Ethics

A former member of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Cabinet who resigned in March has paid $5,400 in fines to a state watchdog agency for violating a ban on accepting speaking fees, while saying administration officials knew what she was doing and never advised her to stop. Rosario Marin, who led the State and Consumer Services Agency for three years, admitted to three violations of the state's ethics law under a settlement with the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

The Washington Post's publisher abruptly canceled a series of policy dinners Thursday that were to have been underwritten by lobbyists or corporations willing to pay thousands of dollars to be in the same room as journalists and lawmakers, saying the marketing department had misrepresented the newspaper's intent. Lawmakers who had been invited said they were not told the events would make money for the newspaper.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday justified his use of state planes for personal trips in which he often brought along his wife and four sons, saying his taxpayer-funded travel was no different than that of his predecessors. "I've got a busy life, and I've tried as best I can -- within the context of the current mess-up that has been more than well chronicled and more than well talked about -- to be a reasonable father, while at the same time being a good governor," Sanford said in response to questions.

State officials who regulate boxing have used their positions to gain admission to big-ticket events for friends -- actor Sylvester Stallone among them -- relatives and other associates who sit ringside for free, records show. One member of the California State Athletic Commission directed state employees to obtain free passes for his wife and pastor. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appointed all but one of the commissioners, attended an event gratis, as did one of his high-ranking aides.

California's ethics watchdog agency opened an investigation Friday into the California State Athletic Commission, in connection with free admission to big-ticket events that board members obtained for themselves, relatives, friends and associates. The investigation was announced after The Times reported that commissioners, who oversee boxing and mixed martial arts, requested the free passes from promoters whom they license and regulate. Requests were made to admit more than 50 people in the last year and a half who did not work for the board; most of the guests were friends and associates of the commissioners.

The leader of the state Senate announced Thursday that he would knock two of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointees off the troubled California State Athletic Commission, but as he did so, one of the members abruptly resigned. The board, which regulates boxing and mixed martial arts, has had problems for years with management, personnel, regulation and ethics, state audits and other records show. Last week, The Times reported that commissioners had obtained from promoters they regulate free admission to big-ticket sports events for numerous friends and relatives.

Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez broke no state laws when he spent tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds on luxury travel around the world, gifts at high-end boutiques and meals at exclusive restaurants, the state's ethics watchdog has ruled. The Fair Political Practices Commission also has cleared the Los Angeles Democrat of any illegal activity in funneling nearly $300,000 from companies and organizations with business in the Capitol to a charity that spent it on events that helped him politically.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd said he would refinance two home mortgages that were being investigated by a Senate ethics panel. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said he sought no special treatment from Countrywide Financial Corp. when he refinanced his Washington and East Haddam, Conn., homes in 2003. He has acknowledged participating in a VIP program. The bank, a leading subprime lender at the center of the mortgage meltdown, was sold to Bank of America Corp.

Justice appointee: An article in Thursday's Section A about Mark Gitenstein, reporting that he is the lead candidate to head the Justice Department office that oversees legal policy and judicial nominations, said his nomination would require a waiver from the Obama administration's ethics rules. The article should have said that it might require a waiver. As the article later stated, a Justice Department official said Gitenstein would recuse himself from issues that could pose a conflict due to his former lobbying, which the official maintains would make a blanket waiver unnecessary.