News Archive

Josh Rosenstein Discusses FARA and Manafort’s Resignation Further

Josh Rosenstein recently followed-up with the Hill to discuss FARA and the resignation of Paul Manafort further. In the article, Rosenstein explained that part of the reason for FARA’s low prosecution rate is due to the fact that the law primarily hinges on voluntary compliance.

If someone does not file paperwork correctly – or at all – the Justice Department will send a letter to the lobbyist or firm asking them for corrections, to register with the department as a foreign agent, or explain why registration is not necessary.

Simply updating records, even months or years after non properly disclosing work, can be enough to satisfy the DOJ.

“It’s clear that they’re hamstrung in their ability to ensure full compliance. They can’t subpoena, they can’t prosecute on their own,” Rosenstein said. “They’ve got the carrot but not the stick.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Josh Rosenstein Discusses FARA in The Hill

Josh Rosenstein discusses the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in an article recently published by The Hill on Paul Manafort’s role in helping a Ukrainian political party secretly pay U.S. lobbyists.

“The U.S. entity may still be liable for some violation of FARA if the principal lied to it, but it’s unlikely there would be a criminal prosecution or jail time as long as the U.S. entity did its due diligence,” Josh Rosenstein stated.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Rachel Provencher and Jack Young Co-Author Chapter in “America Votes!”

240569979.Def.LRachel Provencher and Jack Young recently co-authored a chapter in the newest edition of “America Votes! Challenges to Modern Election Law and Voting Rights.” The book provides a snapshot of key election and voting rights issues that the United States faces moving into the 2016 election. In their chapter, entitled “The Administrative Challenges for Recounts, Contests, and Post-Election Audits”, Rachel Provencher and Jack Young explore several factors that account for the inability to create bright-line rules regarding recounts and contests.

A copy of “America Votes!” can be purchased here.

Neil Reiff and David Mitrani Discuss Campaign Finance in The Guardian

Neil Reiff and David Mitrani were quoted in an article this week in The Guardian regarding campaign finance and the role of money in American elections:

“A lot of these organizations have overspun. Mayber Super Pac money can buy you name recognition but it can’t buy you legitimacy with name recognition. Look at Jeb Bush,” said Neil Reiff.

David Mitrani agreed that Super Pacs led to “a decentralization of our political system. The power passed to Super Pacs from the political parties. Now fringe groups on both sides of the aisle that can raise money from larger or grassroots donors have the same or a bigger voice than the parties. That really hurt the state parties which find themselves in dire financial straits.”

The entire article can be found here.

Neil Reiff Pens Petition to Strengthen Political Parties

On behalf of the Chair of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, Neil Reiff and his colleagues wrote a petition intended to strengthen political parties. The petition seeks amendments to sections under Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations and proposes to loosen rules governing state and local party fundraising.

You can read the full petition here.

Josh Rosenstein and Joe Birkenstock Co-Author Piece on Delayed OGE Rulemaking

Recently, Josh Rosenstein and Joe Birkenstock co-authored a short article on lobbyists.info about the delayed OGE Rulemaking. In the article, Rosenstein and Birkenstock discuss the broad set of ethics standards for employees of the executive branch of the federal government, the issuance of Executive Order 13490 by President Obama, and the most recent proposed rule in November 2015. Rosenstein and Birkenstock go on to analyze the future of the yet to be issued final rule.

You can read the full article here.

 

Joe Birkenstock Discusses Federal Election Law in LA Times

Joe Birkenstock was quoted in an LA Times article that examined whether state Sen. Isadore Hall (D-Compton) and his campaign for the 44th Congressional District of California violated Federal Election Law.

Joseph Birkenstock said it appears Hall’s campaign did violate the law. But if it can amend and correct the expenditure reports, Hall could be in the clear.

“It is not a meaningful violation as long as they correct it and as long as those disbursements really were general election disbursements,” Birkenstock said.

The rest of the article can be read here.

 

 

Joe Birkenstock Discusses Personal Data Gathered by Campaigns with Time Magazine

Joe Birkenstock was quoted in a Time article that examined how data and personal information is collected from presidential campaign supporters:

Typically, political campaigns gather donor information like names, mailing addresses, employers, and occupations, and sooner or later sell this information to other political groups. Less specific “metadata” can also be sold or “rented” to for-profit data brokers. Joe Birkenstock, former Chief Counsel of the Democratic National Committee and partner at D.C. law firm Sandler Reiff, says that such metadata can be extremely valuable, giving candidates indications about the state of mind of certain donors and the effectiveness of different speeches on contributions.

Donors should take a second to read the privacy policy on the site for the candidate they’re donating to,” advises Birkenstock. “Make sure you can reach your own conclusions about the policy and you’re comfortable having your contact information shared.”

The rest of the article can be read here.

Joshua Rosenstein Discusses the Future of Restrictive Policies on Lobbyists

Joshua Rosenstein was quoted in an article on The Hill this week regarding the policies placed upon lobbying under the Obama Administration:

“I think that the spirit of the executive order is good, and the idea behind it was certainly sound. The problems are unintended consequences that the executive order had and a reality of the way Washington works,” said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, a partner at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock who handles lobbying compliance issues.

“An administration can try as hard as it wants, but as long as a statute itself is flawed,” Rosenstein said, “everything the administration does to fix it is just patchwork.”

The entire article can be found here.

Joe Birkenstock Quoted in USA Today Regarding Improper Campaign Contributions to Political Candidates

USA Today quoted Joe Birkenstock in an article concerning potentially improper campaign contributions to several congressional and presidential candidates:

While campaigns cannot investigate every donation they receive, “getting multiple maxed-out contributions on the same day from an identifiable group of first-time political donors that the campaign doesn’t already know well is definitely a yellow light,” said election lawyer Joe Birkenstock. “It doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong, but that’s generally the kind of fact pattern a compliance team should follow up on.”

The rest of the article can be found here.