LegiStorm: Transparency's Sidekick

The chief of staff to Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), whose outburst during President Obama's health care address to the nation earlier this week surprised many, took a pause in his government duties over the past two years and worked as a health care lobbyist.

W. Eric Dell served as Wilson's chief of staff from 2001 until the end of 2006. In 2007 and most of 2008, he represented clients including Cedaron Medical Inc, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the Doctors Company while working for the Keelen Group. In 2008, he came back to work for Congress, once again as Wilson's chief of staff.  

According to his financial disclosures, Dell made over $300,000 in 2007 and 2008 as a lobbyist. In lobbying disclosures bearing his name, he is reported to have worked on issues "related to medical malpractice reform," and "issues pertaining to reducing the costs of quality healthcare." One of the first bills Dell lobbied on after leaving Rep. Wilson's office was Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) 2007 Universal Health Care Choice and Access Act.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is already the subject of two ethics committee investigations, and an amendment to his 2008 personal financial disclosure this month has raised more questions.

The amendment by Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has at least a dozen differences from the original, according to CQ Politics. Among them are a previously undisclosed account valued at least $250,000 with the Congressional Federal Credit Union, holdings in PepsiCo and land in Glassboro, N.J. (listed as "empty lots").

Two separate House ethics subcommittees are already looking at Rangel, who among other things has been accused of improperly maintaining multiple rent-controlled apartments in New York, failing to report rental income to the IRS and taking part in a trip to St. Maarten that may have been paid for by companies which employ lobbyists, a violation of House rules.

The scandal involving disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff continues to reverberate as another former congressional aide was indicted by a federal grand jury on public corruption charges.

Horace Cooper, a frequent television commentator and former counsel to Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), was indicted on one count of conspiracy, one count of fraudulent concealment, two counts of false statements and one count of obstructing an official proceeding.

The indictment alleges that from 2001 to 2005, Cooper conspired with Abramoff, "to defraud the United States of his honest services and of its right oto have federal executive branch business conducted without improper influence," a Department of Justice press release indicates. He did so by taking official actions while being rewarded by Abramoff with thousands of dollars in meals, sports tickets and other favors for himself and his associates. The indictment indicates that Cooper took thousands of dollars of such gifts from Abramoff from 1998 to 2000 while he was a congressional staffer.

LegiStorm has added a minor feature to make browing congressional staffers' personal financial disclosures even easier.

You can now see a list of people who have filed by year, allowing users to filter only those who have filed so far in 2009, or those who filed last year. So far, 3,021 people have filed a financial disclosure or extension in 2009, compared to 3,426 people who filed in 2008.

LegiStorm will continue to add personal financial disclosures from members and staffers throughout the year as more filings are received.

Two prominent members of the Senate Ethics Committee have introduced legislation that would require members of Congress to fully disclose all residential mortgages on personal financial disclosures. Currently, mortgages on personal residences are exempt from reporting requirements.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the committee chair, and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), the vice-chair, crafted the legislation requiring a "full and complete" disclosure of mortgages. This would include the date the mortgage was entered, the range of the amount, the interest rate, the term, and the name and address of the creditor.

The senators announcement last week came as ethics complaints were dismissed against Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). The complaints alleged the senators received improper discounts on mortgages from Countrywide.

LegiStorm has added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) amendments to seven years worth of personal financial disclosures.

The Associated Press reported Reid filed the amendments for his 2001-2007 reports to correct information of some real estate deals.

Reid had originally disclosed ownership of a Las Vegas property but had not shown that the title was actually held by Patrick Lane LLC, a corporation Reid had partial ownership in. The AP had reported in 2006 that the inaccurate disclosures may have violated Senate ethics rules.

The parents of Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) gave $96,000 to the family of his former lover last year, the Las Vegas Sun reported today. But the gift was not reported on the personal financial disclosure of the lover's husband, Ensign's top aide.

The disclosure comes after Ensign admitted to an extramarital affair with his campaign staffer Cynthia Hampton, the wife of his former aide Doug Hampton. According to a statement by Ensign, his parents gave $12,000 gifts to Doug, Cindy and two of their children in one check for $96,000.

"The payments were made as gifts, accepted as gifts and complied with tax rules governing gifts," the statement said.

Want to find out how much money a highly successful lobbyist can make in Washington from a position of unparalleled influence?

Check out the financial disclosure of David Krone, the senior adviser Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) hired back in December. His lobbying income last year? More than $5 million in salary, severance and living reimbursements.

Based on financial disclosures of other lobbyists-turned-staffers, Krone's take-home amount is an extreme outlier. Typical lobbyists make generous six-figure, not seven-figure, salaries.

The Washington Post reports today on the how the staff of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) tried to get federal regulators to provide bailout funds for a bank where the senator has invested the bulk of his personal wealth.  

After the intervention, regulators at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reversed their earlier decision not to provide bailout funds because the institution, Central Pacific Financial, did not qualify. The bank received a $135 million injection of federal funds as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Having been granted an extension, Inouye has not yet filed his 2009 personal financial disclosure covering last year. But his 2008 disclosure shows that at at the end of 2007 he and his wife owned between $350,000 and $700,000 worth of Central Pacific Financial stock.

The personal financial disclosure of Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) is attracting yet more attention to the lawmaker's short but troubled tenure.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Burris, who was appointed by disgraced Gov. Rob Blagojevich, failed to disclose un-exercised stock options for a company where he was a board member. The Tribune reports that Burris intends to amend his financial disclosure to reflect the options to buy 8,000 shares of Inland Real Estate Corp. for prices between $9 and $20. However, the company's share price was $6.72 on Wednesday, making it unlikely Burris will exercise his options anytime soon, according to the Tribune.

You can see the personal financial disclosures of all members of the House and Senate, as well as congressional staffers, at LegiStorm.