ATF and AWF want Andrew Stern, the head of SEIU Investigated!

They delivered a letter to Congress and the Attorney General asking for a investigation. It seems Andy Stern, head of SEIU has been lobbying elected and appointed officials without being registered as a lobbyist, and it just so happens that that is illegal!

HotAir has the exclusive

By this letter, we urge you to investigate the activities of Mr. Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), regarding meetings and other lobbying contacts with administration, White House and Congress during 2009. Specifically, it is important to determine whether those and related activities could constitute unregistered “lobbying” by Mr. Stern in violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), 2 U.S.C. 1601, et seq. In fact, Mr. Stern was a registered lobbyist for SEIU until January of 2007 when he terminated his registration. For the reasons discussed below it appears that Mr. Stern continued to lobby extensively after he terminated his registered status, and in 2009 devoted so much time on lobbying and related activities that he should have re-registered as a lobbyist under LDA. …

Of course, the available public information does not reveal all of the days that Mr. Stern was meeting with or talking with covered government officials about legislation or programs. Nor does it reveal the additional amount of time Mr. Stern spent planning and preparing for his meetings, as well as the time he spent coordinating with others, except for Mayor Bloomberg. Such non-public communications and activity would significantly expand the amount of time that Mr. Stern spent on lobbying as defined by federal law.

Nevertheless, the limited public record that is available indicates that Mr. Stern appears to have met the LDA definition of being a lobbyist by spending at least 16 days during the second calendar quarter lobbying dozens of officials and being the White House’s most frequent visitor.

Finally, under the LDA, if Mr. Stern has violated federal lobbying disclosure laws at various points during this year, it does not adequately remedy the violation for him to simply register now. The fact that Mr. Stern affirmatively delisted himself as a lobbyist and then went on to conduct further extensive lobbying activity raises an issue of possible willful conduct that should be carefully investigated. We have provided the enclosed documents for your consideration and review.

Most neutral observers would probably rate Mr. Stern as the most visible power-player in Washington this year – personally advancing his legislative agenda on health care, labor law changes and a host of other issues in meetings with a huge number of top officials in the Administration and Congress. Any failure to fully and adequately enforce the nation’s lobbying disclosure laws as they apply to Mr. Stern’s high-profile lobbying presence would make a mockery of the law and invite public skepticism as to its efficacy.