Mon. political law links (9/24)

NEW LDA ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ANNOUNCED. InsidePoliticalLaw.com. “The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia today announced two new civil enforcement actions against lobbying firms for failure to file required federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”) reports.”

SEN. CORNYN ON CFR.  Roll Call.   “It’s rare for a Republican leader to express a ‘transparency’ or ‘accountability’-based argument when it comes to campaign finance. And Cornyn by no means voiced support for the Democrats’ DISCLOSE Act, which has failed multiple times to clear Congress and would force more disclosure from corporate-funded super PACs.”

WHAT’S NEXT IN WATERS MATTER. The LAT. “An announcement, along with Martin’s 150-page report, is expected early next week.”

PHONE CO. SUPER PAC SUPPORT.  Roll Call.  “A liberal phone company is asking customers to overpay their bills to support its new super PAC and is using the money to wage a ground war against 10 tea-party-aligned House conservatives.”

PAWLENTY TO FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE. Roll Call. “Because it is a bipartisan organization, Pawlenty said today that he has notified the Romney campaign that he is stepping down as its national co-chairman now. He also said that in order to take on the top slot at the financial services group, he has agreed that he will not join the Romney administration should the former Massachusetts governor win the election in November.”

ADELSON PROFILE.  Politico.  “Worth just over $21 billion, and now in the crosshairs of the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission, Adelson has made history: He is the first person to spend $70 million to sway a presidential election, and he plans to spend more – perhaps as much as $100 million – by Election Day. An estimated $20 million to $30 million of the giving was to groups that do not disclose their donors, and had not been reported before.”

VH: STATUS REPORT ON OR BY 10/12. Order. “Pursuant to the judgment of the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Court refers this matter to defendant Federal Election Commission for further consideration. Defendant is directed to file a status report on or before October 12, 2012, advising the Court whether it intends to pursue rulemaking or defend the current regulation. The District Court will retain jurisdiction over this matter.”

EARLY VOTING EMERGES. The Post. “Election Day is more than six weeks away, but by Nov. 6 tens of millions of Americans — perhaps as many as 40 percent of all voters — will have cast their ballots in the presidential race and other contests.”

CHECK ISSUE FOR CAMPAIGN. Story here. “A south suburban man has been charged in connection with the theft of two checks totaling more than $50,000 from President Barack Obama’s national campaign headquarters in Chicago, authorities say.”

TOM DELAY WAITS. AP. “DeLay’s three-year prison sentence has been on hold as his case has made its way through the appellate process.”

SOROS DONATES. WSJ. “Democratic heavyweight George Soros keeps inching his way back into partisan politics.”

TIMES ATTACKS TRUE THE VOTE. Here.

CO: PROFILE ON GESSLER. The Post. “Gessler may be the most closely watched election official in the country, heightened by Colorado’s prominence, his ready-to-rumble personality and a series of loud disputes with what he terms the ‘angry left.'”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Friday’s political law links (9/21)

HEARING IN WATERS MATTER. House Ethics. “Acting Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Acting Ranking Member John A. Yarmuth announce that the Committee on Ethics will hold a public hearing in the Matter of Representative Maxine Waters tomorrow, Friday, September 21, at 9:15 a.m. in Room 1310 of the Longworth House Office Building.” The LAT has more here: “The House Ethics Committee is considering dropping the case against Rep. Maxine Waters, a move that would clear the way for the veteran Los Angeles lawmaker to become the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.”

WILEY REIN’S ELECTION LAW NEWS. The latest issue is here and includes several interesting items.

SUPER PAC BURN RATE. Story here. “The top super PAC devoted to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign spent three times as much as it raised in August, as the GOP nominee’s campaign faced a cash shortfall.”

DONORS WHO DON’T MEAN TO GIVE. Story here. “Then I noticed the fine print on the store receipt. ‘Your purchase of Obama campaign merchandise will be a contribution to Obama Victory Fund 2012, a joint fundraising committee,’ it said. Uh-oh: The Times, like most newspapers, forbids its staff from donating to political campaigns.”

KS: WHEN LOBBYISTS ARE FRIENDS. Story here. “Two Kansas legislative candidates who had been ‘friended’ by lobbyists on Facebook were fined Wednesday for improperly posting announcements about fundraisers, marking the state ethics commission’s first cases involving social media.”

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links (9/20)

USE OF TITLES ISSUE.  The Post.  “Officially, members can’t use their position for private fundraising, but ethics watchdogs were typically okay with the practice as long as it was clear that it was Joe Politician-the-man, not Joe Politician-the-official who was invoked.”

LEVERS OF POWER.  The Times.  “Every president lives at the intersection of policy and politics, never more so than during a campaign season.”

SEN. REID AND SPEECH AND DEBATE.  The Hill.  “Republicans say Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) flouted the spirit of ethical prohibitions against political activity on federal property Wednesday after he ripped Mitt Romney on the Senate floor.”

VH ON VH.  Story here.  “Rep. Chris Van Hollen called a federal court ruling allowing tax-exempt groups to conceal the [identities] of their donors ‘a blow against transparency in the funding of political campaigns.'”

ABOVE THE LAW ON VH.  Here.

SITE RELAUNCH.  Politico.  “Congress.gov is getting a facelift.”

FEC AGENDA.  The agenda for today’s FEC meeting is online here.

POLITICAL FILE RULE UPDATE.  Story here.  “The National Association of Broadcasters on Sept. 17 filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to defer until after the election its appeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s rules requiring TV stations to disclose information online about political ad purchases, saying the additional time will allow the group to ‘gain experience with the new regulatory requirements at issue and explore possible alternative means of resolving the issues.'”

G LOBBYING.  Politico.  “Google has 21 outside firms on retainer and spent nearly $9 million on lobbying during the first half of 2012, according to Senate lobbying reports.”

LOBBYING ON DEFENSE FIRM MERGER.  The Hill.  “Two teams of lobbyists have been hired to help assuage any national-security concerns that might arise in Washington over the merger of the European defense companies BAE Systems and EADS.”

OBAMA COMMENTS NOTED.  HuffPo.  “Speaking at a fundraiser hosted by the famous rapper and singer couple Jay-Z and Beyonce, President Barack Obama made comments, seemingly in jest, asking guests to help out his campaign against Republican nominee Mitt Romney by giving $10 million to outside efforts to help him retain the White House.” More here, including comments of Cleta Mitchell.

FCPA IRONY.  FCPA Professor.  “Will a U.S. company’s interaction with a ‘foreign official’ be subject to more scrutiny and different standards than its interaction with a U.S. official?”

DC:  PUBLIC FINANCING URGED.  The Post.  “A D.C. councilmember who says more than $113,000 went missing from his campaign account this summer is pushing for public financing of political campaigns in the district.”

KS:  FINE ON VIOLATION.  Story here.  “The Kansas Ethics Commission today fined a Johnson County state Senate candidate and an assistant in the county district attorney’s office for violating campaign finance laws.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.