Sunlight Foundation

NEWS:

• After losing ally John Kyl (R-AZ) in last years election, the online poker lobby is looking for new Republican friends on the hill. Harry Reid is a big fan of internet poker, but the deck appears stacked against passage unless a non-Nevadan Republican joins the game. (The Hill)
• Over the past 16 years Thomas Donohue has turned the US Chamber of Commerce into a lobbying powerhouse, research organization, and supreme court advocacy group. He's also raised a ton of money and pulled the Chamber far into partisan territory. (New York Times)
• Marco Rubio is using his PAC to raise money for Chris Christie. Both men appear interested in a 2016 White House bid, but helping each other now might be the best for both short term as Christie (POLITICO)
• President Obama is heading to California to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, but he's also planning to fit in some fundraising time among important discussions with the Chinese leader. (The Hill)
• Sallie Mae shareholders rejected a proposal that would have boosted its voluntary lobbying disclosures and information about giving to trade associations. While the proposal did not pass, it did garner a significant amount of support. (POLITICO)
• The OMB released an important inventory of federal programs across 24 departments last week. The inventory, the first of its kind, lists over 1,600 programs. (Government Executive)
• Former Obama administration officials are starting to cash in on their former experience as the President faces some high profile decisions. Top aides, who face restrictions on their ability to directly lobby the administration, have landed in high profile gigs as consultants, speakers, and media advisers for firms working on hot button issues like Keystone XL. (Washington Post)

NEWS:

• A major player in Nevada politics is facing up to 15 years behind bars after being convicted of making illegal campaign contributions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Harvey Whittemore, real estate mogul and prominent state lobbyist, was convicted of illegally funneling close to $150,000 to Reid's last campaign through straw donors. (POLITICO)
• When Michelle Bachmann leaves Congress after the 2014 election she will take a strong list of small donors with her. Bachmann pulled in more money from small and medium level donors, $9.5 million or 62% of her total, during the 2012 than any other incumbent member of Congress. (Public Integrity)
• The folks behind OpenOakland are planning to use the National Day of Civic Hacking to set up an "Ask Jeeves" style search engine for city services. They hope to make Oakland's website more accessible by rewriting content and making it more easily searchable. (Tech President)
• Rand Paul, one of several young GOP Senators following the Obama model of using about 10 minutes in the body as a launching pad for their Presidential ambitions, is hitting up Google, Facebook, and eBay during a fundraising swing through Silicon Valley this week. Paul has been engaging heavily in technology issues recently. (The Hill)
• House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa isn't the only member of Congress using his investigatory power to look at alleged misdeeds by the Obama administration. Members like Trent Franks (AZ), Jim Jordan (OH), Charles Boustany (LA), and Jason Chaffetz (UT) are walking a tight rope between running effective investigations and not appearing overly eager to attack the administration. (POLITICO)
• Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is heading to Apple, where she will help the company with environmental compliance issues. The move comes as Apple prepares to bring some of their manufacturing back to the US. (ars technica)
• Today's most ironic story emerges from a ceremony honoring employees of the Justice Department's Inspector General. Attorney General Eric Holder, who has seen his department hit with a number of critical reports by its IG over the past year, spoke at the ceremony, but snuck out before 11 staffers were awarded for their work on a report on Fast and Furious. (POLITICO)

NEWS:

• A leaked video of Tajikistan's president singing at a lavish wedding ceremony for his son in 2007 is causing controversy and repression as the country prepares for elections. YouTube and K+, an independent central Asian media channel, have been blocked since an exiled advocate shared the video earlier this month. (Global Voices)
• California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has reversed course after several years and announced that her office will release raw data from California's lobbyist and campaign finance database. (Common Cause)
• Former Senator Blanche Lincoln's wait is over. Two years after leaving the Senate and signing on with Alston & Bird LLP she has registered as a lobbyist and begun signing up clients. (Roll Call)
• The Treasury department is using big data and analytics to cut costs in the face of the sequester. The have crunched numbers to help meet small business contracting goals and decide to stop minting $1 coins. (fedscoop)
• The head of India's Center for Internet & Society talked about the ways that technology can both help and hinder the fight for openness in politics and society. He identified a few specific issues with projects like I Paid A Bribe, which rely heavily on a novelty factor and trust in those reporting problems. (Tech President)
• Hillary Clinton still says she's not running for President in 2016, but at the rate things are going her name might appear on the ballot if she likes it or not. Several super PACs have been set up to raise money to support her, and Ready for Hillary has attracted some big dollar donors to its team. (Washington Post)
• Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), facing a tough reelection campaign and investigations into campaign finance wrongdoing on her 2012 presidential bid, has decided to get out before she gets thrown out. She announced that she would not be running for reelection in 2014 via a YouTube video. (Huffington Post)

NEWS:

