Apr 21, 2008 -- NAM Appeal on Disclosing Donors Denied by Court of Appeals: Statement of Tara Malloy, Campaign Legal Center Associate Legal Counsel

The order today from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was another victory for the American public which deserves to know who is working behind the scenes to influence legislation and in some cases even election outcomes. After the district court dismissed the case brought by the National Association of Manufacturers' (NAM) to strike down provisions of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA), NAM made repeated attempts to obtain an injunction to bar enforcement of HLOGA while it appealed the district court's decision. Its requests for an injunction have been rejected by two courts now, and we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will also deny the trade association's eleventh hour attempt to avoid the law.

Despite NAM's sensationalized arguments of harassment and reprisals of their members, the Court of Appeals rejected the organization's claim for an injunction pending its appeal. The Legal Center does not believe NAM's case has any merit, and is contrary to clear precedent that disclosure provisions serve the compelling governmental interest in providing full disclosure of lobbying activity and in protecting the integrity of the legislative process. Americans deserve to know who is paying to play in the halls of government and today's order from the Court of Appeals takes us a step closer to that day.

To read the decision, click here.

To read a CLC blog entry on the case, click here.