Good morning, here are today’s political law links, 3/18/13

LEE RADEK, 69. The Post. “Mr. Radek worked for the Justice Department for more than three decades, beginning in 1971 when he joined the criminal division as a trial lawyer. Five years later, he moved to the fledgling Public Integrity Section, which was created in the wake of the Watergate scandal and tasked with the investigation of corruption by public officials.”

IMPORTANT WOMBLE CARLYLE ALERT ON FCC DISCLOSURE ISSUE. Here. “In recent months, a number of media buyers have had funds stolen from their bank accounts. Even after repeatedly opening and closing accounts to stop the theft, tens of thousands of dollars have been diverted to accounts across the country and across the world. Unfortunately, it would appear that the thieves are obtaining the media buyers’ account information from none other than the U.S. government through the FCC’s on-line political files. While we understand that the FCC may soon address this problem, there are steps that broadcasters and media buyers can take to minimize these risks.”

VOTE ON BAN. Story here. “Now, a Starbucks investor wants [Starbucks CEO Howard] Schultz to go one better by prohibiting the world’s biggest coffee chain from making political contributions or forming a political action committee.”

PEPSICO DEAL. Story here. “PepsiCo will disclose information about its lobbying and trade-group contributions as part of a deal announced Friday by New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.”

MENENDEZ UPDATE. USAT. “Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is under investigation by a grand jury over his ties to a wealthy donor and friend in Florida, according to a newspaper report.”

SUPER PAC ATTACK. Time. “Grassroots conservative activists are attacking the Karl Rove-backed Super PAC American Crossroads as ineffective in a letter to top-dollar Republican donors in an effort to protest against the group’s pledge to play a role in Republican primaries.”

K ST. CHILL. Roll Call. “K Street shops, many in revenue decline for the past couple of years, can no longer afford the luxury of a high-priced former member. Senators usually don’t entertain offers worth less than $1 million, and House members’ threshold is typically about $700,000. And it’s an investment with no guaranteed payoff. Ever.”

FL: GUILTY PLEA. Story here. “Sternad is scheduled to be back in court May 31 to be sentenced for accepting illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy and making a false statement — the three charges he pleaded guilty to Friday in a 43-minute hearing.”

NY: LIU UPDATE. NY Post. “Liu’s former campaign treasurer and a campaign contributor go on trial next month on federal charges of using straw donors to make illegal donations that taxpayers would later match.”

NYC: SUPER PAC MAYORAL IMPACT. Story here. “They were a force in the 2012 elections, so why not in this year’s mayoral race?”

UT: GROUP URGES LEAVE. Story here. “The group Utahns for Ethical Government said Friday that Attorney General John Swallow should take administrative leave until the U.S. Attorney’s office completes an investigation into his conduct.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Political law links for 3/13/13

RING SEEKS REVIEW. BLT. “Ring’s lawyers at Miller & Chevalier on Monday asked the full D.C. Circuit to review the panel decision, arguing that the ruling conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent and decisions in other federal appellate courts.”

BROWN CLARIFIES. Story here. “‘Obviously, I have a prohibition from lobbying members of Congress for two years, so I can’t lobby members of Congress, but certainly I can instruct the firm on their making an approach and trying to do something — the pitfalls and potential problem areas — so they can make good decisions moving forward,’ Brown said.”

TROTTER ON OFA. Here. “The ultimate message voters should take away from the Organizing for America kerfuffle: Whenever you hear a self-proclaimed reformer attack the evils of big money, watch what they do, not what they say.”

AK: REFORMS CONSIDERED. Story here. “Two members of the Republican-led House majority say they’re inclined to support a resolution calling for changes to campaign finance laws.”

FL: MEGA PACS? Story here. “Political slush funds will get a new name and campaign finance limits will rise for statewide candidates under a Senate campaign finance bill that won unanimous approval by a Senate committee on Monday.”

GA: ETHICS BILL UPDATE. Story here. “The Senate Ethics Committee unanimously approved Tuesday the lesser of two noteworthy ethics bills this legislative session.”

HI: REFORM DEBATED. Story here. “The House judiciary committee planned to meet today to discuss reforming campaign finance reporting requirements. Members will also consider amending the Big Island’s pilot project for publicly funded campaigns to help increase its appeal.”

MI: 21 BILLS. Story here. “House Democrats are pushing a package of 21 bills aiming to reform ethics and campaign finance rules for elected officials and require more financial disclosures from corporations that generally support Republicans.”

NV: REVOLVING DOOR CHANGE SOUGHT. Story here. “Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, is proposing a bill that would bar legislators from acting as paid lobbyists for the first session that they are out of office.”

VT: VOTE DELAYED. Story here. “A Vermont Senate committee delayed final action on a bill Tuesday to rewrite Vermont’s campaign finance law after a longtime advocate for tough spending limits called a 250 percent increase in what people could contribute to statewide candidates cause for ‘outrage.’

HAVE A GREAT DAY. I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday. Have a great rest of the week.

Here are 3/12/13 political law links

BROWN TO FIRM. Roll Call. “The Boston office of law and lobbying firm Nixon Peabody has nabbed former Sen. Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., as counsel.”

COSTELLO OPENS FIRM. Story here. “Former U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello of southern Illinois is opening a lobbying firm.”

OFA AND THE ABSURD. The Hill. “White House press secretary Jay Carney insisted Monday it was ‘absurd and wrong’ to accuse Organizing for Action, the nonprofit group birthed from President Obama’s reelection campaign, of selling access to the president.”

JACKSON ADVISORY OPINION NOTED. Roll Call. “In essence, the FEC opinion allowed the Jacksons to legally transfer campaign funds into their personal accounts. Once on that path, it probably wasn’t a big step for Jackson to authorize payments to his wife for work she hadn’t done.”

TESTER AND E-FILING. USAT. “Even though most services are now online, from bank statements to brokerage accounts, members of the U.S. Senate continue to file campaign-finance reports the old-fashioned way: on paper.”

CRAIG HEARING. AP. “A federal judge sounded skeptical Monday of former Sen. Larry Craig’s claim that he properly used $217,000 in campaign funds for his legal defense after his arrest in a 2007 airport bathroom sex sting.”

SUNSHINE WEEK. This week is Sunshine Week: “Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.”

CT: LOBBYIST STATUS. Here. “When is a lobbyist not a lobbyist?”

NC: REPORTS LATE. Story here. “The State Board of Elections is sending more than 150 letters to candidate, party, PAC and other committees that haven’t filed required fourth-quarter or year-end campaign finance reports for 2012, according to a report from Patrick Gannon of The Insider.”

UT: ETHICS BILL ADVANCES. Story here. “As two top state leaders are already under investigation, the Senate passed a bill Monday to form a new independent ethics commission for the executive branch.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.