§13106 Failure to file or filing false reports

Summary

The Attorney General can sue anyone who on purpose lies or refuses to give information they are required to report under the rules. A court can make that person pay up to $50,000. It is a crime to lie on these reports; someone who does can be fined, put in jail for up to 1 year, or both. It is also illegal to willfully fail to file a required report, and that can lead to a federal fine. Agency heads, the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, congressional ethics committees, and the Judicial Conference must send names to the Attorney General if they have reason to believe someone willfully lied or failed to file. When the Judicial Conference sends a name, it must also tell the judicial council for that person’s circuit. The President, Vice President, agency heads, the Office of Personnel Management, congressional ethics committees, and the Judicial Conference may take personnel or other actions allowed by law. The law also covers reports filed more than 30 days after the later of the report’s due date or the end of an approved extension. The supervising ethics office may waive any filing fee in extraordinary circumstances.