Cylvia Hayes admitted that she was paid $118,000 from a clean energy organization for consulting work.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Cylvia Hayes admitted that she was paid $118,000 from a clean energy organization for consulting work.
The Associated Press reported on the latest perceived misstep by the first lady:
Neither Hayes nor the organization, the Clean Economy Development Center of Washington, D.C., would provide details about the work she did during a paid fellowship.
Experts on government ethics and the intersection of politics and nonprofits said Hayes’ job in particular raises questions, such as whether her compensation was reasonable given the amount of work she did and whether Hayes’ employer sought to use the connection to influence state policy.
The Portland Tribune’s Capitol Bureau reporter Hillary Borrud published a lengthy investigation today:
Tracy Westen, founder and chief executive officer of a nonpartisan think tank in California called the Center for Governmental Studies, said that when nonprofits award paid fellowships to elected or appointed political figures, it might create the appearance that the group is lobbying the official. It is not illegal for charities to lobby, but tax-exempt groups face federal limits on lobbying.
“It may suggest that an outside source of income is influencing the independence of their votes or other actions,” Westen wrote in an email. “But again, officials may not care, since their public positions may be identical to those of the employing organization.”
