Latest Developments:
- The Governor of Wyoming signed SB 80, which requires “all campaigns and political action committees to file an itemized statement of contributions and expenditures,” not just those that expend funds during the reporting period, and increases the penalty for failure to file a campaign report from a flat $500 to an open-ended amount of up to $500 per day until the report is filed. The bill takes effect July 1.
- NYC Ends Lobbyist Disclosure Policy: New York City’s new mayor “dispensed with a de Blasio-era policy to voluntarily disclose meetings top administration officials take with lobbyists.” Politico explains that “Two City Hall attorneys alerted administration employees of the change in a March 1 memo laying out rules governing communication with lobbyists… ‘Mayor’s Office employees are not required to maintain or file any reports or documents in connection with their meetings with lobbyists,’ the attorneys wrote, effectively undoing a discretionary policy former Mayor Bill de Blasio instituted to mandate routine disclosure of lobbying meetings.”
- New York State Crackdown on LLCs: New York Focus reports that the New York State Board of Elections “identified about 3,400 LLCs that had donated to political campaigns but failed to file a ‘statement of interest’ form listing their owners and how much of the company each one owns, as required by… law.” The Board “has begun to enforce the law by notifying thousands of corporate donors that they are violating it.” The report also asserts that “dozens of LLCs also violated annual donation limits, donating as much as eight times the $5,000 cap. [The board’s counsel] said that after the letters, the next step in enforcement will be to investigate those violations.”
- The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance voted this week to send a case to prosecutors concerning fraud and kickbacks involving a former state House speaker and other lawmakers, according to the Crossville Chronicle. As we reported last week, one state lawmaker involved in the scheme pleaded guilty to wire fraud and agreed to collaborate with prosecutors, with analysts predicting future indictments. Now, “[f]ederal authorities say…[multiple lawmakers] collaborated on a separate consulting firm…as a way to funnel money to themselves secretively and illegally through both campaign and taxpayer-funded work.” Another PAC and additional collaborators are named in the probe.
Reminders:
The Practising Law Institute presents Nonprofit Involvement in Elections: What to Look for in 2022, a one-hour webinar on March 29, 2022, from 10-11 am PT, moderated by Joel Aurora of Nielsen Merksamer.
This program will address the role of nonprofits as vital participants in elections, praised for nonpartisanship by some and derided as vehicles for “dark money” by others. With the 2022 midterm elections rapidly approaching, nonprofit organizations will again be involved in a range of election-related activities. As a result, it is crucial that nonprofit organizations—including 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and 501(c)(6) groups—and corporate donors understand the laws governing participation in advocacy and politics.
Interested persons may register here. CLE credit will be available.
In Case You Missed It:
- The trial of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (Nebraska) over campaign finance charges began on Thursday, as the latest development in the federal lawmaker’s years long legal ordeal. Fortenberry is accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions from a foreign national through straw donors and later lying about it to federal investigators. As the Wall Street Journal reports, federal prosecutors contend that Fortenberry “continued to deceive investigators, despite multiple ‘off-ramps’ and ‘opportunities to disclose the truth, and that he did so because it benefited him, it benefited his friends and it preserved his ability to get additional money.’”
- Straw Donors Not Guilty: A federal jury in the District of Columbia acquitted two men, who the Department of Justice asserted acted as a conduit to make prohibited contributions from a global payments company to the Hilary Clinton campaign (and later to “Republican causes”). Politico notes that “To prove a criminal violation of campaign finance laws, prosecutors have to show that a defendant willfully violated the statutes, essentially that he or she knew that it was illegal to donate in someone else’s name or to exceed donation limits and did so anyway. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the verdicts.”
- Another Straw Donor Indicted: CNBC reports that “A Russian oligarch linked to men previously charged with making an illegal donation to a political action committee set up for former President Donald Trump was himself indicted by a federal grand jury in New York for using those men to funnel contributions to other politicians… (He) is accused of wiring $1 million to (the straw donors) to fund the political contributions in November 2018 in advance of the elections that year.”
- Washington Lobbying Sets Record: The Washington Post reports that “The lobbying industry had a record year in 2021, taking in $3.7 billion in revenue…” According to the article, “3,700 new companies and organizations hired lobbyists since start of the pandemic… The surge came as companies and associations aimed to roll back regulations on their industries — many of them pandemic-related — while others vied for a slice of the trillions in new spending.”
- Pro Bono Lobbyists for Ukraine: CNBC discloses that “Lobbyists are working to connect Ukrainian officials with powerful allies in the U.S., including mayors, governors and representatives of at least one firearm’s dealer in an effort to help the war-torn country in its fight against Russia. At least one U.S. firm and a separate lawyer each recently disclosed to the Department of Justice’s FARA unit that they started pro bono work for Ukrainian government officials since the start of Russia’s invasion.”