Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., is being accused of breaking the law for allegedly requiring her official staff to attend a re-election fundraiser last September.

Richardson has continued to hold events this year, and even has one upcoming moneymaker scheduled next month at a classic Washington eatery and a favorite pick for congressional fundraisers, Johnny’s Half Shell.

In all, Richardson, who was first elected in 2007, has planned at least six fundraisers this year.

Yesterday, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released a complaint sent to the FBI alleging that she violated many laws, including intimidating her employees to obtain campaign contributions and soliciting those funds on federal property.

The House Committee on Standards, known as the Ethics Committee, is also said to be investigating Richardson. The fundraiser in question—from last September—was quite an elaborate event compared to most congressional fundraisers (the invitation was obtained from CREW’s documents).

The event featured a whopping 20 members of Congress, including Richardson. It was advertised as the Democrats’ take on American Idol, with songs performed by eight congressmen, music played by two, and the event judged by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and then-Democratic Majority Leader Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., among others.

Earlier this year, two other top dollar moneymakers were aimed at Labor, a sector that contributed over $200,000 to Richardson’s campaign in 2010, making it her biggest source of funds, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Within that sector, transportation unions are the biggest givers, which is no surprise given Richardson’s seat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

One labor breakfast was at the Washington, D.C. office of the Teamsters; another was in her home district. Each event solicited $5,000 from political action committees to become hosts, and also asked for lower-level contributions.

Richardson easily won re-election last November in a safely Democratic district and raised about $640,000 for it, far below the House average, according to CRP.

The most glaring of the documents released by CREW shows Richardson’s chief of staff, Shirley Cooks, requiring that aides attend the fundraiser. In the email, she also wrote, “bring spouses and tell interns they have to be there as well.”

According to House ethics rules, staff can participate in campaign work as long as they do so on their own time. The rules say that “in no event may a Member or office compel a House employee to do campaign work” and that this prohibition is “quite broad.” It includes threatening employees to do campaign work as well as directing them to do so.

Looking to end the second quarter of 2011 on a high note, the Democratic Party has three high-dollar fundraisers scheduled for the end of June. Events will be held to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Women’s Senate Network of the DSCC.

The first scheduled event is the “Friends on the Hill Dinner” tonight. The dinner at the St. Regis Hotel will benefit the DSCC with suggested individual donations of $10,000. The main draw for this fundraiser will undoubtedly be the listed hosts: chiefs of staff to leading Democratic senators, including Harry Reid, D-Nev., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., among others.

Congressional staffers have been featured guests at other political fundraisers–earlier this year, for example, Party Time reported on two separate events hosted by chiefs of staff to Democratic House members. And last year, Party Time highlighted a fundraiser featuring a new chief of staff to a Republican senator as the main draw.

According to the Senate Ethics Manual from the 108th Congress (seemingly the last to have been published online), Senate Rule 41.1 prohibits employees of the Senate from soliciting, receiving, or having custody of campaign funds unless they hold one of three designations. The Senate offices of Sens. Murray and Durbin confirmed that their chiefs of staff are in fact designated to handle campaign funds but calls made to the offices of the other senators were not returned by the time of this post.

On June 21, the Women’s Senate Network of the DSCC will hold a reception and dinner to benefit those members of their network up for re-election in 2012. Listed contributions range from $1,000 to attend only the reception to $30,800 for the host committee. Those contributions will be made to the DSCC, with some funds directed to Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., all of whom will be up for re-election in the next campaign cycle.

The next night the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will have its turn when it holds a fundraiser honoring Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and John Lewis, D-Ga. Rep. Hoyer is celebrating his 30th year in Congress this year while Rep. Lewis is celebrating his 25th. While both representatives have individual fundraisers scheduled this month celebrating their feats of legislative longevity, this event will celebrate benefit the DCCC as a whole. Contributions start at $1,000 for an individual ticket while the honor of being a PAC host for the event will require a contribution of $15,000.

Four top aides to House Democratic leaders have been tapped to host a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tonight, at least the second time in less than one month that the campaign arm tapped aides for its cause.

Unlike the $100-per head fundraiser last month, this event may be out of reach for young donors, asking for $500 to spend an hour-and-a-half with the aides at Ping Pong Dim Sum in downtown Washington.

