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Perrin Cooke

Perrin Cooke is special counsel in the firm’s Washington, DC office and a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations, Election and Political Law, and Public Policy Practice Groups, with a focus on assisting clients responding to high-profile congressional investigations.

Drawing on his experience in government, most recently as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Perrin advises clients on matters presenting significant legal, political, and reputational risks. During the Biden Administration, Perrin served as the lead attorney on oversight matters across two federal agencies. In this capacity, he guided the development of strategic responses to congressional requests and subpoenas touching on a range of topics. Through his work in both government and private practice, Perrin has extensive experience preparing witnesses – including numerous corporate executives, cabinet secretaries, and other senior government officials – appearing in briefings, transcribed interviews, and hearings before congressional oversight committees.

In addition to his investigations practice, Perrin advises clients – including political campaigns, advocacy organizations, trade associations, and corporations – on a wide variety of election and political law compliance matters.

Federal contractors, grantees, borrowers, and others receiving federal funds face a variety of restrictions on their use of those funds for political purposes, including for lobbying. A new presidential memorandum issued last week by President Trump highlights one of those restrictions, 31 U.S.C. § 1352, also known as the

Continue Reading Administration Targets Lobbying by Federal Grantees with New Presidential Memorandum

While historically criticized for inconsistency or opacity, the House Ethics Committee appears to be moving toward a more active and transparent enforcement posture.  Last week, the Committee adopted two reports finding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) violated House ethics rules.  The reports together serve as a

Continue Reading Recent House Ethics Committee Actions Signal Expanding Scope of Enforcement

At the start of each Congress, the House and Senate, along with the various committees in each chamber, adopt internal rules that govern their operations. Though many such rules remain unchanged from one Congress to another, the continued emphasis on congressional investigations across Capitol Hill lends new significance to even

Continue Reading Congressional Investigations and the Rules of the 119th Congress

As we highlighted in a prior post, in February, President Trump signed an executive order that expanded the President’s authority over independent agencies within the executive branch that could have important effects on future rulemakings and advisory opinions from the Federal Election Commission (FEC or “Commission”).  In particular, we

Continue Reading Though Unsuccessful, Challenge to Trump Executive Order Yields Potentially Noteworthy Representations Regarding FEC Independence

As we previewed in a prior alert, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently published a complete collection of oversight plans adopted by each authorizing committee of the House of Representatives for the current Congress.  Taken together, these plans outline an expansive and aggressive agenda for congressional investigations

Continue Reading House Releases Sweeping Oversight Agenda for 119th Congress: Major Focus Areas for Private Sector Entities

Last week, the Georgia state Senate authorized a sweeping investigation of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, continuing a national trend of increased state legislative investigations.  Although state-level investigations continue to lag far behind congressional investigations, state legislatures appear to be replicating what we see on the federal level with increasing

Continue Reading Georgia Senate Launches Abrams-Focused Inquiry, Signaling Growing Risk of State Legislative Investigations

Recently, three key investigative committees of the House of Representatives—the Oversight and Government Reform CommitteeJudiciary Committee, and Energy and Commerce Committee—each adopted their respective committee’s oversight plan for the new Congress, offering a window into the committees’ investigative priorities for the next two years. The newly

Continue Reading Preparing Now for Expected Congressional Oversight: Newly Released Oversight Plans Signal Investigations of Private Parties

In the latest in a series of executive actions that aim to reshape much of government, President Trump signed an executive order on February 18 expanding the President’s authority over so-called independent agencies within the executive branch.  The impact of this executive order will be felt across the federal government

Continue Reading New Executive Order Gives President Veto Power Over Some FEC Rulemaking

With the end of the Biden Administration, the start of the Trump 2.0 Administration, and a change of power in the U.S. House, the steady churn of high-skill professionals moving in and out of government positions has reached an all-time high. Indeed, beyond the typical cadre of newly unemployed political

Continue Reading Don’t Get Stuck in the Revolving Door: A Primer on Federal Post-Government Employment Restrictions

The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing on Tuesday on potential reform of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), the first FARA hearing by the House Judiciary Committee in over 30 years.

FARA is an arcane statute that requires “agents of
Continue Reading House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Foreign Agents Registration Act Reform