NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Curtis Bostic, a former Charleston County councilmember who is likely to face Mark Sanford in a runoff for the GOP nod for an open South Carolina House seat, benefited mightily from Kentucky natural gas executive James Willard Kinzer. Kinzer donated the maximum to Bostic's campaign and funelled $30,000 to a super PAC supporting him. (Public Integrity)
• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Comptroller John Lui announced that the Big Apple is going to be the first city in the country to launch a comprehensive subcontracting database to track payments made by primary contractors to subcontractors. (Tech President)
• Boris Bershteyn, the OMB general counsel and acting head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, will be leaving his post at the end of the month. (The Legal Times)
• Salomon Melgen, the Florida eye doctor whose ties to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) are drawing scrutiny from federal investigators, also tried to court other leading politicians including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. (Politico)
• Asheville, NC, a city of 85,000, is taking small steps towards opening their data and getting inspired by the results. Asheville recently held its first hackathon-style event in October and the city is seeing fewer open records requests. (Government Technology)
• According to a new GPO report, designing official publications primarily for digital use has saved the country more than $16 million since the office started the practice in 1995. (National Journal)
• White House officials are indicating that they might be considering shifting responsibility for drone operations from the CIA to the Pentagon, where the program would be subject to different rules and, hopefully, some more sunlight. (Politico)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The House Ethics Committee is launching its first formal investigations of the 113th Congress. It is looking into allegations surrounding Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and Rob Andrews (D-NJ). (Politico)
• Russia is dropping its investigation into the death in custody of a Sergei Magnitsky, a whistleblowing lawyer, prompting outrage and accusations of a cover up. The Kremlin's human rights council has previously said that he was probably beaten to death in prison. Authorities still plan to move ahead with a trial of the dead activist on charges of tax fraud. (Trust Law)
• Former Rep. Mary Bono Mack, who lost her reelection bid last year, has landed a job at FaegreBD Consulting. She will join the group as a senior vice president and will work on legislative and regulatory advocacy around entertainment, media, and technology. (Roll Call)
• In the process of compiling their "drone census" of public agencies using unmanned aerial vehicles MuckRock and the EFF have found that universities and other public agencies are charging hefty sums for documents related to their research and testing of drones. (US News)
• A new report from the Center for Effective Government finds that agencies provided full and complete information in response to FOIA requests at a record low rate in 2012. (Fierce Government)
• Anti-bribery legislation languishing in Brazil's legislature could damage its standing could damage its standing with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which measures how well countries meet its anti-corruption convention. (Trust Law)
• Opinion: A new Congressional Watchdog Caucus will bolster congressional commitment to oversight. The Caucus has bipartisan support. (Politico)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• This week, the Research Data Alliance is launching a major open data initiative and looking to facilitate scientific data sharing between institutions worldwide. (Tech President)
• Former members of Congress trying to walk through the revolving door to K street are facing a relatively week hiring market this year. With revenues continuing to decline, many lobbying shops can't afford the high salaries commanded and demanded by former members of Congress... (Roll Call)
• ...but some former members have still managed to score high profile gigs. Most recently, former Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), who lost his senate bid to Sen. John Tester (D-MT) last year, is joining Mercury/Clark & Weinstock as a co-chairman. (The Hill)
• Last year, the Justice Department opened an investigation into allegations that employees working for the Wall Street Journal in China bribed Chinese officials for information. (Wall Street Journal)
• State legislatures often lack the effective rules or oversight necessary to stop legislators from acting or voting in their own interest. One expert noted that state legislators are often not paid well enough to discourage unethical behavior.  (Public Integrity)
• A new, internet focused, political party has sprung up in Argentina. The Partido de la Red takes many cues from the Pirate Party that has sprung up around Europe and is starting by aiming for seats in the Buenos Aires legislature. (Global Integrity)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• President Obama is scheduled to attend fundraisers for Congressional Democrats in California and Georgia over the next two months. He will be raising money for the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC. (Politico)
• The Club for Growth is looking to launch primary challenges against a number of moderate Republicans next year. Many of the targeted Congressman are making early moves to raise money from Congressional leadership and corporate PACs to help stave off the attacks. (Politico)
• Organizing for Action is struggling to gain momentum among a continued barrage of bad press and watchdog attention. Top donors have been slow to open their wallets, with one commenting that "the money isn't there." (The Hill)
• For the second year in a row the Justice Department has been given the not-so-prestigious Rosemary Award by the National Security Archive. The group gives the award annually to a public agency with a bad track record of transparency and openness over the past year. (Washington Post)
• The long time president and CEO of software lobbying organization BSA is stepping down next month. Robert Holleyman led the group for 23 years, helping to turn it into one of the foremost technology lobbying groups. (The Hill)
• Senator Al Franken (D-Minn) is turning to his past as a comedian to raise money for his 2014 reelection bid. He is offering donors a chance to win brunch with late-night host Conan O'Brien. (Washington Post)
• Mayors Against Illegal Guns is boosting their presence in a number of states as gun control legislation makes its way through Congress. The group, founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is adding field and press staff for a push to sway members of Congress in their home districts. (Politico)