One of the staffers, Jason Cole, the chief of staff to DCCC leader Jim Himes, D-Conn., is a repeat host from the March event. The others are Stacey Bernards and Brian Romick, top aides to Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, R-Md., and Hayden Rogers, the chief of staff to Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., a leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition.

There is nothing improper about aides participating in fundraising when not working in their official roles but the line between aides fundraising and official duties has come into question before, including during a recent investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

The House Democrats out-raised their Republican counterparts in the first quarter by bringing in $19.6 million compared to the NRCC’s $18 million, the DCCC reported today.

The presence of five chiefs of staff to House Democratic leaders is a main attraction for an “after party” fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tomorrow night, according to an invitation obtained by Party Time.

Headlining the event are the chiefs of staff to Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., Jim Himes, D-Conn., Richard Neal, D-Mass., John Carney, D-Del., and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., all leaders of the DCCC.

The participation of top aides in fundraisers has raised questions about the boundary between members’ campaigns and official staff, in light of the House Committee on Ethics decision in January to clear Crowley and two other lawmakers of any ethical violation around financial reform legislation. Crowley’s chief of staff, Kate Winkler — who is listed as a host tomorrow — was featured repeatedly in the report, sometimes receiving emails from lobbyists responding to fundraiser invitations.

Neither Winkler nor three of the other chiefs of staff — Jason Cole, Elizabeth Hart and Jack Pratt — were immediately available for comment. Ann Jablon, the top aide to Neal, wrote in an email that she would not attend because she will be busy taking care of her four children.

One lobbyist, who did not want his name published, said he was not bothered that the chiefs of staff are the main draw to the event.

“You don’t see them often on flyers, but they are such a central presence in fundraising phone calls and emails that it does not surprise or even bother me much. In many cases the [chief of staff] is at least as important a connect as the member herself or himself,” he wrote in an email.

He also wrote that the event, which asks donors for a mere $100 and features “The Peach Pit DJ Dance Party” at a Capitol Hill bar, is attempting to “inculcate [young Democrats] into the giving routine with the $100 price tag.”

“With staff instead of Member names on the invitation, it sounds more like a party that a rich kid would throw at home when his parents are in the Bahamas,” he wrote.

The after party follows a high roller “Spring PAC Reception” at Union Station, where, for $15,000, PACs can send four representatives to the event. Headlining the invitation are Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and four of the top aides’ bosses, except for Israel. The after party RSVP form on the DCCC website asks donors to “please join the DCCC and House Democratic Staff for an after party event at Lounge 201.”

A press spokesman for the DCCC did not respond to a phone message.

In the January Ethics Committee report, the lawmakers were cleared in part because “none of the Members’ legislative staff had any role in planning any aspect for such events, other than the schedulers or chiefs of staff coordinating administrative scheduling issues regarding the Members’ availability.” [See the full report marked with notes here.]

The event comes at a particularly busy time of year for congressional fundraising. Members have planned at least 156 events this week, and no less than 57 today, according to Party Time’s files, which do not grab all of Washington’s invitations.

“I sense a volume of voice mails and emails more typical of last September than I would expect to see in spring of an odd-numbered year,” the lobbyist wrote.

He cited two immediate reasons for the uptick. First, campaigns are pressuring donors to send in checks before the end of the month, which marks the end of the first quarter. In addition, Congress is on recess all of next week, which means this week includes some of the final days for inside-the-beltway events. He expects a high volume of events again on the final three days of the month.

He also cited the “uncertainty-driven nervousness” associated with states’ redrawing congressional districts this year. Many states will lose at least one House seat in the next Congress.

“Everybody wants to get as much in the bank before they potentially get themselves redrawn into a district that will give them political fits, or that may pit one incumbent against another,” he wrote.

Over on Sunlight’s reporting site is a story about the blurred separation between official staffers and the campaign staff of Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., before a crucial House vote on a bill to overhaul the financial regulatory system.

Using Document Cloud while doing research for the story, we made over 100 notes to the House Committee on Ethics report, which cleared Crowley and two other lawmakers of granting special access to Wall Street interests. In the notes, we have provided background information and links on the lobbyists who are featured on rarely-seen fundraiser attendance lists and who exchanged emails with the three lawmakers’ staffers leading up to the events.

