Government Integrity Project

NLPC “blows the whistle” on government officials and interest groups engaged in questionable activities. NLPC has filed formal Complaints with a variety of authorities and regulators, including the Federal Election Commission, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Congressional Ethics Committees.

NLPC supports government integrity in two additional ways: by promoting the First Amendment as the basis for campaign finance reform, and by promoting use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Pompeo is Right; Menendez is a Crook, but How Did He Get Off?

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Senator Robert Menedez (D-NJ) of orchestrating the controversy over the firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.

Abbe Lowell and his client

Pompeo said. “I don’t get my ethics guidance from a man who was criminally prosecuted — case number 15-155, New Jersey Federal District Court. A man for whom his Senate colleagues, bipartisan said basically that he was taking bribes. That’s not someone who I look to for ethics guidance.”

Pompeo is right. Menendez is a crook. He should have been forced out of the Senate and gone to jail with his co-defendant Salomon Melgen. But it was the Trump Justice Department that let Menendez off the hook.

As we have recounted previously, Menendez was tried on bribery and related charges, but that trial ended in a mistrial on November 16, 2017, and the Justice Department made a decision not to retry … Read More ➡

NLPC Files FOIA for Biden Documents at University of Delaware

Posted on by NLPC Staff

Today NLPC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request with the University of Delaware seeking all documents related to the transfer, curating, and access to the Senatorial Papers of Joe Biden to the university library and to order a search of those documents by the Board of Trustees for any reference to Tara Reade, who has accused Mr. Biden of sexual assault in 1993 when she was employed by Biden.  Both the Washington Post and the New York Times have called for such a search of Biden’s papers.

The FOIA request also calls for the release of all visitor logs to the university’s library by Biden’s campaign or personal aides who have searched the files as has been reported.  NLPC also requests that John Cochran, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, be recused from voting on the search and disposition of the requested documents as required by the … Read More ➡

NLPC Seeks NIAID Documents Regarding Wuhan Lab and Pandemic

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

Today, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a nonprofit public interest organization, filed a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectiousness Diseases (NIAID) at NIH seeking all documents in its possession and that of Director, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., regarding grants of $3.7 million first given in 2015 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China or through grants given to EcoHealth Alliance to experiment with bats and coronaviruses.

The FOIA request noted the Trump Administration recently terminated all funding to EcoHealth which was initiated during the Obama Administration.

“It is outrageous that U.S. taxpayers have been funding millions of dollars to the Wuhan, China laboratory, which had a history of safety problems since January 2018 that may have led to the release of the novel coronavirus causing a worldwide pandemic.” said Peter Flaherty, Chair of NLPC. The request also seeks documents … Read More ➡

Leftist Activists Take Advantage of Pandemic to Push Rent Strikes

Posted on by Carl Horowitz

Rarely has a word been subject to so much misuse in recent years as “stimulus.” The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), overwhelmingly passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on March 27, represents an apex of this language malpractice. The stated purpose of this $2.2 trillion “stimulus plan” is to boost our economy in the wake of virus-induced mass layoffs and business closings. But the implicit purpose is paying people not to work. One of the law’s key features, Section 4022, a residential landlord bailout, effectively does that. And it may prove very expensive.  

Fear of COVID-19 has triggered an economic downturn potentially rivaling that of the Great Depression. With “social distancing” now the gold standard for staying healthy, especially in venues where people congregate (e.g., restaurants, theaters), employers, prodded by state mandates and federal guidelines, are closing shop or severely restricting hours. A staggering 22 … Read More ➡

Rep. Omar Sends Another $300K to New Husband’s Firm

Posted on by Peter Flaherty
Mynett and Omar

This article by Joe Schoffstall appears on the Washington Free Beacon website:

Democratic representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) continues to push cash from her campaign committee to her now-husband’s consulting firm.

Omar’s new committee filings, posted Wednesday afternoon, show that during the first three months of the year, the campaign paid $292,905 to the E Street Group. E Street is a political consulting firm owned by Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett. The cash, which reportedly went toward an array of services that included fundraising and advertisements, accounted for over 40 percent of the campaign’s $674,892 in disbursements. Omar raised $456,374 during the quarter.

Omar’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Omar campaign also doled out $525,000 last year to Mynett’s firm, its top vendor. At the time, Omar and Mynett were married to different people, but Mynett’s wife alleged they were having an … Read More ➡

Rep. Omar’s Marriage Raises Questions About Campaign Money Flows

Posted on by NLPC Staff

After denying for months that she and political consultant Tim Mynett were having an affair, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) announced via Instagram that the two have married.

Mynett’s firm, known as the E Street Group, LLC, has been the recipient of an increasing share of Omar’s campaign spending. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Mynett’s firm received more than half of Omar’s campaign spending, after receiving more than a third in the prior quarter.

In the third quarter of 2019, Mynett’s firm received $146,713. In the fourth quarter it received $217,000.

In a Complaint to the Federal Election Commission on August 28, 2019, National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) alleged that Omar made personal use of campaign funds by reimbursing Mynett’s expenses while he traveled around the country with her.

According to the Complaint, “It appears that Respondent Mynett’s travel as reported by Ilhan for Congress may have been unrelated, … Read More ➡

NLPC’s Anderson Warns of Corruption in Coronavirus Response

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

Alana Goodman reports in the Washington Free Beacon that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is “seeking contractors who can deliver portable toilets, showers, and hand-washing stations throughout the United States within 24 hours notice…” FEMA is presumably preparing to respond to a Coronavirus outbreak. From the article:

The National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group, warned the federal government to be aware that emergency situations can often provide an opening for corruption in the procurement process.

“Oftentimes the government must take forceful and extensive measures in a crisis,” said Tom Anderson, director of the National Legal and Policy Center’s Government Integrity Project. “While this is necessary it also invites possible corruption and corner-cutting. I hope the proper safeguards are in place for this and future endeavors our government is taking on in order to battle the Covid-19 outbreak.”

… Read More ➡

Ethics & Bar Complaints Filed Against Sen. Schumer on Supreme Court Threats

Posted on by NLPC Staff

National Legal and Policy Center today filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer with both the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee as well as with the New York Bar Disciplinary Committee.

The Complaints detail the threatening comments that Senator Schumer made earlier this week on the Supreme Court steps targeting Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

During the Supreme Court’s hearing on a controversial abortion case Schumer stated in part:

“…I want to tell you, Gorsuch… I want to tell you, Kavanaugh… you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Senator Schumer’s remarks drew a public rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, the legal community including the American Bar Association, the public, and many Members of Congress, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“These outrageous threats from Senator Schumer must … Read More ➡

Trump-Russia Allegation Shows Intelligence is Being Politicized

Posted on by NLPC Staff
Adam Schiff

Fred Lucas of the Daily Signal has a piece titled, “‘Here We Go Again’: 4 Things to Know About New Russia-Trump Election Meddling Narrative.” The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials recently briefed the House Intelligence Committee and asserted that Russia is meddling in the 2020 election to the benefit of President Trump. According to the Times, no specifics were offered to back the assertion. From the Daily Signal:

“This shows that the president is still faced with people in the bureaucracy that want to impede and destroy his presidency. It also shows how intelligence is being politicized,” Flaherty said. “Intelligence should bear some resemblance to reality. It would seem the Kremlin would want Democrats to win.”    

The factual questions indicate a real problem, said Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group. 

“Someone in the

… Read More ➡