• A federal appeals court decided that the CIA has to disclose a description of its records on drone strikes to a judge in response to a FOIA suit filed by the ACLU. While the decision will not make this information publicly available, it is a rebuff of the Obama administration who wanted to keep the documents completely closed. (New York Times)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• House Oversight Committee Chair Issa and Ranking Member Cummings introduced a bill this week that aims to strengthen existing FOIA policies, mandate a single online portal for FOIA requests across government, and more! (POGO, NextGov)
• Limited press access to a meeting of President Obama's Export Council was dismissed as a non-issue by press secretary Jay Carney, but there have been a number of other limited-access meetings recently that should have been open due to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. (Politico)
• Former White House adviser David Plouffe criticized critics for criticizing OFA at the group's "founders summit." The event was attended by top donors, activists, and former campaign staff and served as a launching pad for the group, which says it hopes to operate as a grassroots advocacy group, but can accept unlimited, opaque donations. (The Hill)
• The Entertainment Software Association is moving to protect itself on Capitol Hill as the ongoing gun violence debate shines a spotlight on video games. The association hired former staffers for Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (R-FL) to make its case on the hill. (Roll Call)
• As Wikileaks faces continued legal and financial pressure a number of other groups that it inspired appear to have gone quiet. Balkanleaks, based in Bulgaria, is one of the few that have continued to thrive. (ArsTechnica)
• Iceland made headlines recently when the country essentially crowd-sourced their new constitution. Iveta Kazoka recently sat down with Finnur Magnusson who was the CTO of the Constitutional Council in Iceland to talk about the process. (Opening Parliament)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The NRSC took advantage of Rand Paul's filibuster to raise some money last week. As of Thursday afternoon they had pulled in $75,000 via the #standwithrand hashtag that was trending. (Politico)
• The latest list of bundler's to President Obama's reelection campaign might not include any registered lobbyists, but it is loaded with top executives from companies and firms that lobby the federal government. (Public Integrity)
• The epic tale of President Obama's ties to Organizing for Action continued last week as Jim Messina, the group's chairman, suggested that the President could meet with top donors as early as this week. (Politico)
• Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the only current U.S. lawmaker to attend the funeral of recently deceased Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, was accused of not-so-sunny ties to a major donor with interests in the Chavez regime. (The Washington Times)
• (Ethics.Harvard.Edu)
• A group of Republican members of Congress are asking the Justice department to investigate the EPA's FOIA practices after an internal email circulated that appears to direct agency officials to delay or obstruct inconvenient requests for information. (The Examiner)
• A new report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction suggests that at least $8 billion has been lost to waste, fraud, and abuse during the reconstruction process. (POGO)
• The Obama administration filed a brief supporting a Maryland photo journalists who was arrested and beaten after taking photographs of police arresting two other men. The Justice department argues that the constitution protects the photographer's right to photograph police in public places. (Ars Technica)
• a requirement buried in an appropriations bill passed by the House last week would push the Defense Department to disclose information about domestic drone use. (CNET)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Spanish ruling party is facing a second major corruption investigation. Courts are investigating allegations that a former party treasurer took cash from construction magnates that was funneled to high level officials. (Trust Law)
• The fight over the future of the internet continues to rage as countries decide how open they will be and maneuver to exert control. U.S. officials predict that countries like China and Russia will work to monitor communications and take control. (Yahoo/Reuters)
• Cybersecurity continues to be a hot topic as policy makers struggle to decide the best way to protect against cyber attacks. K street appears to be taking advantage of the ongoing debate. (The Hill)
• The Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, which has more than 250 members in the House and Senate, is closely tied with the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation which provides large donors opportunities to wine and dine members of Congress. (New York Times)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order that will launch The Russian Public Initiative, an e-petitions portal for the federal government. The portal was initially supposed to be developed by Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev but was never implemented. (Tech President)
• The former Mexican ambassador to the United States is set to lead a new operation being launched by the Podesta Group, one of the top firms on K street. Arturo Sarukhan will head up Global Solutions a "global strategies and risk management company." (The Hill)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Oshkosh Wisconsin manages to make information from across 12 city departments publicly available online for less than $9,000 per year. (Government Technology)
• The snow storm that wasn't prevented some members of Congress from performing one of their most essential duties, fundraising, yesterday. At least three Members postponed fundraisers due to the threat of weather. (Politico)
• Two of the most powerful men in Georgia (the country) waged an expensive proxy war in Washington last year. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and billionaire turned prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili spent almost $5 million in Washington as they battled for power in elections last year. (The Hill)
• Former Rep. Laura Richardson missed a December deadline to pay a $10,000 fine for ethics violations. According to her lawyer, Richardson has arranged a plan to pay off the fine she received for forcing her congressional staff to perform personal and campaign tasks and then attempting to obstruct the related investigation. (National Journal)
• Hudson Hollister, executive director of the Data Transparency Coalition and former congressional staffer, has registered to lobby for his group. The coalition, whose members include technology firms, pushes for the federal government to institute consistent data standards. (Public Integrity)
• Mitt Romney has a new job with his son Tagg's investment firm Solamere Capital. Romney will serve part time as chairman of the firm's executive committee. (Washington Post)
• Former Senate Minority Whip John Kyl has a new job at Covington & Burling as the firm moves to expand its public policy practice. The recently retired Kyl will advise clients as he runs out the clock on his two year lobbying cooling off period.(Politico)