National Legal and Policy Center

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) is a right-leaning 501(c)(3) non-profit group that monitors and reports on the ethics of public officials, supporters of liberal causes, and labor unions in the United States. The Center files complaints with government agencies, legally challenges what they view as abuse and corruption, and publishes reports. The NLPC is described as conservative in nature.[1] The NLPC's current chairman is Peter Flaherty.[2]

National Legal and Policy Center
MottoPromoting ethics in public life
Founded1991
TypeNon-profit
Location
ServicesAdvocacy, litigation, public education
Chairman
Peter Flaherty
Websitenlpc.org

The NLPC was founded in 1991 following the release of the Senate Ethics Committee report into the Keating Five.

Government Integrity Project

In early February 2004, NLPC filed complaints with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) [3] for election law violations during Al Sharpton's run for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. A conciliation agreement made public by NLPC on April 19, 2009, described $509,188 in campaign-related expenses on Sharpton's American Express card. His campaign committee paid $121,996, leaving $385,192 in illegal payments from other sources, including $65,000 from unknown sources. NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm had accused Sharpton of running an "off the books" presidential campaign. Sharpton and his National Action Network (NAN) agreed to pay a $285,000 "civil penalty" for his campaign election law violations.[4]

Corporate Integrity Project

The Corporate Integrity Project has led campaigns against Boeing, CBS/Viacom, Fannie Mae, MCI/Worldcom, and Subway for practices ranging from large corporate scandals to anti-American campaigns. The scandals they have unearthed have led to the firing of Boeing CFO Michael M. Sears, the resignation of Boeing CEO Phil Condit, and prison terms in 2005 for both Darleen Druyun and Michael M. Sears.

Lawsuit v. Hillary Healthcare Task Force

NLPC was a plaintiff in the successful 1993 lawsuit to open the meetings and records of Hillary Clinton's health care task force.

On February 24, 1993, Hillary Rodham Clinton and the six Cabinet members serving on the task force were sued under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by NLPC, along with two other groups, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and the American Council for Health Care Reform. FACA requires government task forces to conduct its affairs in public if non-government employees, or "outsiders," take part.[5]

On March 10, 1993, Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the task force had to open its meetings to the plaintiffs and the media.[6] Lamberth ruled that the "official" members of the task force, meaning the First Lady and the Cabinet Secretaries who comprised its membership, could not meet in secret because Clinton was not a government employee. But Lamberth also ruled that all the other people working on the plan, who were organized into "sub-groups," could continue to work in secret, because FACA was never meant to apply to staff.

Lamberth's ruling was appealed by the White House, and was overturned on June 22, 1993 after the task force had supposedly already disbanded on May 30.[7] Justice Department lawyers argued that since Hillary Rodham Clinton "functions in both a legal and practical sense as part of the government," her participation in the task force should not trigger FACA. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed.

According to Hillary Clinton, “It was a deft political move, designed to disrupt our work on health care and to foster the impression with the public and the news media that we were conducting ‘secret’ meetings.”[8]

FDA Commissioner David Kessler Resignation

In 1996, NLPC exposed over-billing by then-FDA Commissioner David Kessler on his government expense reimbursements. Kessler resigned soon after.[9] In his 2001 book A Question of Intent, Kessler wrote that NLPC “brought me as close to despair as I have ever been.”[10]

Boeing Tanker Deal Scandal

On October 6, 2003, NLPC filed a formal Complaint with the Inspector General of the Department of Defense and the Defense Department Criminal Investigative Service, which was the basis for a front-page Wall Street Journal article the next day.[11] The NLPC's complaint detailed how Defense Department procurement officer Darleen Druyun, while still at the Pentagon, sold her house to a Boeing executive who was also working on the tanker deal. The Complaint specifically raised the possibility that Druyun had negotiated employment with Boeing while still at the Pentagon. Federal law prohibits defense acquisition officials from discussing jobs with companies unless they recuse themselves from contract decisions involving those companies.

