Today in OpenGov: Unmasking superdelegate lobbyists, FOIA foibles and more

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SHOW ME THE LOBBYISTS: Last week, we pulled back the curtain on the DNC superdelegates, finding many of them to be both registered and unregistered lobbyists. Here’s how we did it. [READ MORE]

Our first step was to secure a list of all 712 superdelegates and their states. (Thank you to Alvin Chang of Vox for supplying us with one!) Step two — the one that took up the vast majority of our time — was to then see if any of those names were registered as lobbyists. Checking whether someone is registered as a lobbyist in this country should be easy, right? Think again.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This week’s newsletter will be produced by Drew Doggett. Feel free to send him news, ideas, data, analysis, events and feedback at ddoggett@sunlightfoundation.com or @TheDoggett.

CAMPAIGN 2016

  • RAGE AGAINST THE VOTING MACHINE: “America’s Electronic Voting Machines Are Scarily Easy Targets.” [WIRED]

NATIONAL

  • FOIA FLOSSING: Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, the Associated Press found new insights into the latest dietary guidelines. [AP]
  • DEMS DENIED FBI BRIEFING: “FBI denies Senate panel’s request for Dem party hack briefings” [The Hill]
  • DISTRUSTING THE DATA: Led by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., a group of senators weighed in on the FCC’s new internet reform agenda. [The Hill]

STATE AND LOCAL

  • De BLASIO BOASTS NEW DIGITAL OFFICER “Mayor de Blasio Announces Sree Sreenivasan As City’s New Chief Digital Officer” [NYC.gov]
  • MICHIGAN GONE MAD: “How one paper filed a FOIA request in Michigan—and got sued by the county” [Columbia Journalism Review]

International

  • FIXING FARA: Daniel Schuman pens his thoughts on the origins of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and provides recommendations to modernize it. [Demand Progress]
  • NOT-SO-MAGIC MIKE: A Nigerian man behind $60 million of internet scams was arrested by Interpol and Nigerian authorities. [Interpol]

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