Government

• DoJ fights disclosure of illegal Watergate wiretaps: The Department of Justice is fighting to keep wiretap recordings related to the Watergate scandal sealed after an historian requested the information. The DOJ is arguing that there is no public right of access to the recordings because they were originally obtained illegally. (Security Law Brief)
• Social media for innovation, opportunity in federal agencies: Social media has led to a democratization of information and more opportunities for junior staff within federal agencies, according to a panel of experts. (Fierce Government)
• ALL the ethical lobbyists: The American League of Lobbyists is urging Congress to provide teeth to a non-binding resolution passed in 2007 as part of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. If enforced, the provision would require lobbyists to undergo ethics and compliance training. (The Hill)
• Ad-attack: Recent analysis shows that there have been over 63,000 presidential campaign ads run in 57 of America’s 210 media markets since Rick Santorum dropped out of the Republican presidential primary, effectively giving Mitt Romney the nomination. That’s over 1100 ads per media market.  (National Journal)

State and Local

• Silicon valley city going digital: Palo Alto, CA CIO Jonathan Reichental shared his vision for turning his town into a “digital city” with a group of iOS Developers from the area. (Gov Fresh)
• Editorial- Missouri lobbying loophole: Missouri House Minority Leader Mike Talboy (D) is stepping down at the end of his term in January. He’s planning to start his new job as director of governmental affairs for a local construction giant next week. Talboy says he won’t participate in any legislative activity until his term expires, but there is not law in place preventing him from doing so. (St. Louis Today)

International

• Crowdsourcing traffic in Beijing: After a decade of car-oriented development, Beijing’s government realized the need to encourage walking, biking, and other modes of transportation. To gather information they turned to crowdsourcing  and mobile technology. (Ushahidi)