Weekly Lobbying Articles
October 23, 2015
Columbus Dispatch
October 16, 2015
Court documents: A second Redflex executive pleaded guilty in bribery conspiracy
Newly unsealed court documents show that a former sales executive for red-light-camera company
Redflex pleaded guilty in 2014 to conspiring to bribe elected officials in Columbus to obtain and retain
contracts here.
Aaron M. Rosenberg, the former executive vice president of sales at Redflex, pleaded guilty to making —
and hiding — campaign donations to influence city officials from 2005, when the city’s original red-light
contract started, through 2013. He served a year on probation as part of a federal diversion program in
which he promised to help federal prosecutors.
“In return for campaign contributions that the elected public officials received and attempted to receive,
the elected public officials agreed to perform, attempted to perform, and actually performed official
acts that benefitted Rosenberg and” (Redflex), according to the allegations filed against Rosenberg in
U.S. District Court.
Rosenberg is the Redflex official who City Council President Andrew J. Ginther called to ask for a $20,000
campaign donation in 2011. Ginther has acknowledged making that call and that he asked Redflex
lobbyist John Raphael to help him secure a donation from Redflex. Court documents say that Redflex
gave Raphael $20,000 to pass along. Raphael gave $20,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party, which then
made a $21,000 donation to Ginther’s campaign in 2011.
Ginther, who is a candidate for Columbus mayor, has said that he did not know whether the party
donation originally came from Redflex. Ginther has not been charged with a crime.
“Andy has been very clear that that year alone he called quite a few people seeking contributions for the
council team,” said Bryan Clark, Ginther’s campaign manager. “Redflex never contributed to Andy
Ginther or to the council team.”
The new details come as Raphael appeared in U.S. District Court in Columbus on Thursday and officially
entered his guilty plea to one felony count of extortion by threats, a violation of the Hobbs Act. His plea
is part of an agreement with the Justice Department that he shook down Redflex officials for campaign
contributions by threatening company officials with the loss of influence and contracts.
Outside the courthouse after offering his plea, Raphael was defiant and remorseless for his role in a
criminal operation that has cast a dark cloud over the city for nearly six months.
“I entered a guilty plea to extortion — not bribery, not conspiracy — but interference with commerce,”
Raphael said. “Interference with commerce as it was stated to me was I pressured my client into making
campaign contributions.”
Raphael declined to answer any other questions before walking off with his attorneys. Prosecutors also
declined to answer questions after the hearing.
A federal judge is expected to sentence Raphael to a three- to five-year prison term in the next month,
justice officials said. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Karen Finley, the former CEO of Redflex, has also pleaded guilty in the case. She is awaiting sentencing
on a charge of conspiring to bribe officials in Columbus and Cincinnati.
Finley said she funneled money through Raphael and the Ohio and Franklin County Democratic parties
to the campaigns of several Columbus elected officials. Finley said in federal court documents released
in June that she gave Raphael money to bribe elected officials to secure contracts for her company.
Court records, campaign-finance reports and several sources have confirmed that two of those
contributions went to the campaigns of Ginther in 2011 and Mayor Michael B. Coleman in 2007. They
also point to a contribution made to the Franklin County Democratic Party at the request of then-City
Council President Michael C. Mentel in 2009.
All three men have said they did nothing wrong, and none of them has been charged with a crime.
Ginther has said that Raphael’s plea to extortion instead of bribery vindicates him. But federal officials
have said that they are continuing to investigate and that Raphael’s plea is no reflection on the guilt or
innocence of any other person.
“As we said a few weeks ago, any conspiracy to commit bribery was between executives at Redflex,”
Clark said. “John Raphael has pleaded guilty to extorting Redflex so it’s clear that any wrongdoing began
and ended between Redflex and its lobbyist.”
POLITICO
October 19, 2015
Lawyers who lobby
Corporate and private clients bought more than $1.5 billion of public-policy influence services from the
50 top law firms and lobbying organizations last year, according to National Law Journal's annual
Influence 50 ranking. Topping the chart was Atlanta-based King & Spalding with $117.8 million in publicpolicy business in 2014. Three other law firms had more than $100 million in revenue from public policy
work: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, K&L Gates and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. Only 35
percent of the revenue was the kind of shoe-leather lobbying that has to be disclosed.
