Hello, here are political law links for Tues., 10/2/12

SUPER PAC SPENDING. Story here. “Election ad spending by super PACs, mostly Republican, has soared to unprecedented levels in key battleground states, some of which have seen an increase of over 200 percent since the 2008 presidential election, according to an authority on TV advertising.”

RECOUNT FUND TOTALS. HuffPo. “The Republican National Committee has counted more than $5 million in contributions it cannot use to help Republican candidates until after the November election as part of the pool of money it has available for the 2012 campaign.”

AZ: COORDINATION ALLEGATIONS. Story here. “A county prosecutor on Monday accused Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne of illegally coordinating his 2010 election campaign with a separate group supposedly operating independently and said he’ll demand that hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions be returned.”

GA: LOBBYIST CONTRACTS. Story here. “Fulton County commissioners will consider approving more than $240,000 in contracts for state- and federal-level lobbyists at Wednesday’s meeting.”

MO: LOBBYIST GIFT BAN PROPOSED. Story here. “A Democratic candidate for the Missouri Senate is calling for a ban on all gifts from lobbyists to state lawmakers, and accusing his opponent of accepting more gifts and free meals over the past decade than any other Missouri legislator.”

NY: GOV. TALKS CFR. Story here. “One upset source said Cuomo told the group he does not expect the issue to pop this fall as the governor had hoped, but said it will be a focus next year.”

SC: ETHICS REFORM COMMITTEE. Story here. “Republican Senate President Pro Tem John Courson of Columbia has convened a panel of five state senators tasked with researching an omnibus ethics reform overhaul for next session.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links (10/1/12)

AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS CASE OPINION. McCutcheon v. FEC.

EC’S BACK. The Hill. “Some political non-profit groups that don’t disclose their donors are redirecting their spending in the wake of a decision that has shaken up campaign finance law.”

DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS? WSJ. “The main body of rules governing political donations is federal election law, a murky amalgamation of statutes that is interpreted and administered by the Federal Election Commission.”

STOCK ACT UPDATE. Here. “President Barack Obama signed into law Friday legislation delaying the implementation of controversial parts of the STOCK Act requiring the online posting of some federal employees’ financial disclosure information.”

PEOPLE’S PLEDGE UPDATE.  Boston Globe.  “The calls are not a violation of the pledge the two candidates signed in January. The ‘People’s Pledge’ penalizes the candidates if outside groups spend money on television, radio, or Internet ads on their behalf. But it does not limit outside mailings or phone calls, something Warren, a Democrat, and Senator Scott Brown, her Republican opponent, acknowledge.”

DC:  BROWN PATTERN ALLEGED.  The Post.  “In interviews, nearly a dozen people affiliated with the 2008 campaign voiced similar concerns: Brown was aloof, a poor manager and had trouble keeping his campaign finances in order.”

IA: CHARGES DROPPED. Story here. “Charges against two men accused of illegally funneling a $25,000 campaign contribution to former Gov. Chet Culver have been dropped.”

NY: SENTENCE IN LOBBYIST CASE. Story here. “Richard J. Lipsky, the prominent New York lobbyist who pleaded guilty in a political corruption case and had been secretly assisting federal investigators, was sentenced to three months in prison on Friday by a judge who said he deserved ‘substantial credit for his cooperation.'”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are Friday’s political law links (9/28)

OPINION ON LOBBYISTS ON BOARDS. The Post. “A federal judge Wednesday upheld an Obama administration ban on lobbyists serving on advisory panels, throwing out a lawsuit brought by six lobbyists who hoped to serve on such boards and committees.”

OPINION ON LOBBYISTS ON BOARDS. Here. “Because the DOC and USTR policy does not offend the Constitution, and it is rationally related to a legitimate government aim, the Court will grant defendants’ motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).”

PAY TO PLAY FINE. Story here. “Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) will pay $14.4 million to resolve regulatory claims that a former banker made improper campaign contributions to a Massachusetts treasurer while seeking state underwriting business.”

SEC RELEASE ON PAY TO PLAY CASE. Here. “While the SEC’s case against Morrison continues, Goldman Sachs agreed to settle the charges by paying $7,558,942 in disgorgement, $670,033 in prejudgment interest, and a $3.75 million penalty, which is the largest ever imposed by the SEC for Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) pay-to-play violations. The SEC coordinated this enforcement action with a related action filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General against Goldman Sachs.”

OCE PRESSURE. Story here. “Watchdog groups are pressing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to select replacements for the four retiring members on the board of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).”

SUPER PAC INCEPTION. Roll Call. “In the latest example of do-gooders using big money to fight big money, a super PAC is advising candidates how to rebuff super PAC attacks and how to score political points by assailing unrestricted campaign spending.”

MOBLEY PLEA. DOJ Release.

TYCO FCPA ACTION. FCPA Professor. “I’ve said before and I will say again (based on nearly a decade of FCPA practice experience conducting FCPA internal investigations around the world) that if every large multi-national company with diverse global business units, with tens of thousands of employees scattered across the world, would hire FCPA counsel to do a complete and thorough world-wide review of the company’s operations, given the current enforcement theories, including the standardless books and records and internal controls theories of enforcement, 95% of companies would find problematic conduct (the other 5% of companies either hired counsel not well versed on the current enforcement theories and/or counsel did not look hard enough).”

G EXECUTIVE DETAINED. The Post. “Brazil’s strict electoral laws limit what critics can say on television, radio and the Internet about candidates for office. Ahead of municipal elections next month, Google has received repeated requests to remove Web videos that allegedly violate those restrictions.”

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.