(a) Except as permitted by subsection
(b) hereof, whoever, being an officer or employee of the executive
branch of the United States Government, or of any independent agency
of the United States, a Federal Reserve bank director, officer, or
employee, or an officer or employee of the District of Columbia, including
a special Government employee, participates personally and substantially
as a Government officer or employee, through decision, approval, disapproval,
recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise,
in a judicial proceeding or other application, request for a ruling
in other determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation,
arrest, or other particular matter in which, to his knowledge, he,
his spouse, minor child, partner or organization in which he is serving
as officer, director, trustee, general partner or employee, or any
person or organization with whom he is negotiating or has any arrangement
concerning financial interest—
Shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section
216 of this title.
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(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply—
(1) if the officer or employee
first advises the Government official responsible for appointment
to his or her position of the nature and circumstances of the judicial
or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination,
contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, or other
particular matter and makes full disclosure of the financial interest
and receives in advance a written determination made by such official
that the interest is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to
affect the integrity of the services which the Government may expect
from such officer or employee;
(2) if, by regulation issued by the Director
of the Office of Government Ethics, applicable to all or a portion
of all officers and employees covered by this section, and published
in the Federal Register, the financial interest has been exempted
from the requirements of subsection (a) as being too remote or too
inconsequential to affect the integrity of the services of the Government
officers or employees to which such regulation applies;
1-450.1
(3) in the case of a special Government
employee serving on an advisory committee within the meaning of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (including an individual being considered
for an appointment to such a position), the official responsible for
the employee’s appointment, after review of the financial disclosure
report filed by the individual pursuant to the Ethics in Government
Act of 1978, certifies in writing that the need for the individual’s
services outweighs the potential for a conflict of interest created
by the financial interest involved; or
1-450.2
(4) if the financial interest that would
be affected by the particular matter involved is that resulting solely
from the interest of the officer or employee, or his or her spouse
or minor child, in birthrights—
(A) in an Indian tribe,
band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any
Alaska Native village corporation as defined in or established pursuant
to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which is recognized as
eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United
States to Indians because of their status as Indians,
(B) in an Indian allotment
the title to which is held in trust by the United States or which
is inalienable by the allottee without the consent of the United States,
or
(C) in an Indian
claims fund held in trust or administered by the United States,
if the particular matter does not involve the Indian allotment
or claims fund or the Indian tribe, band, nation, organized group
or community, or Alaska Native village corporation as a specific party
or parties.
1-450.3
(c) (1) For the purpose of paragraph
(1) of subsection (b), in the case of class A and B directors of Federal
Reserve banks, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
shall be deemed to be the Government official responsible for appointment.
(2) The potential availability
of an exemption under any particular paragraph of subsection (b) does
not preclude an exemption being granted pursuant to another paragraph
of subsection (b).
1-450.4
(d) (1) Upon request, a copy of any
determination granting an exemption under subsection (b)(1) or (b)(3)
shall be made available to the public by the agency granting the exemption
pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 105 of the Ethics
in Government Act of 1978. In making such determination available,
the agency may withhold from disclosure any information contained
in the determination that would be exempt from disclosure under section
552 of title 5. For purposes of determinations under subsection (b)(3),
the information describing each financial interest shall be no more extensive
than that required of the individual in his or her financial disclosure
report under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
1-450.5
(2) The Office of Government Ethics, after
consultation with the Attorney General, shall issue uniform regulations
for the issuance of waivers and exemptions under subsection (b) which
shall—
(A) list and describe exemptions; and
(B) provide guidance
with respect to the types of interests that are not so substantial
as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the services the
Government may expect from the employee.
[18 USC 208.
As amended by acts of Nov. 16, 1977 (91 Stat. 1388); Nov. 30, 1989
(103 Stat. 1751); May 4, 1990 (104 Stat. 159); and Sept. 13, 1994
(108 Stat. 2140, 2142).]