Despite some of the exemptions and generous interpretations, the conventions are no longer viewed as "ethics-free zones," said Jan Witold Baran, an expert in ethics and campaign finance at the law firm Wiley Rein.
"That is not to say that there will be no parties at the conventions," Baran added.
There will be at least 400 of them, according to a list compiled by the lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates and obtained by the Sunlight Foundation. Many will be sponsored by lobbying firms and corporations like AT&T and Eli Lilly.
Even so, awareness of the new law is so high that Parven Pomper Vice President Alixandria Lapp, for one, made sure to run its reception menu by a lawyer before taking it to the caterers. Under what is known as the "toothpick rule," a reception can offer only food and refreshment of a nominal value.
"We are just following the guidelines of the ethics committee, and we are completely staying within what they have deemed appropriate," Lapp said.
The whole thing has watchdog groups fuming. They say some of the interpretations violate the spirit of the new law, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act.
"I don't like the role of stepping in and being a party pooper," said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist with the nonpartisan watchdog group Public Citizen. But, he added, "it is the members of Congress that will have to face the consequences of any violations."
As for that reception for House freshmen, Holman said, "I would be astounded if a single freshmen Democrat dared show up at that party. It is just hypocrisy at its worse."
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cynthia.dizikes@latimes.com