We have also noted some of the Ethics Committee’s main arguments and some interesting details about Washington’s fundraiser culture in the annotation:

*In some cases, prior to going to a fundraiser, attendees (or their PACs) have already committed contributing a certain amount. For instance, KPMG committed $2,500 for a John Campbell, R-Calif., event on Oct. 21, 2009, but the campaign did not disclose receiving the check to the Federal Election Commission until about a month later, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, making it much harder to link a campaign donation to an official action, as the report found.

*The three members’ chiefs of staff and top legislative aides attended many of their fundraisers. Rep. Campbell’s legislative aide for financial services said he goes to about three quarters of his boss’s fundraisers.

The report also includes some interesting tidbits and partisan jabs:

*One lobbyist modestly questioned how appropriate Campbell’s financial services fundraiser was, considering it was the night before a crucial markup on the overhaul bill.

*Asked why his boss held a fundraiser on the same day as the vote, Rep. Tom Price’s, R-Ga., chief of staff compared the Democrats to the The Boy Who Cried Wolf because they “had a habit of yanking votes.” He said he had no way of knowing the vote would actually happen when they said it would.

Party Time even plays a role in the investigation:

*The lawyers for both Price and Campbell used Party Time’s data in their client’s defense. Campbell’s lawyer noted that members of the Financial Services Committee hold similar fundraisers all the time. Committee members put on 109 of them between Oct. 21 and Dec. 11, 2009, he wrote.

Three lawmakers did not give special access to Wall Street interests at fundraisers around the time of a key House Wall Street regulatory reform vote, the House Committee on Ethics has found, in dismissing a probe yesterday. Rather, the events’ coinciding with crucial votes was by chance, according to the findings.

By concluding that the lawmakers did not even act in a way which appeared improper, the Ethics Committee, an official House body made up of members of Congress, disagreed with the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. That body argued last summer that there was “substantial reason to believe” that each member “solicited or accepted contributions in a manner which gave the appearance that special treatment or access was being provided to donors.”

You can view the over 600-page report here. In the next couple of days, we will be annotating it using Document Cloud.

The report found that the the congressmen’s fundraising consultants arranged the events without coordinating with the members’ official staff. Each member “typically” did not know about the fundraisers until right around the event’s occurrence. Members’ votes were based on “significant legislative concerns,” not requests from donors. And the attendees did not have substantive discussions with members at the fundraisers, according to the report.

The three lawmakers are Reps. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., Tom Price, R-Ga., and John Campbell, R-Calif. Last summer, the OCE dismissed probes into five other lawmakers’ fundraising with Wall Street interests and recommended that the Ethics Committee investigate the trio. Three Crowley and Campbell events were scrutinized while one of Price’s was considered.

The report includes a summary of the three lawmakers’ legislative positions on the bill and amendments over time and an account of what actually happened at the fundraisers. It also includes OCE investigation documents such as the events’ attendees, interviews with the lawmakers and their staff and email exchanges between, for instance, Rep. Crowley’s staff and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

At a Dec. 10, 2009, “Financial Services Luncheon” with Rep. Price, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., was a special guest and made brief, general comments to the crowd.  Price’s chief of staff attended but did not discuss the Wall Street regulatory overhaul bill (H.R. 4173), the report said. Over 2,500 people were invited, according to Price’s fundraising consultant, and the event was initially planned for October but was postponed, the report found.

As we read and annotate the report of next couple of days, there will be more details to come. To start, here are two of the Campbell fundraisers and one of Crowley’s:

http://politicalpartytime.org/party/23243/

http://politicalpartytime.org/party/17905/

http://politicalpartytime.org/party/18512/

Politico reported on Tuesday that 32 House members received donations from beer or wine wholesalers within a month of sponsoring the groups’ top legislative priority, a bill that re-asserts the states’ authority to regulate liquor sales. Ten lawmakers got campaign cash within a day of co-sponsoring the bill, the paper said.

Party Time’s records show the fundraisers that are likely connected with these donations, and also show that, in the case of at least two lawmakers, the lobbying firms that held the events at their Capitol Hill townhouses count one of the wholesalers’ groups as their clients.

The piece highlights several lawmakers, including Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and John Conyers, D-Mich.

