New Prosecutions Roil GOP Candidate Tied to Ukraine Intrigue
Opening five new stalking cases against a key figure from the impeachment saga, prosecutors set the stage for pretrial detention of long-shot congressional candidate Robert Hyde.
Read more
lobbying
Union Lobbying Question Confounds at 1st Circuit
The First Circuit appeared highly conflicted Wednesday as to whether private-sector unions can ever force members to subsidize lobbying.
Read more
Kushner Sells Stake in Opportunity Zone Firm
President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has sold his stake in a company investing in Opportunity Zone projects that offer tax breaks he pushed for in Washington, sparking criticism that he was benefiting from his White House role.
Read more
When Ron Wyden Talks Turkey, the Senate Listens: Inside the Finance Committee’s Halkbank Probe
The day before President Donald Trump’s impeachment, Senator Ron Wyden had been nearly two months deep into his investigation of the next international scandal to stain the White House.
Read more
NY Judge Denies NRA Bid to Review Subpoenaed Records
A Manhattan judge ruled Monday that the National Rifle Association cannot intercept documents related to an investigation by the New York state attorney general’s office into its nonprofit status.
Read more
White House Folds Embattled Advisory Board on Trophy Hunting
Gratifying those who sued to get the panel disbanded, the Trump administration announced the demise of White House advisory board stacked with trophy-hunting advocates while purporting to promote wildlife conservation.
Read more
Ally of Venezuela’s Maduro Hires a DC Lobbyist
An ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has hired a Washington lobbyist whose business has boomed under the Trump administration as part of a $12.5 million effort to ease sanctions and reset bilateral relations as the U.S.-backed campaign to oust the socialist leader stalls.
Read more
States Sue Over White House Plans to Loosen 3D-Printed Gun Restrictions
Accusing the Trump administration of jeopardizing public safety to appease gun lobbyists, 21 attorneys general sued the federal government Thursday over new rules that make it easier to distribute blueprints for 3D-printed guns online.
Read more
LA City Council Repeals Law Requiring Disclosure of Ties to NRA
Los Angeles City Council members voted Tuesday to repeal an ordinance requiring businesses contracted with the city to disclose any ties to the National Rifle Association.
Read moreBig Pharma Blues
A federal judge declined to block a California law that takes effect Wednesday barring “pay for play” settlements between brand-name and generic pharmaceutical companies, finding Big Pharma lobbyists failed to show how the law is unconstitutional or that it will cause irreparable harm.
Read more
New Trade Pact Deals Rare Setback to Big Pharma
A revamped North American trade deal nearing passage in Congress is expected to leave a surprising loser: the pharmaceutical industry, a near-invincible lobbying powerhouse in Washington.
Read moreJudge Blocks LA Law Requiring Contractors to Disclose NRA Ties
The National Rifle Association’s legal challenge to a Los Angeles ordinance requiring businesses to disclose any links with the advocacy group received a boost Wednesday when a federal judge temporarily blocked the law.
Read more
Sixth Circuit Hears Debate Over Legality of Bump Stocks
A gun rights lobbyist group argued before the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday that rapid-fire gun attachments known as bump stocks should not be included in the government’s definition of machine gun.
Read more
Trump Donor Pleads Guilty to Acting as Foreign Agent
A California venture capitalist who donated nearly $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration committee pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to falsifying records to hide his work as a foreign agent, but he was recently informed by federal prosecutors in New York he could face similar charges there.
Read moreNRA Turmoil Creates Rift Among Some Big Donors
Joe Olson was once such a passionate supporter of the National Rifle Association that he pledged to bequeath several million dollars from his estate to the gun organization upon his death.
Read more
Major Water Deal Proposed for Ex-Client of Interior Secretary
The Interior Department is proposing to award one of the first contracts for federal water in perpetuity to a powerful rural water district that employed Secretary David Bernhardt as a lawyer and lobbyist.
Read moreBoom Times for Turkey’s Lobbyists in Trump’s Washington
Shortly after a multibillion-dollar money-laundering scheme implicated the man who would become Turkey’s president in 2014, proxies for the Turkish government spent more than $1.7 million on their top lobbyists. A Courthouse News investigation found that figure more than quadrupled to about $7.3 million by 2018, with much of the money going to allies of President Donald Trump.
Read moreTurkey’s Lobbyists Had Deep Access to Trump White House
Ballard Partners, the firm dubbed “the Most Powerful Lobbyist in Trump’s Washington” ended its years-long contract with Turkey’s state-run Halkbank last week, the day after that bank’s indictment in a record-breaking money-laundering scheme.
Read moreFourth Figure in Campaign-Finance Probe Tied to Giuliani Arrested
A South Florida man implicated in the campaign-finance probe that has ensnared Ukrainian business associates of Rudy Giuliani turned himself in Wednesday to face criminal charges.
Read more
Biden Targets Trump With Plan to Fight Corruption
Citing President Donald Trump, 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden unveiled a massive anticorruption plan Monday morning that includes constraints on election spending, preventing White House interference into Justice Department matters and barring foreign lobbying.
Read more