On November 24, 2003, Druyun and Boeing Chief Financial Officer Michael M. Sears were fired.[12] One week later, Boeing Chief Executive Office Phil Condit resigned.[13] On October 1, 2004, Druyun was sentenced to nine months in prison by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. On February 18, 2005, Sears was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $250,000 by U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Lee.[14]

Rep. Alan Mollohan

In 2006, NLPC filed a 500-page Complaint with the Justice Department alleging that Alan Mollohan’s financial disclosure forms contained omissions and misrepresentations that obscured a significant increase in his personal wealth at the time he earmarked more than $250 million to nonprofit groups in his district founded and controlled by business partners and campaign contributors. The Complaint triggered a four-year federal investigation and was the basis for a front-page Wall Street Journal story on April 6, 2006 by the late John R. Wilke that touched off a firestorm. The New York Times editorialized on April 12, 2006 that Mollohan’s “shady dealings” meant that he should resign from the House Ethics Committee, which he did on April 21, 2006.[15]

On April 25, 2006, Wilke wrote another front-page Wall Street Journal story detailing how Mollohan had bought a farm with the CEO of a defense contractor for whose firm Mollohan had added funds to a spending bill.[16] For this reporting, Wilke won the 2007 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress, awarded by the National Press Foundation.[17]

The Complaint was also the basis for a May 17, 2006 New York Times article by Jodi Rudoren and Aron Pilhofer describing Mollohan’s undisclosed ownership of a Washington, D.C. condominium building known as The Remington. In an implicit admission of the disclosure failures uncovered by NLPC, Mollohan on June 14, 2006 amended six years of disclosure forms.[18][19][20]

On January 26, 2010, the Justice Department announced that no charges would be filed against Mollohan. On May 11, 2010, Mollohan lost a Democratic primary to State Senator Mike Oliverio in a race where Mollohan’s ethics were the predominant issue. Mollohan had held the seat for 28 years.[21]

In November 2014, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) received hundreds of pages of documents related to the Justice Department investigation in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. CREW’s executive director Melanie Sloan stated, “ It was clear the Justice Department should have indicted Mollohan.”[22]

GOP Mystery Donor

In 2012, NLPC provided the New York Times with information about James Robert Williams, who made almost $900,000 in political contributions to mostly Republican candidates. Williams had no visible means of support and lived in a small apartment in Queens. Following the July 28 front-page article, Williams dropped from sight.[23]

Auto Bailout and 2014 General Motors Recall

NLPC was a high-profile critic of the bailout of the auto industry by the United States government. NLPC’s spokesman was Mark Modica, a former Saturn dealer business manager and wiped-out GM bondholder. Following a demand by NLPC, General Motors in 2014 recalled 1.3 million vehicles with a steering loss defect uncovered by Modica.[24][25][26][27]

New York State prosecutions

NLPC exposed corruption that sent seven New York state political figures to jail. Newspaper headlines, starting with a January 31, 2010 New York Post exposé of on  of a nonprofit called New Direction Local Development Corporation, associated with U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), prompted a series of investigations.[28]

Senator Robert Menendez

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was indicted in April 2015, along with Dr. Salomon Melgen, his largest campaign contributor, partly on the basis of information made public by NLPC through a front-page New York Times story on February 1, 2013.[29][30]

Melgen is a wealthy south Florida eye doctor and the charges related to Menendez’ attempts to derail a Medicare fraud investigation into Melgen’s practice and securing visas for three Melgen “girlfriends.” The indictment also alleged that Menendez pushed a port security deal in the Dominican Republic that would have provided a windfall for Melgen. The indictment alleges Melgen provided Menendez with private jet ride rides, Dominican vacations, and donations to his legal defense fund. Information on the port security deal was provided by NLPC to the Times.

The Justice Department chose not to retry Menendez after his trial ended in a mistrial on November 16, 2017. On August  8, 2018, NLPC filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents pertaining to the prosecution and the decision not to retry Menendez. Then-NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm suggested that Menendez was the beneficiary of political influence.[31][32][33]

Rep. Maxine Waters

NLPC filed two Complaints, currently pending, against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) with the Federal Election Commission alleging campaign finance violations in relation to her so-called slate mailer. The first, filed on July 26, 2018, alleges that Waters violated federal election law by accepting a payment to her campaign fund from the Democratic State Central Committee of California (DSCCC) in the amount of $35,000 for the inclusion of then-Senate candidate, and now Senator Kamala Harris, on Waters’ slate mailer. Whereas candidates like Harris may legally pay Waters’ campaign for the proportional costs of their inclusion on her slate mailer, it is not legal for such payment to be made by a third party like the DSCCC.[34][35]

The second, filed in October 2018, alleges that Waters violated federal election law by accepting a $25,000 payment to her campaign fund from a group called “Families and Teachers for Antonio.” The payment was to include former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the mailer, who was running for Governor. Whereas candidates like Villaraigosa may legally pay Waters’ campaign for the proportional costs of their inclusion on her slate mailer, it is not legal for such payment to be made by a third party.[36][37][38]

