A Few Degrees of Separation From Hillary Clinton's Top Adviser

The court voted 7 to 5 on Feb. 9 to overturn the 2002 conviction of Nelson Valdes on three counts of receiving illegal gratuities. Prosecutors said he passed along information from restricted law enforcement databases to an FBI informant who paid him $450.

But the court ruled that the gratuities law did not apply to Valdes's conduct -- his use of the databases was not "an official act" because it did not spur a police investigation.

The same issue hovers around Jefferson. He's under investigation for allegedly taking cash -- $90,000 of which was famously found in his freezer -- in exchange for using his congressional clout to arrange business deals. Two businessmen have pleaded guilty to giving Jefferson money to promote a company marketing new technology in Africa. But was that promotion an "official act"?

Earmarks Were Us

Citizens Against Government Waste is Washington's leading opponent of pork-barrel spending. Its annual Pig Book, which lists the government's narrow giveaways, is used by news outlets worldwide to ridicule federal earmarks.

But now that these pet projects are being scaled back -- the Pig Book this year will be more a pamphlet than a book -- CAGW is expanding its other efforts against government wastefulness. It is stepping up campaigns against farm subsidies and federal interference on the Internet. It's also going global, fostering affiliates as far flung as South Korea and Jamaica.

Democratic Hires of the Week

Democrats, who are now in demand thanks to their takeover on Capitol Hill, are shuffling jobs all over town. Bruce Andrews was stolen away from Quinn Gillespie & Associates to run the Washington office of Ford Motor Co. He will be replaced at Quinn Gillespie by Chris McCannell, former chief of staff to Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.).

Elsewhere, Stephen Brown left Dutko Worldwide to open the Washington office for Tesoro, an oil refining and marketing firm. R. Scott Silverthorne left the Capital One Financial's lobby shop to become vice president for government affairs of MasterCard Worldwide. And Broderick Johnson, a former chief House lobbyist for President Bill Clinton, is moving to Bryan Cave Strategies from AT&T. Johnson, one of Washington's top African American lobbyists, was pursued for weeks by several firms and was represented by superlawyer Robert Barnett.

It's All in a Name

RightClick Strategies, a consulting firm that has long helped Republican lawmakers design their Web sites, changed its name after last year's elections to Adfero Group, erasing any implication that it's only right-leaning. The firm said the switch was planned before the Democratic sweep.

Parry, Romani DeConcini & Symms, on the other hand, is extremely straightforward. Its Web site is LobbyCongress.com.

Please send e-mail tokstreet@washpost.com.