Campaign Finance

National: “Investment Firm EnCap to Pay $500,000 to Settle Pay-to-Play Claims” by Liz Hampton for Reuters

National: “Exclusive: Secret money funds more than 40% of outside congressional ads” by Frereka Schouten for USA Today

Elections

National: “Mueller Indicts 12 Russians for DNC Hacking Days Before Trump-Putin Summit” by Darren Samuelsohn, Cory Bennet, and Josh Gerstein for Politico

Ethics

National: “The Quest to Get a Pardon in the Trump Era: ‘It’s who you know’” by Campbell Robertson (New York Times) for MSN

Alabama: “Ivey Takes Small Step on Sheriff Jail Food Funds but Can’t End the Practice on Her Own” by Connor Sheets for AL.com

New Jersey: “How Ex-Horizon Exec Kept Ties to Company” by Brent Johnson and Susan Livio (NJ Advance Media) for Newark Star Ledger

New York: “Architect of Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion Project Is Convicted in Bid-Rigging Scheme” by Benjamin Weiser and Jesse McKinley (New York Times) for WRAL

Lobbying

Massachusetts: “Walsh Vetoes City Lobbying Rules, Calling Proposal ‘Inadequate’” by Milton Valencia for Boston Globe

Missouri: “KC Council Members Slam Gift Ethics Plan as Jason Kander Drops Casual Campaign Video” by Bill Turque for Kansas City Star

Virginia: “New Virginia Business Aims to Be Kickstarter for Political Influence” by Katherine Hafner for The Virginian-Pilot