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)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• If Cory Booker decides to run for Senate in New Jersey he's going to have to disclose how much he makes via speaking fees. They dynamic speaker hinted recently that he has made around $1 million, but given much of it away.(Politico)
• Apparently everything's coming up K Street in 2013 following a disappointing election year for the lobbying industry. With Congress set to consider a wide range of issues from guns to immigration to tax reform. (The Hill)
• According to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that many agencies are ignoring cost saving recommendations from their Inspectors General. All told, the Committee identified 17,000 recommendations that could save $67 billion. (Executive Gov)
• Following a major corruption scandal, and lacking any real transparency or freedom of information laws, the Spanish government is exerting strict control over the press, reportedly forcing them to watch press conferences on video and not allowing questions. (Tech President)
• The House Ethics Committee has released revised disclosure forms for Members and staff to fill out before and after taking privately financed trips. The revisions are part of the Committee's efforts to collect more targeted information about lobbyist connected travel. (Roll Call)
• President Obama is caving to Congress in an effort to get his preferred CIA director confirmed. The administration is going to allow Congress to see classified legal opinions justifying the policy of killing American citizens suspected of terrorism with drones and other methods. (Politico)
• Opinion: Singapore portrays itself as business friendly and open, but the government maintain a strong culture of censorship and control over political dissent. (Tech President)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative includes major oil companies as well as watchdogs and NGOs that work together to increase transparency. But, several of those oil companies are now working to weaken reporting rules in the US. (POGO)
• While doubt has been shed on the prostitution accusations leveled against New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez (D), new reports continue to emerge about other questionable actions. The latest suggests that he introduced legislation that may have helped his biggest donor Salomon Melgen. (Politico)
• Russia is moving forward with a trial against an anti-corruption lawyer and whistleblower who died while in custody. Sergei Magnitsky was arrested shortly after accusing state officials of stealing $230 million. His death and continued prosecution has strained relations between Russia and the US. (Reuters/Yahoo)
• Today in cognitive dissonance, Republican super PAC American Crossroads released a fake infomercial criticizing Organizing for Action for potentially selling "acce$$" to the President... (Washington Post)
• ...meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney continued to raise more questions about Organizing for Action while trying to answer questions about Organizing for Action, saying that "any notion that there is a set price for a meeting with the President...is just wrong." Does that mean the price is negotiable? (Politico)
• As US Airways continues their merger proceedings with American Airlines they're beefing up their already significant lobbying operation. They hired two new firms, the Gibson Group and Chesapeake Enterprises, in February. (Public Integrity)
• Yael Weinman, currently an attorney adviser to FTC Commissioner Julie Brill, is leaving her post for a job as vice president of global privacy policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, a major tech lobbying firm. (The Hill)
• Last month 21 programmers and tech experts along with 7 White House developers held the first White House Open Data Day Hackathon. They focused on building tools using the new We The People API and emerged with a number of tools to expand the sites functionality. (The White House Blog)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• A new watchdog has emerged in Thailand to fight corruption. The business led Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand is trying to institute an 'integrity pact' based on a Transparency International tool. (Trust Law)
• A new report from the New York City Public Advocate and the Coalition for Accountability in Political Spending suggests that states and local governments should take the lead in regulating dark money groups. (Public Integrity)
• Months after the Democratic National Convention it's now official: The Democrats failed to live up to their promise to not take any direct corporate donations after Duke Energy, who provided a $10 million line of credit for the event, announced that they would not be paid back. (Washington Post)
• The Obama Campaign released the names of its top bundlers from the 4th quarter of 2012 over the weekend. High profile names include Will Smitt and Jada Pinkett-Smith. (Politico)
• The might defense lobby appears to have fallen after failing to head off $500 billion in cuts to the Pentagon budget wrapped up in the sequester. Observers blame infighting among defense contractors, the earmark ban, and a loss of traditional allies on the Hill. (Roll Call)
• Patton Boggs, the biggest K street practice, laid of more than 20 people in its Washington office and 65 overall, reportedly saving the firm $14 million. The firm has seen its lobbying revenues fall in the past two years.(Roll Call)
• Japan is planning to launch a national open data portal similar to data.gov. They don't have a timeline for launch and are currently dealing with data standardization and legal issues. (Future Gov)