I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that any dealings between Arnie and the publishers of the National Enquirer end up in a festival of sketchiness and sleaze, but these guys keep surpassing my expectations. Today’s installment? Apparently, the contract between Schwarzenegger and American Media, Inc. required AMI to donate a quarter of a million dollars to the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, which Arnie founded this year. That would be OK, but as the Chronicle points out, elected officials are required to report this kind of stuff

But no record of the donation is on file with the Fair Political Practices Commission, a spokesman said Friday.

Critics charge that the failure to file may violate section 82015 of the California government code, which requires elected officials to file reports detailing any donation over $5,000 made at their behest or solicited by an agent on their behalf. Those reports must be filed within 30 days of the donation, the law says.

The disclosure of money that politicians such as Schwarzenegger solicit for other organizations is as important as showing the source of their own campaign contributions, said Steve Levin, political reform project manager at the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles.

The law was designed to prevent officeholders from using their political clout to force people to make contributions to outside groups. It also stops politicians from secretly funneling donors’ money to groups controlled by a friend or relative.

In addition to the questionable relation to the Governor specifically, there are some doubts about the nature of his pet charity.

The California attorney general’s office said Friday it had no papers of incorporation for the governor’s fitness council — though the documents are required by law for nonprofits.

There is also no record of the council in the database of charitable groups kept by the secretary of state’s office, which also requires filings by those groups, said a spokesman for the office.

So, not only did Schwarzenegger not report the contribution he solicited, as required by law (and putting it into a contract is pretty clearly soliciting it, I would think), he hasn’t even gotten around to actually registering his non-profit! All sleaziness aside, that’s just flat out incompetent. Tell me again how this guy’s so much smarter than he looks?