December 16, 2011
Practice Group:
Public Policy and
Law
Make Your Lobbying Reports and Check
Them Twice: New Federal Enforcement Is a
Reminder That USDOJ Is Gonna Find Out
Who’s Naughty or Nice
By Michael J. O’Neil, Tim Peckinpaugh, Stephen P. Roberts
For what appears to be the first time since the enactment of the Honest Leadership and Open
Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA), the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) has enforced federal
lobbying laws by negotiating a settlement with a registered lobbyist.
In the settlement agreement, the USDOJ alleged that the defendant, WayPoint Consulting, LLC, failed
to timely file its quarterly lobbying activity reports and semi-annual contribution reports. WayPoint
settled the case for a final payment of $45,000 and agreed to file all of its outstanding lobbying
reports. While the USDOJ did not pursue criminal penalties in this case, the HLOGA amended the
federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) to add criminal penalties and increased civil penalties for
violations of federal lobbying law. Under HLOGA and the LDA, each violation of federal lobbying
law can result in up to a $200,000 civil penalty and a criminal penalty of up to five years in prison.
As a reminder, registrants under the LDA are required to file quarterly reports with information
regarding their lobbying activity and semi-annual reports detailing certain political contributions and
other types of contributions intended to honor certain federal officials. Within these semi-annual
contribution reports, lobbying organizations and individual lobbyists must both certify that they have
read and understand Senate and House gift rules and they have not knowingly violated those rules
during that reporting period. Additionally, LDA registrants must timely update their registrations with
certain kinds of new or changed information, including some changes within their ownership structure
or affiliated entities, their clients’ ownership structure or affiliated entities, and new or terminated
lobbyists.*
For more information on how to structure your company’s political compliance procedures, contact a
K&L Gates political ethics attorney. Our professionals can assist with company-wide compliance
strategies for:
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Federal, state, and local lobbying laws;
Foreign Agents Registration Act;
Federal, state and local campaign finance laws, including PAC compliance;
Federal, state and local gift restrictions;
State and local pay-to-play restrictions;
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and
the UK Bribery Act.
* An overview of these requirements is available in the K&L Gates Guide to Political and Lobbying
Activities.
Make Your Lobbying Reports and Check Them Twice: New Federal
Enforcement is a Reminder that USDOJ is Gonna Find Out Who’s
Naughty or Nice
Authors:
Michael J. O'Neil
mike.oneil@klgates.com
+1.202.661.6226
Tim Peckinpaugh
tim.peckinpaugh@klgates.com
+1.202.661.6265
Stephen P. Roberts
steve.roberts@klgates.com
+1.202.778.9357
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