How does a former appointee know if she would be making a lobbying contact “as a registered lobbyist”?
The most obvious way that a former appointee would know if she is acting as a registered lobbyist is if she is already listed as a lobbyist in a registration statement (LD-1 form) or quarterly report (LD-2 form), based on actual or expected lobbying for a particular client. These forms are filed by the lobbyist’s employer with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House. Additionally, even if the former appointee is not already listed as a lobbyist in an LDA filing, she will be acting as a registered lobbyist if she is engaging in lobbying that is expected to be reported in a subsequent LDA filing that will list her as a lobbyist. This interpretation recognizes that permitting former appointees a “grace period” during which they may freely lobby covered officials, when they reasonably anticipate reporting those activities in a subsequent LDA filing, would be inconsistent with the purposes of the Pledge. Example: A former appointee has been retained by a client expressly for
