LegiStorm

When former D.C. Council Member Michael Brown (Independent) recently registered as a lobbyist after years of inactivity, he joined the ranks of a growing handful of lobbyists with bribery and other certain convictions to their names.

Since Jan. 3, 2019, the Justice Against Corruption on K Street Act has required lobbyists to report any federal or state convictions for offenses involving bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, tax evasion, fraud, conflicts of interest, making false statements, perjury or money-laundering.

Brown is one of 11 lobbyists to have disclosed convictions under the JACK Act, named for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. After years as a lobbyist and councilmember, Brown pleaded guilty to felony bribery charges in 2013 and was sentenced to 39 months in federal prison. He's now lobbying on budget issues for Virginia Union University, a historically black school.

Other noteworthy lobbyists with conviction disclosures since the JACK Act's passage include former Rep. Larry Smith (D-Fla.), as well as Albert Pirro, a former Donald Trump real-estate lawyer and the ex-husband of Fox News co-host Jeanine Pirro. Trump granted Pirro a full pardon on the last day of his presidency.

House members, particularly Democrats, are spending more of their official budgets on security since the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a LegiStorm review of spending data. 

Democrats spent nearly $713,000 last year on expenses explicitly described as security-related, a 64 percent increase from 2020 spending and an 11 percent increase from 2019 spending.

Republicans, on the other hand, spent a little more than $223,000 last year on the same type of expenses, a 38 percent increase from 2020 spending and an 11.5 percent increase from 2019 spending.

Overall, Democrats accounted for 76 percent of the expenses described as security-related in 2021, continuing their trend of consistently outspending Republicans in this area since 2016, when the spending data became more easily compared.

These expenses were ones explicitly labeled as a "security expense". They likely represent only a fraction of all official security-related spending by members, as some members even have staff on their payroll who handle security. 

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) spent the most of any member, with nearly $79,000, or 30 percent of all expenses except payroll, being paid to the Department of Homeland Security.

The top-spending Republican, and the only Republican among the top 10 spenders, was Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas). He spent more than $53,000, or 16 percent of all expenses except payroll, on security to Sentry Security & Investigations LP.

Reports suggest that the number of threats against members doubled in 2021 compared to 2020. Shortly after the Jan. 6 attack, members were reminded that "the purchase of a bulletproof vest is a reimbursable expense." In March 2021, the FEC ruled that members can use campaign funds to hire personal protection, among other security-related expenses. Such campaign expenses are not included here.

While members of Congress are required to detail how they are spending tax dollars, it's not always possible for the public to learn who the ultimate recipient of that spending is. 

Take the case of the office of Rep. John Carter (R-Texas). Jonas Miller, Carter's chief of staff, was listed as the recipient of nearly one in every two dollars spent except for payroll, according to a LegiStorm review of 2021 House spending data. He received $229,560 in total reimbursement expenses. The reimbursements exceeded Miller's salary of $183,445 last year.

Some of the expenses made out to Miller include more than $37,000 for telecom, $22,000 for printing and reproduction and $12,000 for web development hosting. By contrast, most staffers show reimbursements only for personal meal and transportation expenses incurred by travel to and from the member's district.

"To keep our constituents well informed, we produce a lot of franked communications," Emily Dowdell, Carter's communications director, told LegiStorm. "For [efficiency's] sake and in accordance with House Rules and House Administration Committee Regulations, a staff members' credit card has been used to pay for those services rendered and those charges are itemized, documented and have receipts with the Office of Financial Counseling." 

The office of Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) also stood out, with Robert Schroeder, Nehls' chief of staff, listed as the recipient of nearly a third of all expenses except for payroll. He received more than $100,000 in total reimbursement expenses, or more than one in every four non-payroll dollars spent. Prior to his current job, Schroeder worked as deputy chief of staff in Rep. Carter's office.

Lack of transparency of spending can sometimes lead to trouble for members of Congress.

In June 2020, LegiStorm was the first to report on the irregular spending activity of the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), and the matter was referred to the House Committee on Ethics in July 2021 after extensive media scrutiny. In an October 2021 report which cited LegiStorm's reporting, the committee found that Hagedorn "may have used official funds to contract for services with companies owned or controlled by his staff members."

George W. Bush's former scheduler, a woman whose husband is tied to Donald Trump, has found her way back to Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

Melissa Bennett began the Bush years as scheduler in the White House Office of the Chief of Staff and worked her way up to become the president's assistant for appointments and scheduling.

She's now Portman's scheduler, reprising the job that she held with Portman when he served in the House. Bennett has also worked for then-Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio).

She's married to Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign senior adviser. Barry co-founded now-defunct lobbying firm Avenue Strategies with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and has since started his own group, Bennett Strategies.

One of Rep. Kurt Schrader's (D-Ore.) longest-serving staffers has taken a ride off the Hill.

Zach Stokes left Shrader's office for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, where he's now a public-affairs manager. Stokes started in Shrader's office in 2010 and worked his way up from staff assistant to senior policy adviser.

The IAAPA spent about a quarter of a million dollars last year to lobby on immigration and consumer-safety issues.