The Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section (“PIN”) is out with its annual report to Congress for 2011.  PIN has oversight responsibility for the prosecution of criminal laws related to the abuse of public trust by government officials, including federal campaign finance laws.  It handles cases directly and also serves in an advisory capacity to support and oversee public corruption prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys Offices. 

Among the highlights and lowlights of PIN’s annual report for 2011:

  • Years after the scandal was exposed, Jack Abramoff-related cases continued to provide a steady stream of work for PIN.  Two of the three federal legislative branch convictions highlighted involved individuals connected in some fashion to Abramoff. 
  • The report provides further evidence that PIN aggressively prosecutes those who have reimbursed campaign contributions and those who provide campaigns with false information.  All three of the election law cases highlighted in the report — including PIN’s failed prosecution of former U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate John Edwards — involved charges that the defendants caused inaccurate statements to be filed with the FEC.  Two of those cases related to political contribution reimbursement schemes.  In general, anecdotal evidence suggests an increasing emphasis by PIN and by U.S. Attorneys Offices nationwide on investigating and prosecuting campaign contribution reimbursement cases. 
  • As described in the chart below, PIN’s overall corruption caseload appears to be down somewhat from 2010.  We think this reflects a general clearing of the deadwood by Jack Smith, the relatively new chief of PIN, rather than an intentional reduction in PIN’s aggressiveness.  And we suspect the annual report for 2012, which will be issued next year, could reveal an uptick as a new wave of cases are investigated and prosecuted.  Here are the stats for 2011:
  Cases Pending Close of 2010 Cases Pending Close of 2011
Corruption in the federal judiciary 1 0
Corruption in Congress 9 6
Corruption in federal executive branch 26 14
Corruption in state and local government 40 30

 

  • The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Puerto Rico led the country in corruption convictions in 2011 with 130, followed distantly by Maryland and the Eastern District of Virginia.  Puerto Rico also ranks second for total convictions since 2002, trailing only New Jersey. 

 

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Photo of Robert Kelner Robert Kelner

Robert Kelner is the chair of Covington’s nationally recognized Election and Political Law Practice Group.  He counsels clients on the full range of political law compliance matters, and defends clients in civil and criminal law enforcement investigations concerning political activity. He also leads

Robert Kelner is the chair of Covington’s nationally recognized Election and Political Law Practice Group.  He counsels clients on the full range of political law compliance matters, and defends clients in civil and criminal law enforcement investigations concerning political activity. He also leads the firm’s prominent congressional investigations practice.

Rob’s political law compliance practice covers federal and state campaign finance, lobbying disclosure, pay to play, and government ethics laws. His expertise includes the Federal Election Campaign Act, Lobbying Disclosure Act, Ethics in Government Act, Foreign Agents Registration Act, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

He is also a leading authority on the arcane rules governing political contributions and marketing activities by registered investment advisers and municipal securities dealers.

Rob’s political law clients include numerous multinational corporations, many of which are household names.  He counsels major banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, trade associations, PACs, political party committees, candidates, lobbying firms, and politically active high-net-worth individuals. He has represented the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and National Republican Senatorial Committee.  He also advises Presidential political appointees on the complex vetting and confirmation process.

As a partner in the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations practice group, Rob regularly defends clients in congressional investigations before virtually every major congressional investigation committee.  He also defends corporations and others in investigations by the Federal Election Commission, the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, federal Offices of Inspector General, and the House & Senate Ethics Committees.  He has prepared many CEOs and corporate executives for testimony before congressional investigation panels. He regularly leads the Practicing Law Institute’s training program on congressional investigations for in-house lawyers.  In addition, he is frequently retained to lead internal investigations and compliance reviews for major corporate clients concerning lobbying and campaign finance law issues.

Rob has appeared as a commentator on political law matters on The PBS News Hour, CNBC, Fox News, and NPR, and he has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Legal Times, Roll Call, The Hill, Politico, USA Today, Financial Times, and other publications.

Rob is Chairman of Covington’s Professional Responsibility Committee and a General Counsel of the firm.  He also currently serves as Chairman of the District of Columbia Bar’s Legislative Practice Committee, and he previously was appointed by the President of the American Bar Association to serve on the ABA’s Standing Committee on Election Law.

Photo of Zachary G. Parks Zachary G. Parks

Zachary Parks advises corporations, trade associations, campaigns, and high-net worth individuals on their most important and challenging political law problems.

Chambers USA describes Zachary as “highly regarded by his clients in the political law arena,” noting that clients praised him as their “go-to outside…

Zachary Parks advises corporations, trade associations, campaigns, and high-net worth individuals on their most important and challenging political law problems.

Chambers USA describes Zachary as “highly regarded by his clients in the political law arena,” noting that clients praised him as their “go-to outside attorney for election law, campaign finance, pay-to-play and PAC issues.” Zachary is also a leading lawyer in the emerging corporate political disclosure field, regularly advising corporations on these issues.

Zachary’s expertise includes the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the Ethics in Government Act, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s pay-to-play rules. He has also helped clients comply with the election and political laws of all 50 states. Zachary also frequently leads political law due diligence for investment firms and corporations during mergers and acquisitions.

He routinely advises corporations and corporate executives on instituting political law compliance programs and conducts compliance training for senior corporate executives and lobbyists. He also has extensive experience conducting corporate internal investigations concerning campaign finance and lobbying law compliance and has defended his political law clients in investigations by the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, Congressional committees, and in litigation.

Zachary is also the founder and chair of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society’s Political and Election Law Section.

Zachary also has extensive complex litigation experience, having litigated major environmental claims, class actions, and multi-district proceedings for financial institutions, corporations, and public entities.

From 2005 to 2006, Zachary was a law clerk for Judge Thomas B. Griffith on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.