Castor received the check from the beer wholesalers on June 23, according to Federal Election Commission records, a day after she held a fundraiser at the lobby shop Williams and Jensen. One suggested contribution level on the invitation is $2,500, just the amount given to Castor by the beer wholesalers, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Castor spokeswoman Ellen Gedalius told Politico that the wholesalers’ donation came in from an end-of-quarter fundraiser. She “explained the contribution by saying that the beer wholesalers have supported Castor during the three most recent election cycles,” Politico reported.

Williams and Jensen has lobbied on the CARE Act this year on behalf of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (though not the beer wholesalers) to the tune of $150,000 for the first three quarters, according to lobbyist disclosure reports. The wine wholesalers have not donated to Castor in her career, according to CRP.

Politico pointed out that Castor sits on the House Ethics Committee, which is reviewing evidence against three House members being investigated for breaking ethics rules by fundraising with financial services interests just before they voted against a financial regulatory overhaul.

The article quotes ethics watchdogs:

“It highlights the folly of having members sitting in judgment of themselves,” said Public Citizen’s [Craig] Holman.

“They’re all part of the same game,” said Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight.

Politico also mentions Connolly. He planned a fundraiser at the Eris Group townhouse on May 20, a group that lobbies for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, asking “hosts” for $2,500. A day before, he reported receiving a check in that amount from the beer wholesalers, according to CRP.  The day before, he co-sponsored the CARE Act.

Castor’s office is currently closed. And a phone call to Connolly’s campaign office was not picked up.

Note: This post has been corrected from the original. The original mentioned John Dingell instead of John Conyers. It also incorrectly stated that the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on the CARE Act, and that Castor’s spokeswoman said she received a wholesalers’ check on the 23rd. FEC reports indicate that date, not Castor’s office. Party Time regrets the errors.

Rep. Charles Rangel D-N.Y., facing 13 ethics charges and fighting for his political life in his New York primary today, has planned to be back in D.C. receiving checks bright and early tomorrow morning, according to this invitation.

In the primary, he faces a crowded Democratic field led by state Assemblyman Clayton Powell IV.

At tomorrow’s breakfast, to be held at Bistro Bis — a downtown Washington eatery which appears to be a Rangel favorite — PACs are asked to contribute between $1,000 and $5,000 while the suggested contribution for individuals is $1,000.

This is the first D.C. invitation in Party Time’s records since March, around the time when he was pushed to step down as chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Last year, he planned to attend numerous fundraisers for himself and his colleagues. Also, some longtime donors, including Pfizer, have said they are no longer contributing to him while other lawmakers have donated the money Rangel gave their campaigns to charity.

The charges against Rangel include that he used a rent-stabilized apartment for a campaign office and did not disclose income on his Personal Financial Disclosure forms.

Yesterday, we reported that one of the fundraisers held by Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., during the 10-day period under scrutiny by the independent ethics board, was at the Capitol Hill townhouse owned by Mike Legg and Christopher Perkins.

The Campbell event was planned for Dec. 9 at 123 D St., SE, the townhouse and offices of Legg, Perkins, and Associates, LLC, a lobbying firm that focuses on homeland security and defense issues.

Reached for comment yesterday, Legg said he lends his house out to members on both sides of the aisle. “We don’t host, we just let people use it,” he said, adding that he would have to check his records to see who hosted the Campbell event.

After that initial call, Legg and his partner Perkins have not returned any of our several calls. When asked how they decide who holds fundraisers at their home, Legg said, “There’s really no rhyme or reason to it.”

Since June, the Office of Congressional Ethics is looking into whether any fundraiser held during a brief period in December 2009, where there were lobbyists for the financial industry present, had any influence on lawmakers’ vote on the financial reform bill. And earlier this week, the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended to the House Ethics Committee that it go forward with investigations of three of the eight Congressmen. Campbell is one of those three, along with Tom Price, R-Ga., and Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y.

It is unlikely though that Legg, Perkins and Associates, LLC hosted the event because all of the fundraisers in Party Time’s database (which does not capture all D.C. fundraisers) at that address are for congressmen or candidates with defense or homeland security connections, many of whom sit on congressional committees responsible for those fields.

Campbell, on the other hand, has a seat on the Financial Services Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.

The firm lobbies on defense issues for a few firms, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Perkins also lobbies on stem cell research for the company NeoStem.

Both Legg and Perkins served in the military for more than 20 years. Most recently, Perkins was the director of legislative affairs for the United States Special Operations Command, according to his website bio. Legg also served in USSOCOM’s legislative affairs office.

