DOJ Office of Legal Counsel Opinions

The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the Department of Justice renders legal opinions on questions of law when requested by the President and by the heads of executive branch agencies and departments. In this index, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics provides links to OLC opinions about the conflict of interest statutes--18 U.S.C. §§ 203, 205, 207, 208, and 209.

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August 13, 2008

Applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 207(f) to Public Relations Activities Undertaken for a Foreign Corporation Controlled by a Foreign Government (PDF)

A foreign corporation is a “foreign entity” under 18 U.S.C. § 207(f) if it exercises sovereign authority or functions de jure or de facto. A former official’s proposed activities are not prohibited by section 207(f)(1) if the former official does not provide those services on behalf of a “foreign entity,” regardless of whether the former official’s services incidentally benefit the foreign entity’s interests.

October 23, 2007

Application of 18 U.S.C. § 207 to former CIA Officials’ communications with CIA Employees on detail to other Agencies

The prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 207(c), under which a former high level official, in the year after his departure, may not make “any communication to or appearance before any officer or employee” of his former agency, would apply if former CIA officials make communications to or appearances before CIA employees who are on detail to other agencies.

March 30, 2007

Status of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board under 18 U.S.C. § 207(c)

A former senior employee of the Securities and Exchange Commission communicating with the Commission on behalf of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board during the year after his service as a senior employee at the Commission ends would not be communicating on behalf of the United States and therefore 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) would apply to bar such a communication.

September 13, 2005

Application of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) to Proposed Communications between Retired Navy Flag Officer and Marine Corps Commanders in Iraq (PDF)

It appears that 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) would forbid at least some of the proposed communications between a retired Navy flag officer and Marine Corps commanders regarding the security situation in Iraq.

June 22, 2004

Application of 18 U.S.C. 207(f) to a Former Senior Employee

18 U.S.C. § 207(f) prohibits a former senior employee of an Executive Branch department from representing a foreign entity before Members of Congress within one year of the termination of his employment.

June 20, 2001

Applicability of Post-Employment Restrictions in 18 U.S.C. § 207 to a Former Government Official representing a Former President or Vice President (PDF)

18 U.S.C. § 207 would not prohibit a former government official from representing a former President or former Vice President in connection with his role under the Presidential Records Act, 44 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2207 (1994).

January 19, 2001

Communications under 18 U.S.C. § 207

A former high-ranking government official proposed establishing a consulting firm as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation, in which he would be one of a very few employees, or perhaps even the sole employee. If, as hypothesized, the consulting firm prepares a report on behalf of certain clients, which is submitted directly to his former agency by the consulting firm, or with the former officials knowledge, by his client with the report bearing the consulting firms name, and it is expected by the former official that his identity as the author of the report may be commonly known throughout the industry and at his former agency, he would be making a communication prohibited by 18 U.S.C. § 207(c).

November 6, 2000

Definition of Candidate under 18 U.S.C. § 207(j)

Individuals who otherwise meet the specifications and limitations of § 207(j)(7)(A) and (B) should be deemed to be communicating on behalf of a "candidate" through the point at which that "candidate" assumes the office to which he has been elected.

November 3, 2000

Application of 18 U.S.C. § 207(d) to certain employees in the Treasury Department

The post-employment restrictions of 18 U.S.C. § 207(d), which cover officials paid "at" the rate for level I of the Executive Schedule, do not apply to officials paid at a higher rate. Those officials are instead subject to the restrictions of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c).

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June 26, 2000

Applicability of the Post-Employment Restrictions of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) to Assignees under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act

The post-employment restrictions of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) apply to persons who are assigned from a university or a state or local government to the Department of Energy under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act and are compensated at or above the ES-5 level, except for those who occupy positions ordinarily below the ES-5 level and who receive salaries only from the detailing employers, with the federal agency reimbursing those employers for an amount less than an ES-5 salary.