• With House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's backing it looks like the DATA Act will see a vote in the House sooner rather than later. While action hasn't been scheduled yet, proponents are confident that it will be soon. (POLITICO)
• Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is raising money for a super PAC set up to support him, but while the PAC can raise unlimited cash and donors can give as much as they want, Vitter is only allowed to ask donors for $5,ooo each. (Public Integrity)
• Open Data is making it easier for folks using alternative fuels to fill up their vehicles. The Department of Energy releases information on alternative-fuel stations in a number of formats, including through APIs and bulk data. (fedscoop)
• "Sharing" companies, like Airbnb and Etsy, are planning a concerted federal, state, and local advocacy effort to fight against regulation, entrenched competing interests, and a lack of understanding from legislators. (POLITICO)
• CEOs are changing their tune when it comes to engaging with Washington. They aren't just supporting their government relations and PACs, but engaging directly in politics and, in the case of Apple CEO Tim Cook, volunteering to go get grilled by Congress. (POLITICO)
• After nearly a year without a director, President Obama nominated John H. Thompson to lead the Census Bureau. Thompson currently heads up the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center and has previous management experience at the Census. (Government Executive)
• A new story is exposing more about the political intelligence industry in Washington. It looks like the industry doesn't just thrive on offhand conversations with Congressional staffers, it extends as far as Wall Street investors meeting in private with Obama administration officials about upcoming healthcare decisions. (Washington Post)
• Michelle Bachmann is facing fierce competition for her Congressional seat, but her stiffest competition might come from herself. She is facing multiple investigations into allegations that her presidential campaign concealed inappropriate payments to an Iowa state Senator for work he did on her campaign. (POLITICO)

NEWS:

• Representative Jo Bonner (R-AL) is leaving Congress for a gig in academia...sort of. He announced yesterday that he is leaving Congress by August 15th to become vice chancellor of government relations and economic development at the University of Alabama System. (POLITICO)
• Despite news last week that it had withdrawn its letter of intent to join the OGP, Russia may still join the partnership eventually. A presidential spokesman has walked back reports from last week. (Tech President)
• Virginia's attorney general, who also happens to be running for governor, appointed a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that current governor Bob McDonnell accepted a $15,000 check from a political donor to help pay for his daughter's wedding. The donor also has ties to current attorney general Ken Cuccinelli. (New York Times)
• Apple CEO Tim Cook faced off against a Senate subcommittee this week over the company's offshore tax practices, but at least two Senators on the panel probably have reason to support Apple's tactics. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), who didn't attend the hearing, owns as much as $500,000 in Apple stock, more than any other member of the panel. (Public Integrity)
• Senator David Vitter (R-LA), who basically wrote the book on how to survive an embarrassing sex scandal, is going to spend several days this fall raising money for an outside group that exists purely to support him in state and federal elections. The move is sparking talk that he may be eyeing a run for Governor in 2015. (POLITICO)
• Data.gov is in the processing of upgrading its system, moving to a new catalog based on the open source CKAN system. Improvements include a new search function, better sorting and tagging, and improved metadata. (fedscoop)
• Opinion: The GOP's response to the recent IRS scandals is the final nail in the coffin of their previous pro-disclosure positions. (National Journal)

 NEWS:

• Conservative members of the House are continuing their ill advised crusade against the Census Bureau, and Stephen Colbert had some things to say about recently introduced legislation that would effect business' ability to plan for the short and long term. (Government Executive)
• Following revelations that the Justice Department obtained a wide range of records about several journalists a bipartisan group of House members is pushing for legislation that would require federal entities to meet certain conditions before taking personal information from a journalist. (POLITICO)
• The Australian government admitted last week that they unintentionally censored more than 1,200 websites while trying to take one allegedly fraudulent site offline. Australia requires ISPs to block sites suspected of illegal activity if asked by the government. (Tech President)
• Remember Buck McKeon (R-CA), the Armed Services Committee chairman whose wife's run for California state assembly was bankrolled by defense contractors? His family is back and trying to use his power for their financial gain. Golden Oak Consulting, run by three of McKeon's relatives, is lobbying for a couple of companies with armed services interests. (Roll Call)
• As immigration reform legislation gains steam in Congress lobbyists are picking up their pace. The Chamber of Commerce, labor groups, and Silicon Valley are making major headlines and a host of other groups are staying under the radar but lobbying hard nonetheless. (The Hill)
• Prosecutors are planning to seek a retrial against five former officials in Bell, California who are accused of rampant corruption. A judge declared a mistrial in March after jurors failed to come to consensus on several counts. (AP/Yahoo)
• The DATA Act was reintroduced in the House and Senate last week. The legislation, which has been slightly simplified from the version that failed to pass through the 112th Congress, was passed out of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform yesterday. (Federal Computer Week, POGO)

NEWS:

• A new paper on the UK's open government data policies looks into ways that open data can be monetized and recommends an National Data Strategy. Groups have weighed in questioning the paper's focus on economic growth at the expense of transparency.  (Tech President)
• The NRA PAC kept up a strong fundraising pace during the first quarter, pulling n more than $1.2 million. They have nearly $7 million cash on hand. (Roll Call)
• A day after asserting that his office is exempt from state public records laws Virginia Attorney General, and candidate for governor, Ken Cuccinelli is backing off the controversial statement. Staff attorneys had been claiming the exemption when they responded to public records requests and Cuccinelli has asked them to stop the practice. (Washington Post)
• K street isn't letting the string of scandals stinging the Obama administration, and sucking up lots of oxygen in Congress, get in the way of their priorities. Lobbyists are still working on issues like the farm bill, immigration, and the internet sales tax. (The Hill)
• A new database put together by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune tracks travel by Members of Congress during 2012. While Afghanistan was the most popular destination, members also spent a lot of time in Spain and France, tending to take a few extra days in those more scenic locales. (Washington Post)
• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is suing the IRS over the agencies internal rules on reviewing 501(c)(4)'s for nonprofit status. The suit would force the IRS to bring its rules in line with federal law that says 501(c)(4)'s need to be exclusively "social welfare" organizations. (POLITICO)