Gale Norton is being investigated by a federal grand jury for allegedly talking to Shell about a job, while she was Interior Secretary in 2006, reports National Journal. Both Norton and Shell are said to have received subpoenas.
The existence of the federal investigation was first reported last month by the Los Angeles Times. In a nutshell, the Feds have been looking at an episode in which Norton’s Interior Department awarded three oil shale leases on federal land in Colorado — potentially worth hundreds of billions — to a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Two months later, Norton resigned, saying she had no job lined up. But later that year, she was hired by Shell as in-house counsel.
Federal employees are prohibited by law from discussing employment with a company while that company is involved in dealings with the government that could benefit it. They’re also prohibited from “violating the public trust” by, for instance, giving contracts to friends or associates. The Feds are said to be looking into whether Norton broke either of those laws.
Norton’s interior department also had ties to Jack Abramoff. The department’s number 2, Steven Griles, pleaded guilty in 2007 to lying to investigators who were looking into whether Abramoff used a Norton aide — who Griles was dating — to improperly gain access to Norton and Griles.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced this week that it would be policing blogs and social media for the first time, cracking down on “reviewers” and advertisers who fail to provide full disclosure in endorsements, sparking intense outrage among the regulated. Violators can be subject to $11,000 fines per infraction.
”Given that social media has become such a significant player in the advertising area, we thought it was necessary to address social media as well,” explained the FTC’s assistant director of advertising practices Richard Cleland, describing the agency’s first overhaul of its endorsement policies in almost 30 years. The proposal was adopted with the unanimous approval of all four commissioners.
More than 80 pages of confusing new rules will now govern bloggers’ and even social media users’ activity. If they are paid to write an endorsement, or even if they receive an item for free and then write about it, everything must be noted “clearly and conspicuously.” There are also provisions mandating that people disclose any “material ties.”
When companies give a reviewer a product to write about, they “should have procedures in place to try to monitor his postings for compliance,” explains an example provided in the FTC rules. How should people know whether the FTC will consider something an endorsement? According to the regulations: “The facts and circumstances that will determine the answer to this question are extremely varied and cannot be fully enumerated here …”
Organizers of an International Film Festival say they are not sure if one of their guest speakers will make it to the event this weekend and hope the reasons behind it are not sinister.
Cynthia McKinney was scheduled to address hundreds of people at the upcoming Palestinian Film Festival in the Mother City but the 2008 US presidential candidate was prevented from boarding a South African Airways flight in Washington DC on Tuesday.
McKinney was recently arrested by Israeli forces for attempting to bring humanitarian aid (including crayons for children) to Gaza. israeli boats attempted to assassinate Cynthia after Christmas 2008.
Festival organisor Faghri Hassan said they were trying to get clarity on the situation.
