AP: Moreland Commission Asks State Lawmakers for Details on Outside Employment (Updated)

Michael Gormley of the Associated Press is reporting that the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption is “is asking all state lawmakers to provide never-before-required details about their outside work — including a list of law clients — prompting the Legislature to lawyer up for a possible challenge to the panel’s authority.”

According to the AP, the Commission is asking lawmakers to provide information on outside employment in which they earned more than $20,000 in 2012, including a description of what work the lawmaker performed, how the wage or salary was determined, and “a list of your clients in any civil matters or in any publicly filed criminal matters.”

The deadline to respond is Thursday. If lawmakers do not provide the requested information, comply, the commission could issue subpoenas in an effort to obtain it.

It is not clear whether any such subpoenas would be enforceable, because under the state’s Moreland Act, the commission is limited to investigating executive branch agencies, not the Legislature.

This could get interesting…

The Moreland Commission holds its first public hearing in Manhattan on Tuesday, September 17^th.

Update:  Via Gannett, read the letter the Commission sent to lawmakers.