South Florida Business Journal
October 20, 2015
Doing a victory lap, Uber throws party in Broward
After a very emphatic "forget you" just a few months ago, Uber is sending a very public "thank you"
today to the Broward County commissioners who deregulated the service earlier this month.
Virtual hailing company Uber said it would host a party Tuesday afternoon for drivers of the service and
as a public thank-you to "the Broward County Commission for bringing Uber back to Broward."
The event comes just days after Uber scored a major win in a months-long lobbying battle against
regulations the county had enacted on the company's service earlier this year. The company and
competitor Lyft deactivated access to its app in July as a protest against the new rules, which prompted
a public backlash against commissioners. The county finally said "Uncle!" last week, giving in to Uber on
nearly every request for rules to be struck. The app went live once again in Broward County on October
15.
Bill Gibbons, a spokesman for Uber in South Florida, said the event today would be used to engage with
drivers who have not been using the app for a few months, and also mend fences with politicians.
Gibbons declined to immediately disclose how successful Uber had been in attracting drivers in Broward
County since the system was turned back on, saying the team had been too busy to crunch the numbers.
He said the company was sincere in its desire to thank commissioners, and would unroll a banner at the
event to that effect.
"We invited our driver-partners out just to show our appreciation for their support, their patience, and
as a group to thank the board of county commissioners," he said.
It was unclear if any commissioners would attend. Even though Uber had the strong backing of certain
elected officials, even pro-Uber politicians in Broward publicly complained of the bruising fight with the
company and its spirited backers, many of which flooded county inboxes and voicemails with not-verynice messages.
The event is being held at the same time as one of the Broward County Commission's scheduled hearing,
which features a contentious debate on giving a subsidy to the Florida Panthers that could very well tie
up commissioners in discussion through the late evening
Albany Times Union
October 21, 2015
Uber has spent $369,000 so far on New York lobbying in 2015
Uber Technologies spent $369,000 between January and June of this year on lobbying expenses in New
York State, according to documents filed by the company with the state Joint Commission on Lobbying
Ethics.
The number includes $90,000 in payments made to two Albany law firms, Hill, Gosdeck and McGraw,
and the Albany office of Dentons.
Uber has been making a huge push to try and get approval for its ride service in upstate communities
like the Capital Region. The company’s efforts have faced opposition by the taxi industry.
The numbers for the second half of year are not yet available, but the numbers for the first six month of
2015 dwarf what the company spent in 2014 and 2013 lobbying state officials.
The first half numbers also included $80,000 in direct mail and newspaper ads paid for by
the Knickerbocker Group.
Albany Times Union
October 22, 2015
JCOPE issues fines to housing activists, others on filing violations
The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“Commission”) today announced that it has
reached settlement agreements with three groups – Housing Works, Inc., Mason Management (d/b/a
Stellar Management), and IP Mortgage Borrower, LLC – for failing to file required reports about their
lobbying activities.
Housing Works, Inc. has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle violations committed between 2010 and 2015,
as well as outstanding Lobbying Act penalties. Between 2010 and 2015, Housing Works, Inc. failed to file
required statements of registration, bimonthly lobbyist reports, and semi-annual client reports
disclosing its lobbying efforts. The Commission’s predecessor had previously assessed more than
$11,000 in fines against Housing Works, Inc. and its lobbying arm, Housing Works Albany Advocacy
Center, for failing to file similar reports in 2009.
Mason Management, doing business as Stellar Management, a client of a registered lobbyist, failed to
file semi-annual reports from July 2010 to June 2011. Mason Management has agreed to pay a $6,000
fine to settle those Lobbying Act infractions.
IP Mortgage Borrower, LLC, failed to file three client semi-annual reports in 2014 and 2015. Under its
agreement, it will pay $2,000 to settle those violations.
Commission Chairman Daniel J. Horwitz said, “Lobbyists and clients who spend money to influence
government have a responsibility to inform the public of these activities. Ignoring that responsibility
does a disservice to the public, and violates the law.”