Peter Schorsch
A former Washington law firm and one of its top partners did not violate Florida’s lobbying laws when appealing to the state attorney general, Pam Bondi, and her staff on behalf of corporate clients, the Florida Commission on Ethics has concluded after a 16-month investigation, reports the New York Times.
The finding came even though an outside lawyer who assisted in the inquiry concluded that the distinction between lobbying and legal work is a “delicate area” and the lawyer targeted in the complaint, Bernard Nash, would probably have been better off if he had “registered as a lobbyist and then freely advocated for his client.”
Ms. Bondi, the ethics commission investigators said, declined to answer any questions about the matter, as “her staff advised that due to her busy schedule and heavy workload, she would be unavailable for an interview.
