audit

The 2021 report from the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) offers new details on the landscape of Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”) compliance and enforcement.  The report is based on random audits of lobbyists’ filings and analysis of enforcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (“USAO”).

The report included several trends GAO identified…

The 2020 annual report from the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) provides new details regarding the state of Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”) compliance and enforcement.  By statute, the GAO is charged with conducting random audits of LDA compliance and submitting reports reflecting the results to Congress.  This year’s audit reviewed approximately 100 quarterly “LD-2” reports filed…

FEC audit reports often address obscure topics, but today one touched on an important issue for banks.  At an open meeting, a majority of FEC Commissioners would not support a staff recommendation that a bank violated the campaign finance laws when it made a loan based on collateral that was commercially reasonable under the banking…

On Friday, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released its tenth annual report on compliance with and enforcement of the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”).  The report summarizes the results of GAO’s random audits of lobbyists’ quarterly LD-2 activity reports and semi-annual LD-203 contribution reports, and provides a snapshot of the current enforcement environment.

There are…

In our discussion of the Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) actions over the past year, we described how the SEC is ramping up enforcement of its pay-to-play restrictions.  We also pointed out an acknowledgment by an agency enforcement official that the agency is “actively looking” for violations and that the agency does its own “surveillance.”…

Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its 2013 report on compliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), summarizing the audits of 104 lobbyist reports and information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

We see several trends in this year’s report.  First, registrants are reporting more difficulties complying…

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) has begun a new wave of audits of corporations, associations, and firms that are registered under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”).  These periodic audits are required under legislation enacted in 2007, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (“HLOGA”).  HLOGA requires that registrants be selected for audit on a…

The Government Accountability Office this week issued its sixth annual report summarizing the results of its audit of approximately one hundred federal Lobbying Disclosure Act registrants.  As we previously explained when the audits began, federal law requires the GAO to select LDA registrants on a “random” basis for an audit to assess their compliance with…

In a floor statement yesterday, Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, blasted the IRS for allowing 501(c)(4) organizations to “exploit” the tax code and spend millions on political campaign activity.  In connection with his statement, the Senator released four letters between…

Based on reports from around town here in D.C., the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) has begun a new wave of audits of firms that are registered under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”).  These periodic audits are required under legislation enacted in 2007, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (“HLOGA”).  HLOGA requires that registrants…