Lobbyists

Lobbying Watchdogs Have A Good Laugh Over Newt Gingrich's 'Historian' Line

Ryan J. Reilly | November 10, 2011, 12:53PM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Good government types are getting a kick out of Newt Gingrich's claim at Wednesday's debate that he wasn't a lobbyist for Freddie Mac but was rather hired for his skills as an historian.

"I have never done any lobbying," Gingrich said, adding that he only offered "advice as an historian."

For some context, a full-time professor of history made an average of $63,119 per year around 2006. Newt racked up $300,000, or about 4.75 times as much.

But to get at a larger point, lobbying watchdogs say Gingrich's justification shows just how weak lobbying disclosures are and how easy it is to avoid registering.

Read more »

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon's Watergate Grand Jury Testimony To Be Unsealed

Ryan J. Reilly | September 30, 2011, 3:54PM

Former President Richard Nixon

A transcript of former President Richard Nixon's testimony on the Watergate scandal before a grand jury in 1975 is going to be unsealed thanks to a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen on behalf of an historian.

Over the objection of the government, a federal court granted Public Citizen's request to unseal the 36-year-old transcript in July. The order became final this week when the Justice Department declined to appeal.

Read more »

Campaign Finance

Post-Citizens United, SEC Should Force Political Disclosure, Report Argues

Susan Crabtree | September 7, 2011, 6:05AM

With the 2012 political money machine now in full post-Labor Day gear, watchdog groups are trying to turn up the pressure on businesses and unions to disclose every dollar they spend on behalf of candidates, even though that kind of transparency isn't required by law.

This is the first presidential campaign after the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision, which unlocked the floodgates for unlimited corporate and union donations, and the candidates and their supporters are already pushing fundraising to new limits with the creation of the first Super PACs -- super-sized organizations full of unlimited corporate and union cash that is not required to be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission or anyone else.

Read more »

Joe Walsh

Tea Party-Backed Rep. Walsh Lists No Child Support Debt On Financial Forms

Susan Crabtree | August 9, 2011, 6:00AM

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), a Tea-Party darling who has made a name for himself on the talk show circuit lecturing Democrats to get the nation's finances in order, has been under fire in recent weeks over charges that he's a deadbeat dad, owing more than $100,000 in child support.

Last Thursday, Walsh told constituents at a townhall that he plans to "privately and legally" fight his ex-wife's claims that he owes more than $100,000 in child support, which he called "wildly inaccurate." A recent Chicago Sun-Times article reported that his ex-wife is suing him for $117,000 in unpaid support.

Read more »

Wall Street

Wall Street Takes Aim At New Transparency Rule For Executive Pay

Susan Crabtree | July 22, 2011, 6:00AM

Wall Street

Wall Street has deployed an army of lobbyists to try to whittle away as much of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill as possible, spending $242.2 million on 712 hired guns to press their message on Capitol Hill since the beginning of 2010, according to a new report by Public Citizen.

The 30 most politically active business and financial industry organizations also ponied up $15.6 million in federal political contributions during the same time period. The entities with the deepest pockets include: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, MetLife, Goldman Sachs, to name just a few.

Why lay out so much cash to influence Washington in the months leading up to the first anniversary of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law? Some of Wall Street's biggest firms are gunning for a rule specifically designed to address one the main causes of the financial meltdown: exorbitant incentive-based executive compensation packages.

Read more »

Maxine Waters

Ethics Hires Special Prosecutor For Waters' Case Amid Turmoil

Susan Crabtree | July 20, 2011, 1:09PM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

The House Ethics Committee has hired a special prosecutor to handle the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a two-year investigation that has become mired in allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and partisan maneuvering.

The panel announced the hire of Billy Martin, a partner at the Washington office of Dorsey & Whitney, in a lengthy statement Wednesday, which came in the wake of an unprecedented document leak airing the committee's dirty laundry in excruciating detail. It was a unanimous decision, the panel said.

The scores of Ethics Committee e-mails and memos, reported by Politico Monday with links to the documents, paint a picture of a committee consumed by partisan dysfunction and accusations of professional misconduct surrounding Waters' case.

Read more »

Military Contractors

Cashing In: Ex-Officers Double As Paid Military 'Mentors' And Contractor Consultants

Justin Elliott | December 30, 2009, 9:35AM

Former Air Force Chief of Staff and Durango Group Founder Gen. Ron Fogleman

Under a newly revealed arrangement that makes the famous "revolving door" seem quaint, retired military officers are simultaneously drawing paychecks both from the government and from private sector businesses gunning for Pentagon contracts, according to a USA Today investigation.

A defense consulting firm out in Colorado called Durango Group, which helps companies obtain DOD contracts, sits at the center of this lucrative arrangement.

Read more »

Health Care

GOP Goes After Quasi-Lobbyist Daschle For Role In Health Care Talks

Justin Elliott | December 2, 2009, 11:39AM

Tom Daschle

Tom Daschle is taking heat from a good government group for his dual role as a participant in high-level health care reform talks and a quasi-lobbiyst for a law firm -- and the Republicans aren't missing the chance to take a shot at Daschle as well.

A "senior policy adviser" at DLA Piper, Daschle was the only outsider at a Monday meeting that included Harry Reid, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Obama health czar Nancy-Ann DeParle, and White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, Politico reports.

Read more »