Enforcement

A $12 million settlement announced last week by the Securities & Exchange Commission suggests that the SEC will aggressively pursue alleged schemes connecting political contributions to government contracts even if the political contributions do not violate its 2010 pay-to-play rule.  According to the settlement order, in 2010, the head of…
Continue Reading SEC Issues Fines for Pay-to-Play Violations That Predate Its Pay-to-Play Rule

In a rare move, the Securities & Exchange Commission has assessed penalties against a political intelligence firm for failing to adopt adequate policies to prevent the flow of inside governmental information to the firm’s clients.  The enforcement action is particularly noteworthy because all the factual allegations took place in 2010, …
Continue Reading SEC Fines Should Prompt Firms Engaged in Political Intelligence To Revisit Insider Trading Policies

As Super PACs and campaigns continue to edge closer to the legal line between “independence” and “coordination,” it has become common to hear calls for the FEC to take a stricter role in enforcing the law. Yet as recently reported by BNA, the FEC has not found a single…
Continue Reading California Penalizes Campaign, Committee for Coordination Violation

The Wagner case, decided today by the D.C. Circuit, is important because of its analysis of the constitutionality of federal campaign contribution restrictions and, by extension, of pay-to-play laws generally. Covington has been monitoring this case since the district court decision in 2012, to the argument before the D.C. Circuit…
Continue Reading Highlights from Wagner; D.C. Circuit Upholds Contributions Restrictions But Limits Ruling

The notion that the House and Senate Ethics Committees are inactive bodies, often implied in media coverage, is far from the truth.

During the previous Congress, the House Ethics Committee issued more than 900 formal advisory opinions and addressed more than 40,000 informal requests for guidance.  In the first half…
Continue Reading Ethics Enforcement in the 114th Congress

In a little noticed decision earlier this month, the FEC announced the settlement of an enforcement case that sets a compliance standard that few companies may currently meet.  FEC ADR Case 708 (Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. PAC).  The outcome is even more surprising because the case involved a single…
Continue Reading FEC Issues Zero Tolerance Decision on Foreign National Contributions

Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau issued an advisory reminding political campaigns about the restrictions placed on the use of autodialed calls, prerecorded calls, and text messages by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and the FCC’s corresponding rules.  The Enforcement Bureau warns that it is “closely monitoring this…
Continue Reading FCC Issues “Enforcement Advisory” Warning Political Campaigns and Promoters Against Robocall Abuse

For several years, we have been warning clients and others that it was only a matter of time before we would see criminal referrals against lobbyists who fail to register under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”).  Until now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has focused…
Continue Reading Congressional Ethics Office Refers Alleged Unregistered Lobbyist to DOJ

An FEC enforcement action recently made public may be of interest to organizations that use members’ dues for political activities.  In a complaint to the FEC, a Massachusetts realtor claimed the National Association of Realtors and its state and local affiliates were forcing her into paying for their political activities…
Continue Reading FEC Dismisses Challenge to Use of Trade Association Dues for Independent Expenditures