National Legal and Policy Center

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The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) is a 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. Among the NLPC's more high-profile targets have been hip hop mogul Sean Combs,^[1] Reverend Jesse Jackson, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (while she was first lady), and Senator Lisa Murkowski. The Center files complaints with government agencies, legally challenges what they view as abuse and corruption, and publishes reports. For its efforts, the NPLC has been praised by such media personalities as Rush Limbaugh.^[2] The current president is Peter Flaherty. The NLPC is viewed by many as a partisan group, not as a bona fide government watchdog organization.

According to the Center's mission statement, it

"promotes a single standard of ethics in public life through research, education and legal action. We do not believe that ethics are advanced through more laws or "better guidelines," even as existing ones are ignored. We don't believe the problem is with too few laws, or with too much freedom, but with men and women. We believe the missing ingredients are character, morality and common sense. We recognize that the bigger the government, the more opportunities for corruption; and the more intervention in the economy, the more reason for special interests to seek influence. We believe that the best way to promote ethics is to reduce the size of government."^[3]

The NLPC was founded in 1991 "to promote ethics, and to give the Code [of Ethics for Government] the visibility it deserves." It currently operates four projects: the Government Integrity Project, the Legal Services Accountability Project, the Organized Labor Accountability Project, and the Corporate Integrity Project.

NLPC has criticized Wal-Mart for its environmental initiatives.[1]

[edit] Government Integrity Project

The Government Integrity Project exists to "'blow the whistle' on government officials and interest groups engaged in questionable activities". The project has raised questions about many individuals and organizations, often filing complaints against them.

NLPC is probably best known for exposing Boeing's tanker lease scandal.In 2003, NLPC upended the $30 billion plan for the Air Force to lease, rather than buy, 100 mid-air refueling aircraft. The lease-plan was killed, saving taxpayers at least $4 billion.NLPC unearthed evidence of cozy dealings between Darleen Druyun and Boeing. Druyun was the Air Force official who negotiated the deal, who went to work for Boeing shortly thereafter. In a Complaint to the Pentagon Inspector General, which resulted in a front-page Wall Street Journal story, NLPC detailed how the official sold her home to a Boeing executive, and that Boeing had hired her daughter. In the wake of NLPC's revelations, Boeing CFO Michael Sears was fired and Boeing CEO Phil Condit resigned. Sears and Druyun served prison terms in 2005.

It is highly critical of billionaire George Soros, and has criticized his donating money to the Lynne Stewart Legal Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, and "groups that promote illegal immigration".^[4] In 2004, the NLPC filed a complaint against Soros with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging "extensive apparent violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act".^[5]

The Project filed similar complaints against Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Reverend Al Sharpton, and [[Jim Moran] (D-VA)].

In 1998, the NPLC asked the House Ethics committee to investigate Representative Jon D. Fox (R-PA) for "the appearance of impropriety in the granting of legislative favors in connection with an illegal loan".^[6]

The NPLC alleged, based on documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner David Aaron Kessler "routinely ... overcharged the taxpayer" for taxi rides. The NPLC further alleged "that the expense reimbursements are symptomatic of a larger pattern of FDA corruption under Kessler." Kessler ran the FDA under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. ^[7]

The charges against Sean "Puffy" Combs stem from his youth voter education and mobilization project Citizen Change, whose slogan, "Vote or die" is alleged to be a "veiled marketing effort for his clothing brand". The NLPC further alleges that Citizen Change "may also have violated rules of nonpartisanship."^[8]

NLPC criticism of Representative Alan Mollohan (D-WV) focused on "250 misrepresentations and omissions" in his 2000 financial disclosure reports.^[9] However, the NLPC refused to release its full report and Congressman Mollohan has since released chronological documentation of his investments and sources of the money invested.

The NLPC asked the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee to investigate a land deal involving Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in 2007. ^[10]

[edit] Legal Services Accountability Project

The purpose of the Legal Services Accountability Project is to "end to taxpayer funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC)."^[11]

The NLPC accused the New York Legal Aid Society of using a $171,000 grant from the September 11th Fund to represent persons in detention accused of terrorism, a claim disputed by the Legal Aid Society.[2]