The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its audit of federal lobbying compliance for 2021.

For the audit, the GAO reviewed a random sample of 98 quarterly disclosure reports filed for the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2020 and the first and second quarters of calendar year 2021. They also reviewed random samples of 160 LD-203 reports for the year-end 2020 and midyear 2021 reports.

Among its findings, the GAO concluded 97  percent of filers of lobbying disclosure reports were able to provide documentation to support reported income and expenses, 7 percent of LD-203 reports were missing reportable contributions, and 92 percent of lobbyists who filed new registrations also filed LD-2 reports as required for the quarter in which they first registered.

The audit estimates at least 35 percent of all lobbying disclosure reports did not properly disclose formerly held covered positions.

The 57-page report, released on April 1, is titled “2021 Lobbying Disclosure: Observations on Lobbyists’ Compliance with Disclosure Requirements.“