The paper trail that lobbyists leave

How to read the government form that all lobbyists must file.
By Matthew Murray
Fewer players in Washington, D.C., during the past decade have inspired the collective public outrage than the registered lobbyist.

Former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) is now serving eight years in a federal prison related to his shady dealings with a defense industry lobbyist. The exploits of now-incarcerated GOP influence peddler Jack Abramoff are the stuff of K Street legend and the subject of new movie featuring Kevin Spacey.

And while all lobbyists certainly are not created equal — there are plenty of good and bad actors — a single government document unites them all: the lobbying registration form.

Created by President Bill Clinton and a GOP-dominated House 15 years ago, the document is filed by individuals representing the legislative interests of companies, trade associations, universities, nonprofit organizations, states and local governments.

On the form, which is filed with the Secretary of the Senate and searchable online, lobbyists are required to provide contact information for their firms and clients, as well the policy issues they will be discussing with lawmakers.

Lobbyists are also required to disclose whether they've previously worked on Capitol Hill or the White House and indicate if their clients are foreign owned entities.

Ethics lawyer Robert Kelner says that prior to passage of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, lobbying registration "had been not very effective and not very widely complied with."

The law also requires lobbyists to file reports every three months stating how much money they have been paid by their clients. Registered lobbyists are also required to file a third form, which, too, is searchable on the Secretary of the Senate's Web site, that lists their campaign and charitable contributions.

Kelner says the real intrigue about lobbying records is not about the forms themselves, but about who does and does not file them – and why.

The Covington & Burling lawyer says there is a complicated legal formula to test if an individual is required to register with the Senate. But its policing is largely self-regulated and some lobbyists are perhaps creative with the math.

"There are some obvious loopholes that have been around for a long time and are pretty widely used," Kelner said.

The first loophole entails lobbyists avoiding the reporting threshold altogether by arranging their calendar so that they don't spend more than 20 percent of their time for any one particular client involved in " lobbying activity", a vague classification of tasks that includes preparing for meetings and making phone calls.

"There are a number of people around Washington, D.C., who spend quite a lot of time overall doing lobbying but ensure that they don't spend more than 20 percent of their time for any one client for lobbying, they don't have to register," Kelner said.

Another common way lobbyists avoid registration requirements, Kelner says, is to simply give themselves a new job title and avoid reaching out directly to their former colleagues in the White House and on Capitol Hill.

Typically called "strategic advisors," this new breed of lobbyist – usually former Members of Congress or their senior staff – provide expensive advice to companies and trade associations about how to best make their pitch to the federal government.

"There are certainly a number of prominent people around Washington, D.C., who portray themselves as strategic advisors rather than lobbyists, claiming that they never make a lobbying contact," Kelner said. "In a lot of those cases, there's a very real question as to whether lobbying contacts are actually being made."

Matt Murray writes for Roll Call.