to FitzGerald’s gubernatorial campaign.”

WV:  PAC CLEARED.  Story here.  “A Mingo County political action committee’s acceptance of improper contributions didn’t violate any state law, an attorney with the Secretary of State’s office said.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Coordination, FPPC disclosure push, and more political law links

BACHMANN COORDINATION ALLEGATIONS. The Times. “Representative Michele Bachmann’s presidential hopes ended 20 months ago, but her brief and chaotic campaign continues to be the focus of ethics investigations.”

CST: SUBPOENA. Here. “The U.S. Justice Department is investigating possibly illegal coordination between U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s 2012 presidential campaign and a political action committee involving the Minnesota Republican’s husband and other campaign officials.”

BACHMANN-OBAMA. Bloomberg. “Does anyone seriously contend that the advertising buys of the super-PACs that supported Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012 were uncoordinated with the strategic needs of the respective campaigns?” A lot of misinformed views and contradictions in this piece.

FOREIGN DONOR ALLEGED. HuffPo. “A joint fundraising committee led by 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has yet to return a seemingly illegal Election Day campaign donation from an Egyptian billionaire with wide-ranging business, media and reformist political interests, Federal Election Commission records indicate.”

KING IN. The Hill. “Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) is running for president.”

DIRECTIONS NOT EARMARKS. Roll Call. “Appropriators who have been hamstrung by a moratorium on earmarks in Congress still have tools they can use to favor particular programs, and they are working against strong headwinds to make sure they can continue to use them this year.”

CA: FPPC-INSPIRED BILLS. Here. “After out-of-state money poured into the 2012 election – most notably, $11 million from an Arizona nonprofit – the Fair Political Practices Commission has considered a slate of bills to fortify disclosure requirements.”

NJ: THE CASE FOR CFR. Here. “When it comes to campaign finance reform in New Jersey, the dribs-and-drabs approach – even when measured in million-dollar penalties — is not working.”

TX: CITY LOBBYIST REGISTRATION ISSUE. Here. “A person is required to register as a lobbyist with the city if the person is paid $200 or more, or spends $200 or more, within a calendar quarter to engage in lobbying activity.”

WA: LOBBYIST MEALS FOCUS. Here. “Washington’s Legislative Ethics Board is tackling the issue of how often lawmakers can accept meals from lobbyists. The Board spent nearly two hours behind closed doors Thursday discussing a complaint against several lawmakers who dined out regularly with lobbyists last session.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Aides fly, ad buys, and more political law links

BITCOIN GIVING. Bloomberg. “The FEC’s legendary dysfunction aside, I don’t think it’ll be easy for it to refuse the PAC’s request. (In an e-mail, former FEC lawyer Kenneth Gross agreed.) As former FEC chairman Trevor Potter noted in another e-mail, campaigns and political committees may already accept contributions in foreign currencies (provided they are from U.S. citizens and don’t exceed limits).”

SCF MCCONNELL AD. Roll Call. “The Senate Conservatives Fund is upping its ante against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell by launching a TV attack ad statewide.”

AIDE TO FIRM. Story here. “A senior aide to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) will join Mercury, a lobbying and public affairs firm.”

AIDE TO DELTA. Story here. “Speaker John Boehner’s policy staffer Will Kinzel is exiting Capitol Hill to become managing director of government affairs at Delta Airlines.”

MAGNATE SENTENCED. Story here. “A Houma businessman was sentenced in federal court on Thursday for making false statements to the Federal Election Commission related to illegal campaign contributions to Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter in 2008. ”

FOR THE DEFENDANT. MainJustice covers a development in the “tussle” over DOJ-FEC relations bubbling up in a court proceeding.

DC: EVANS ISSUES. The Post. “William O. SanFord, general counsel for the Office of Campaign Finance, said during a Wednesday meeting of the Board of Elections that the agency opened a preliminary investigation last month into whether donations to Evans’s constituent service fund broke campaign finance regulations.”

MI: ALLEGATION DENIED. Story here. “New allegations of improper campaign contributions into Detroit’s mayoral election are tonight being brushed off as baseless and having no merit.”

NM: BAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Story here. “U.S. District Judge M. Christina Armijo ruled that Albuquerque’s ban on corporate campaign contributions is unconstitutional.”

VA: VIEW ON LOBBYIST REPORTING CHANGES. Here. “My suggestion is drop the requirement that compensation be reported at all – just ask whether the lobbyist is retained or salaried.”

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HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.