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).

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 ➡

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings Loses Election to Fill Late Husband’s Congressional Seat

Posted on by NLPC Staff

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, widow of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), lost the Democratic special election primary yesterday to serve the rest of his term. Former Rep. Kweisi Mfume easily won with more than 40% of the vote in a 24-candidate field.

Mfume will face Kimberly Klacik, who won the Republican primary, in an April special general election. Mfume is heavily favored in the Democratic district, although Klacik has achieved an unusually high profile by defending President Trump’s criticisms of the late Cummings.

Mrs. Cummings’ loss has no effect on an IRS Complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center on May 20, 2019 against her and a nonprofit she heads called the Center for Global Policy Solutions (CGPS).

The Complaint, and an amendment on June 7, 2019, alleges a score of Internal Revenue Code violations, including prohibited private benefit and inurement of Cummings and her late husband.

CGPS received millions … Read More ➡

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Boyfriend Still Gets Bulk of Campaign Funds

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

From the Daily Caller by Andrew Kerr:

Mynett and Omar

Over half of Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s campaign expenditures in the last quarter of 2019 went to her alleged boyfriend’s consulting firm, according to Federal Election Commission filings released Friday.

Omar’s campaign paid $217,000 to E Street Group LLC between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 for research services, digital advertising, fundraising consulting, travel and more, filings show. The firm is run by Democratic consultant Tim Mynett, who was accused by his ex-wife in August of having an affair with Omar.

The fourth-quarter spending figures represent yet another significant uptick in the level of campaign funds Omar has dedicated to Mynett’s firm.

In the third quarter of 2019, Omar disbursed about $146,713 to E Street Group, and in the 10-month period prior, from August 2018 to June 2019, her total spending with the firm was $223,000.

In total, Mynett’s … Read More ➡

Group Headed by Biden’s Daughter Got Grant While He Was Veep

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

According to a story by Alana Goodman in the Washington Examiner today:

A Delaware nonprofit organization received a $166,000 federal grant about the same time it appointed then-Vice President Joe Biden’s daughter as executive director, according to government and tax records.

In September 2014, the Delaware Center for Justice was selected for a competitive two-year grant by the U.S. Department of Justice through the federal Edward Byrne Memorial grant program — which Joe Biden helped steer significant funding to as vice president and senator.

Also from the article:

The National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group, said the timing raised questions about whether Joe Biden’s position as vice president and as an advocate for the program had any influence on the selection process.

“The timing of the grant approval and his daughter’s ascent to leadership in the organization that received it makes it necessary for the agencies involved

… Read More ➡

‘The View’ Ignores Rockeymoore Cummings Scandal; Lobs Softballs Instead

Posted on by Paul Chesser

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings/IMAGE: ABC News via YouTube

Democrat Congressional candidate Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, who is running for her late husband Elijah’s seat representing part of Baltimore, appeared on “The View” Monday and was not questioned about the scandal surrounding her nonprofit organization that has dogged her for the last 9 months.

It was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so the hosts understandably wanted to discuss her late husband’s civil rights accomplishments. Elijah Cummings died on October 17th.

But the restraint showed by failing to address a touchy political and ethical subject for Rockeymoore Cummings – who is the subject of an IRS complaint filed by National Legal and Policy Center over the handling of her nonprofit charity – did not prevent the discussion from drifting into criticisms and aspersions about President Donald Trump.

“When you look to the future, do you feel optimistic about the next … Read More ➡

Democrats Risk Being ‘Burnt’ by Lev Parnas

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

Fred Lucas of the Daily Signal has a piece titled “4 Things to Know About Lev Parnas, the Left’s New Hero.” Parnas is the Ukrainian under indictment for campaign finance law violations who was arrested while trying to leave the United States in October. From the article:

The National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group based in Falls Church, Virginia, looked into some of the information Parnas promoted and determined that he was “disreputable,” said Tom Anderson, director of the center’s Government Integrity Project.

Well before his airport arrest, Anderson said, he warned other reporters to ignore information from Parnas.

“If the Democrats take anything from him, they will end up getting burnt,” Anderson told The Daily Signal. “We’ve never used any information from him. I’m surprised Democrats are going anywhere near him.”

 … Read More ➡

Washington Post Looks at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity

Posted on by Peter Flaherty

This article by Steve Thompson today appeared in the Washington Post:

For years, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings ran a charity so closely intertwined with her for-profit consulting firm that they shared the same employees, the same office space and the same director — her.

The private firm carried out the charity’s mission of promoting public health and addressing racial and economic inequity under a cost-sharing agreement that gave the firm a 5 percent management fee. Rockeymoore Cummings signed a contract on behalf of both parties to set up the unusual relationship.

She disclosed the arrangement to the Internal Revenue Service initially, but in subsequent years she checked “no” on 990 tax forms asking whether the charity did business with any entities owned by its director. A “yes” answer would have required her to provide more financial details. Lawyers who specialize in nonprofits say that’s to allow scrutiny by both the … Read More ➡