18 U.S.C. § 203: Compensation to Members of Congress, officers, and others in matters affecting the Government

at a time when such person is a Member of Congress, Member of Congress Elect, Delegate, Delegate Elect, Resident Commissioner, or Resident Commissioner Elect; or at a time when such person is an officer or employee or Federal judge of the United States in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government, or in any agency of the United States, knowingly gives, promises, or offers any compensation for any such representational services rendered or to be rendered at a time when the person to whom the compensation is given, promised, or offered, is or was such a Member, Member Elect, Delegate, Delegate Elect, Commissioner, Commissioner Elect, Federal judge, officer, or employee; shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 216 of this title . demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept any compensation for any representational services, as agent or attorney or otherwise, rendered or to be rendered either personally or by another, at a time when such person is an officer or employee of the District of Columbia, in relation to any proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, or other particular matter in which the District of Columbia is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, before any department, agency, court, officer, or commission; or knowingly gives, promises, or offers any compensation for any such representational services rendered or to be rendered at a time when the person to whom the compensation is given, promised, or offered, is or was an officer or employee of the District of Columbia; in which such employee has at any time participated personally and substantially as a Government employee or as a special Government employee through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation or otherwise; or which is pending in the department or agency of the Government in which such employee is serving except that paragraph (2) of this subsection shall not apply in the case of a special Government employee who has served in such department or agency no more than sixty days during the immediately preceding period of three hundred and sixty-five consecutive days. in those matters in which he has participated personally and substantially as a Government employee or as a special Government employee through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise; or in those matters that are the subject of his official responsibility, Nothing in this section prevents a special Government employee from acting as agent or attorney for another person in the performance of work under a grant by, or a contract with or for the benefit of, the United States if the head of the department or agency concerned with the grant or contract certifies in writing that the national interest so requires and publishes such certification in the Federal Register. Nothing in this section prevents an individual from giving testimony under oath or from making statements required to be made under penalty of perjury. Sections 203, 205, 207, and 208 of title 18, United States Code, shall not apply to a private sector representative on the United States delegation to an international telecommunications meeting or conference who is specifically designated to speak on behalf of or otherwise represent the interests of the United States at such meeting or conference with respect to a particular matter, if the Secretary of State (or the Secretary’s designee) certifies that no Government employee on the delegation is as well qualified to represent United States interests with respect to such matter and that such designation serves the national interest. All such representatives shall have on file with the Department of State the financial disclosure report required for special Government employees. As used in this section, the term ‘international telecommunications meeting or conference’ means the conferences of the International Telecommunications Union, meetings of its International Consultative Committees for Radio and for Telephone and Telegraph, and such other international telecommunications meetings or conferences as the Secretary of State may designate.”