Constitutional Challenge to Mueller Authority

NLPC provided financial and logistical support to a constitutional challenge to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment and authority by Andrew Miller, a former aide to indicted GOP operative Roger Stone, who has subpoenaed in the case. Miller was represented by constitutional and appellate attorney Paul Kamenar, who worked on a partial pro bono basis.[39][40] NLPC Chairman Peter Flaherty told the New York Times on June 28, 2018, “The founders feared exactly what we see in Mueller: a runaway federal official. We hope to see Mueller’s operation disbanded, once and for all.”

The challenge had its genesis in a May 13, 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed by Northwestern Law Professor Steven Calabresi. He argued that Mueller’s appointment violated the Appointments Clause because Mueller was acting like a “principal officer” requiring presidential appointment and Senate confirmation, rather than as an “inferior officer.” Calabresi encouraged anyone charged or called as a witness by Mueller to challenge his appointment.[41][42]

The challenge was initiated on June 28, 2018 when Kamenar filed a Motion to Quash the subpoena issued to appear before Mueller’s grand jury on the basis that Mueller’s appointment was unconstitutional. In the Motion to Quash, Kamenar made three principal arguments:[43]

  1. Congress did not authorize the appointment of a Special Counsel as an officer of the United States.
  2. Mueller is a principal officer and should have been appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate like all U.S. Attorneys.
  3. If Mueller is an inferior officer as he claims, the Appointments Clause requires that he be appointed by the “head of the department,” which was Attorney General Jeff Sessions, not Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

President Trump tweeted on several occasions about one of the central issues of the case, that Mueller was never confirmed by the Senate.

The challenge was first heard by Hon. Beryl Howell, the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on July 18, 2018. On August 2, 2018, Howell ruled against Miller, meaning Mueller could enforce the subpoena. On August 10, 2018, Miller refused to answer any Grand Jury questions and was held in Contempt of Court by Howell.

On August 13, 2018, Kamenar appealed Howell’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Oral arguments took place on November 8, 2018 before a three-judge panel. The hearing, which lasted well over an hour, took place against the backdrop of the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Presiding was Judge Karen Henderson appointed by George H.W. Bush. The other two panelists were Sri Srinivasan, appointed by Obama, and Judith W. Rogers, appointed by Clinton.

Kamenar focused on Mueller’s “free reign” and told the Court, “The special counsel does exercise extraordinary prosecutorial and governmental powers. He can bring indictments in multiple jurisdictions. He’s like a U.S. attorney at-large. He can indict without consulting the acting attorney general.”[44]

On February 26, 2019, the Court ruled against Miller, issuing an unexpectedly brief decision of only 16 pages after taking an unexpectedly long three months after the oral argument. On April 12, 2019 Kamenar filed a Motion for a rehearing before an en banc panel of all eleven judges of the Court. On April 29, 2019, the Court denied the request.

On May 6, 2019, Kamenar filed a Motion to stay the mandate against Miller, meaning that Miller would not have to testify until Kamenar could file an appeal with the Supreme Court.[45] On May 21, the Appeals Court denied the Motion, and remanded the case to the District Court. Out of legal options to further forestall the subpoena, Miller agreed on May 29 to testify before the Mueller-convened grand jury, effectively ending the constitutional challenge. On May 31, Miller answered grand jury questions for two hours, and according to Kamenar, did not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.[46][47][48]

