Congressman Renacci (R-Lobbyist) Lands on Front Pages & TV Across Ohio

After bombshell Associated Press report, Rep. Renacci facing “some tough questions.”

A bombshell report from the Associated Press details how Congressman Jim Renacci failed to disclose nearly $50,000 in political contributions he made as a registered lobbyist, and how he actually remained a registered lobbyist while serving in Congress. The news made the front pages and landed TV coverage across the state. Here’s what Ohioans are seeing about Congressman Jim Renacci:

Associated Press: Rep. didn’t report $50K in donations as registered lobbyist.

• U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci failed to disclose nearly $50,000 in political contributions while registered as a Washington lobbyist starting in the late 2000s, according to an Associated Press review of federal records.
• The AP review identified five reporting periods from 2008 to 2010 while the Ohio Republican was registered as a lobbyist when he either failed to file the required disclosure form or reported giving no political contributions when he had given.
• An AP review found Mills [Renacci’s lawyer] didn’t file the companion form required to deactivate Renacci’s registration until 2011. Renacci’s registration was terminated as of May 2011, about four months after he entered Congress. And Renacci continued to file and digitally sign lobbyist disclosure reports, other than the two he missed, through mid-2011, as an active lobbyist would.
• His campaign refused to specify why he filed the reports if, as it contended, they were not required or to address the inaccurate reporting of his contributions.
• Under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act… federally registered lobbyists are required to disclose all federal political contributions of more than $200.
• Federal Election Commission reports show Renacci gave $26,875 in federal donations to other Republican candidates and party organizations that he didn’t disclose on lobbyist forms and $17,450 to his own campaign.

Read the full article here.

NBC News: A potentially damaging headline for the GOP in OH-SEN.

• Well, this isn’t the kind of headline Republicans probably want to deal with as they head into a challenge to a potentially vulnerable Democratic Senate incumbent.
• The AP reports that Rep. Jim Renacci, the GOP frontrunner to take on Sen. Sherrod Brown in the fall, failed to disclose nearly $50,000 in donations while registered as a lobbyist in the late 2000s.
• Since switching from the governors’ race to the Senate contest after frontrunner Josh Mandel dropped out, Renacci has taken pains to describe his “strong distaste for Washington and the political establishment.”

Read the full article here.

WTVG, Toledo: Renacci “Under Fire” for Lobbying Ties.

WLWT, Cincinnati: Renacci “Failed to Disclose” Lobbying.

WSYX, Columbus: “Some Tough Questions” for Renacci.

WCPO, Cincinnati: “Ohio Congressman Didn’t Report Donations.”

WYFX, Youngstown:

Politico Morning Score: OOPS! — Renacci “didn’t report $50K in donations as registered lobbyist,” by The Associated Press’s Julie Carr Smyth.

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