As we reported yesterday, the e-mail invitation to the event at Legg’s D Street townhouse was sent out on Nov. 17, 2009, from Michael Gula of the GOP fundraising firm, the Gula Graham Group, and asked donors to attend a “California Wine Tasting” headlined by Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va. Gula wrote:

“The wine tasting will be at 123 D St., SE right around the corner from the [Capitol Hill Club]. We will have multiple wines from California to try. Any chance you can do $500 of $1K to help Congressman Campbell?”

The e-mail also asks donors to a fundraiser earlier that day at the Capitol Hill Club.

The financial regulation bill was voted out of committee on Dec. 2 and passed by the House on Dec. 11. In its dismissal letters to the five congressmen the OCE let off the hook, the panel focuses on this time frame.

Here is Party Time’s original post on the ethics inquiry, written in June.

[Note: In the June post we wrote that the Campbell's Capitol Hill Club lunch occurred on Dec. 8. However, we corrected this later based on another e-mail invite submitted to Party Time.]

The three congressmen that the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended for investigation into whether they broke ethics rules around the time of the Financial Regulatory Reform bill late last year attended multiple Capitol Hill fundraisers on the days leading up to crucial votes on the bill.

Earlier this year, the independent OCE opened an investigation into 8 lawmakers who received a high level of campaign contributions from the financial industry leading up to the House vote to approve the overhaul on Dec. 11. The OCE dismissed the cases of five lawmakers, and recommended that the House Ethics Committee go forward with three, the New York Times reported.

Here’s what we know about the three lawmakers’ fundraisers: Joseph Crowley’s, D-N.Y., evening fundraiser occurred at the home of a lobbyist who was paid to lobby on the bill, and the event took place while the House was debating a series of amendments that would have strengthened the bill. The invitation to Tom Price’s, R-Ga., fundraising luncheon, also on Dec. 10, was specifically aimed at the financial services sector.

The connection between the fundraisers held by John Campbell, R- Calif., and the financial industry is less clear. One of the two events he held on Dec. 9 was at the home of defense industry lobbyists Christopher Perkins and Fleming “Mike” Legg.

All three lawmakers have influential finance-related posts. Crowley is the vice chair of finance at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and serves on the tax writing Ways and Means Committee. Price is the chair of the Republican Study Committee, and he and John Campbell sit on the Financial Services Committee.

In one of the dismissal letters, obtained by the Times, sent to Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the OCE hinted at why they cleared these five lawmakers, and why the three others may be in hot water. Hensarling was found not to have: “solicited or accepted contributions in a manner which gave the appearance of special treatment or access was being provided to donors or the appearance that the contributions were linked to an official act.”

The e-mail invitation to the event at Legg’s D Street townhouse was sent out on Nov. 17, 2009, from Michael Gula of the GOP fundraising firm, the Gula Graham Group, and asked donors to attend a “California Wine Tasting” headlined by Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va. Gula wrote:

“The wine tasting will be at 123 D St., SE right around the corner from the [Capitol Hill Club]. We will have multiple wines from California to try. Any chance you can do $500 of $1K to help Congressman Campbell?”

The e-mail also asks donors to attend another fundraiser earlier that day, a lunch at the Capitol Hill Club, a private GOP club steps from the Capitol, headlined by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.

As for Crowley, during the Dec. 10 debate over amendments, he left to attend his holiday fundraiser at financial sector lobbyist Julie Domenick’s home, which doubled as her office. He then came back to vote against amendments that would have strengthened the bill, the Times reported.

Domenick told the Center for Public Integrity that she was asked in early November if the Crowley campaign could use her home for a holiday party, and that the event had nothing to do with the House votes.  At least two dozen fundraisers have been planned at her home these past two years, according to Party Time’s database.

Crowley was supposed to attend two other events on Dec. 9 and 10. He was listed as a host for an Adam Smith, D-Wash., fundraiser at a Capitol Hill eatery. The day before, he was scheduled to be at another Hill watering hole, Charlie Palmer Steak, to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee – he serves as the group’s vice chair for finance.

Price’s lunch was also at the Capitol Hill Club, headlined by Financial Services Committee ranking member Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. Price also held a fundraising breakfast there on Dec. 2, the day the overhaul bill was voted out of committee.

Click here for a list of other fundraisers hosted by lobbyists for the financial industry.