LegiStorm

The United Nations has condemned the Judge Rotenberg Center for torture, thanks to its ongoing use of electroshock on disabled children and adults. Now, former Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) has registered as a first-time lobbyist for the Massachusetts facility.

King is working for the center through law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, where he works as special counsel. The JRC is a day and residential school for those with autism, developmental disabilities and "emotional [disturbances]," according to its website.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture reported in 2013 that the JRC's use of electroshock violated the UN Convention Against Torture and called for an investigation into the practices. Although the Food and Drug Administration tried to ban the practice in 2020, the Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ban last summer and ruled that the JRC could continue to shock its residents.

The JRC "is believed to be the only school in the world that routinely inflicts high-powered electric shocks as a form of punishment on vulnerable children and adults," the Guardian reported in 2018.

King, alongside ex-Rep. and veteran lobbyist Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), is lobbying the House on the center's behalf. They're working on education appropriations and unspecified "education and [health-care] policy related to people with disabilities," according to a pair of recent disclosures. King retired from Congress at the end of last term, making him newly eligible to lobby the House under ethics rules.

Rep. Jim Baird's (R-Ind.) chief of staff has landed at Bose Public Affairs Group.

Quincy Cunningham started last week as vice president in the firm's Indianapolis office, where he's working on government relations and strategic communications. The firm's federal lobbying clients include the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Before serving as Baird's chief of staff, he worked for Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) as a special-projects manager.

Sen. Jerry Moran's (R-Kan.) top military staffer has moved to a defense contractor's government-affairs team.

Scott Nulty started with Shield AI, which develops drones and autonomy software, as a government-relations manager earlier this month. The firm spent just shy of $1 million on federal lobbying in 2021, the same year that it kicked off its in-house lobbying efforts.

Nulty was most recently Moran's military legislative assistant. He's also worked for Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.).

When former D.C. Council Member Michael Brown (Independent) recently registered as a lobbyist after years of inactivity, he joined the ranks of a growing handful of lobbyists with bribery and other certain convictions to their names.

Since Jan. 3, 2019, the Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act has required lobbyists to report any federal or state convictions for offenses involving bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, tax evasion, fraud, conflicts of interest, making false statements, perjury or money-laundering.

Brown is one of 11 lobbyists to have disclosed convictions under the JACK Act, named for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. After years as a lobbyist and councilmember, Brown pleaded guilty to felony bribery charges in 2013 and was sentenced to 39 months in federal prison. He's now lobbying on budget issues for Virginia Union University, a historically black school.

Other noteworthy lobbyists with conviction disclosures since the JACK Act's passage include former Rep. Larry Smith (D-Fla.), as well as Albert Pirro, a former Donald Trump real-estate lawyer and the ex-husband of Fox News co-host Jeanine Pirro. Trump granted Pirro a full pardon on the last day of his presidency.

House members, particularly Democrats, are spending more of their official budgets on security since the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a LegiStorm review of spending data. 

Democrats spent nearly $713,000 last year on expenses explicitly described as security-related, a 64 percent increase from 2020 spending and an 11 percent increase from 2019 spending.

Republicans, on the other hand, spent a little more than $223,000 last year on the same type of expenses, a 38 percent increase from 2020 spending and an 11.5 percent increase from 2019 spending.

Overall, Democrats accounted for 76 percent of the expenses described as security-related in 2021, continuing their trend of consistently outspending Republicans in this area since 2016, when the spending data became more easily compared.

These expenses were ones explicitly labeled as a "security expense". They likely represent only a fraction of all official security-related spending by members, as some members even have staff on their payroll who handle security. 

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) spent the most of any member, with nearly $79,000, or 30 percent of all expenses except payroll, being paid to the Department of Homeland Security.

The top-spending Republican, and the only Republican among the top 10 spenders, was Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas). He spent more than $53,000, or 16 percent of all expenses except payroll, on security to Sentry Security & Investigations LP.

Reports suggest that the number of threats against members doubled in 2021 compared to 2020. Shortly after the Jan. 6 attack, members were reminded that "the purchase of a bulletproof vest is a reimbursable expense." In March 2021, the FEC ruled that members can use campaign funds to hire personal protection, among other security-related expenses. Such campaign expenses are not included here.