References
  1. "Conservative Watchdog Group Targeted Rangel", Susan Crabtree, The Hill, 2-09-2009.
  2. "Peter Flaherty, Chairman". National Legal and Policy Center. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. Complaint filed February 2, 2004 before the Federal Election Commission, MUR 5408; Amended Complaint filed February 6, 2004 before the Federal Election Commission, MUR 5408
  4. FEC Conciliation Agreement, filed February 19, 2009
  5. APPS, et al. v. Clinton, 813 F. Supp. (D.D.C. 1993)
  6. APPS, et al. v. Clinton, 813 F. Supp. 82 (D.D.C. 1993)
  7. APPS, et al. v. Clinton, 997 F.2d 898 (DC Cir. 1993)
  8. Hillary Clinton, Living History, publisher: Simon & Schuster, place of publication: New York, date of publication: 2003, page 154, ISBN 0-7432-2224-5
  9. "David Kessler Resignation".
  10. David Kessler, A Question of Intent, publisher: Public Affairs, place of publication: New York, date of publication: 2001, page 344, ISBN 1-58648-121-5
  11. Complaint filed October 6, 2003 with Inspector General, Department of Defense and Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service,"Re: Allegations of Misconduct Regarding the Boeing Lease Proposal"
  12. See Boeing News Release issued November 24, 2003 "Boeing Dismisses Two Executives for Unethical Conduct"
  13. See Boeing News Release issued December 1, 2003 "Boeing Announces Resignation of Phil Condit; Lew Platt Named Non-Executive Chairman, Harry Stonecipher Named President and CEO"
  14. See Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 19, 2005 "Ex-Boeing executive jailed for 4 months"
  15. "Appropriations, Local Ties And Now a Probe of a Legislator".
  16. "Lawmaker Bought Farm With CEO Who Gained From Appropriations".
  17. "everett mckinley dirksen awards for distinguished reporting of congress".
  18. "Congressman's Special Projects Bring Complaints".
  19. "Under Fire, Top Democrat Is Leaving Ethics Panel".
  20. "Congressman's Condo Deal Is Examined".
  21. "Alan Mollohan ousted in primary".
  22. "DOJ crew".
  23. Hernandez, Raymond; Cowan, Alison Leigh; McGinty, Jo Craven (2012-07-27). "Behind Big Political Donations, a Mysterious Contributor From Queens". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  24. "NLPC Auto Bailout Review Press Conference". National Press Club. 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  25. "WATCH: 15th Anniversary of Jordan's Flu Game". New York Post. 2012-06-11. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  26. "Feds target Saturn Ion power-steering problems". Automotive News. 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  27. "GM recalls 1.3 million 2004-10 Chevy, Saturn and Pontiac cars for power steering glitch". Automotive News. 2014-03-31. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  28. "Pols pushed $$ into their do-nothing Qns. charity".
  29. Hernandez, Raymond; Robles, Frances (2013-01-31). "Senator Menendez's Ties to Political Donor Are Scrutinized". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  30. Kane, Paul. "Indictment of Sen. Robert Menendez and Salomon Melgen".
  31. Reilly, Ryan J. (2018-01-31). "The Justice Department Will Not Retry Sen. Bob Menendez". HuffPost. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  32. "Sen. Robert Menendez Freedom of Information Act Request | Freedom Of Information Act (United States) | United States Department Of Justice". Scribd. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  33. Flaherty, Peter (2018-08-08). "Documents Sought in Menendez Bribery Case". National Legal & Policy Center. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  34. "Waters FEC Complaint 072618 | Federal Election Commission | United States House Of Representatives". Scribd. Retrieved 2019-04-11. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  35. Lucas, Fred (2018-08-01). "Maxine Waters hit with FEC complaint over mailer money". Fox News. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  36. Lucas, Fred (2018-10-05). "Watchdog presses FEC for audit on Maxine Waters fundraising practices". Fox News. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  37. "Complaints filed with FEC over Maxine Waters' fundraising activities". Fox Business. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  38. https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/aos/2004-37/2004-37.pdf
  39. "The conservative DC legal group behind challenge to Mueller probe". ABC News. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  40. Haberman, Maggie (2018-06-28). "Ex-Aide to Roger Stone Is Subpoenaed in Russia Investigation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  41. Calabresi, Steven G. (2018-05-13). "Mueller's Investigation Crosses the Legal Line". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  42. Sheth, Grace Panetta, Sonam. "A close associate of Roger Stone has been held in contempt of court for refusing to testify in the Mueller probe". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  43. "Appellant's Brief: Constitutional Challenge to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Appointment | Presidents Of The United States (8.5K views)". Scribd. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  44. Gerstein, Josh; Meyer, Theodoric; Samuelsohn, Darren. "Mueller power questioned in first post-Sessions court hearing". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  45. "Mueller Constitutional Challenge- Miller Motion to Stay Mandate 5-6-19 | Supreme Court Of The United States | Grand Jury". Scribd. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  46. Gerstein, Josh. "Stone aide denied stay in Mueller grand jury subpoena fight". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  47. Katelyn Polantz. "Roger Stone associate agrees to testify before Mueller grand jury". CNN. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  48. "Ex-Roger Stone aide appears before grand jury Friday after year-long subpoena fight". ABC News. Retrieved 2019-06-01.

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