Wiles joins Mercury

From: POLITICO Influence - Monday Feb 07,2022 10:12 pm

Feb 07, 2022

Presented by Natural Allies for Clean Energy

With Daniel Lippman

TOP TRUMP ADVISER HEADING TO MERCURY: Susie Wiles, a veteran Florida GOP strategist credited as the architect of Donald Trump’s 2016 victory in the Sunshine State, has left the Florida lobbying powerhouse Ballard Partners to join Mercury Public Affairs as co-chair in its Florida and D.C. offices. Wiles, who was also a key strategist for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ gubernatorial bid and managed Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) first gubernatorial campaign, is one of the former president’s top advisers in the state and currently oversees Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America.

— She will also be launching a new consultancy, Public Strategy Advisors, to help elect Republicans. Mercury has also promoted former Rep. Toby Moffett and Jay Propes as partners in the firm’s Washington and Texas offices, respectively.

BROWNSTEIN LOBBYIST RESIGNS AFTER BEING CAUGHT HOLDING FLORIDA MUNICIPAL ROLE: A Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck lobbyist has resigned from the firm after it was revealed that the lobbyist, Sean Callahan, was found to be simultaneously serving as deputy county manager in Collier County, Fla. Callahan was fired from the county manager’s agency on Jan. 20 for failing to disclose his role with Brownstein, according to a termination letter from County Manager Mark Isackson obtained by PI, and left Brownstein shortly after.

— "Your failure to share this vital information with me at the time you were considered for appointment to the Deputy manager position, or at any time thereafter, is a serious breach of practices that cannot be tolerated," Isackson wrote in the letter to Callahan. As a result, Isackson continued, "I no longer have confidence in your ability to serve in this role.” A county spokesperson told PI that “this is a personnel matter that is being handled by the County Manager and Human Resources. As such, further comment will not be provided.”

— “We were unaware that Sean Callahan was employed outside of our firm,” Brownstein spokesperson Lara Day told PI in a statement. “He is no longer with our firm.” Brownstein previously told the Naples Daily News, which first reported Callahan’s firing as deputy county manager over his dual roles, that it was conducting a “thorough investigation” into his employment outside the firm.

— According to local news reports, Callahan began working for Collier County in 2017. He had previously served as deputy chief of staff to Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and the late Rep. Mark Takai (D-Hawaii), and before that he was briefly registered to lobby for the American Maritime Congress in between stints on the Hill, lobbying disclosures and data from LegiStorm show.

— He joined Brownstein as a senior policy adviser last March, telling PI at the time that he planned to register to lobby on national security, foreign policy, labor, land development and transportation issues, and that he was “excited to be coming back to D.C.” Callahan did not respond to a request for comment today.

— Brownstein does not have any offices in Florida, and lobbying disclosures show Callahan did not work on any accounts for companies headquartered there. Clients for whom he lobbied included Brownstein’s first defense contractor client, BAE Systems, and other municipalities like Colorado Springs, Colo. The Naples Daily News noted that Columbia Care, a cannabis company for which Callahan lobbied, has two dispensaries in cities near Collier County.

— Callahan also registered as a foreign agent to lobby on Brownstein teams for the governments of Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Egypt, South Korea, Pakistan and Morocco, as well a Liberian company that manages commercial activities within the maritime domain of the country, and the U.S. company that manages Liberia’s maritime registry, according to documents filed with the Justice Department.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Tips, please: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from Natural Allies for Clean Energy:

Natural gas is accelerating our transition to a clean energy future. The pairing of natural gas with renewable sources has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. When available, renewables like solar and wind, eliminate emissions. When these sources are not available, natural gas fills gaps, ensuring affordability and reliability for all Americans while further lowering emissions. Natural gas is accelerating America’s clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org

COZEN O’CONNOR ADDS AWS, CORNYN ALUM: Madison Smith has joined Cozen O’Connor as a principal. Smith spent almost two and a half years as senior manager for federal public policy at Amazon Web Services, and before that worked as an aide to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas). In an interview, Smith said that while he’ll be working on some of the same issues with Cozen as he did at AWS, including appropriations, tech and trade, he expects to branch out to lobby on other issues as well.

FLYING IN (VIRTUALLY): The American Society of Hematology , which represents blood disease scientists and clinicians, is holding virtual meetings on the Hill this week to push for legislation aimed at improving access to care for patients with sickle cell disease. Members are slated to meet with members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to gin up support for the Sickle Cell Disease Comprehensive Care Act, sponsored by Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Michael Burgess (R-Texas) in the House and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in the Senate. The bill would instruct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to establish a Medicaid demonstration program to improve access to high-quality outpatient care for those with the disease.

HAPPENING THURSDAY – A LONG GAME CONVERSATION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS : Join POLITICO for back-to-back conversations on climate and sustainability action, starting with a panel led by Global Insider author Ryan Heath focused on insights gleaned from our POLITICO/Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll of citizens from 13 countries on five continents about how their governments should respond to climate change. Following the panel, join a discussion with POLITICO White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López and Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, about the Biden administration’s climate and sustainability agenda. REGISTER HERE.

WHAT’S FUELING HERITAGE’S LEADERSHIP SHAKE-UP: “The Heritage Foundation has long shaped mainstream Republican policy in Washington,” The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein and Yeganeh Torbati write in a piece this morning. “But in recent months, the venerable think tank in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol has revamped its leadership after its former president, Kay Coles James, was subject to a torrent of criticism from a prominent conservative cable host.”

— “Heritage replaced James with a Texas firebrand more determined to fight pandemic restrictions, ‘critical race theory’ in schools, and ‘teaching transgenderism to kindergartners,’ bending the institution toward issues that have resonated with former president Donald Trump and his allies.”

— “The leadership changes mark a retreat from traditional but stodgy fiscal and foreign policy issues in favor of the hot-button education and vaccine debates that increasingly defined the Republican Party in the era of Trump. The change also comes as Heritage is struggling to compete for right-wing dollars while new think tanks are cropping up around town, including several launched by such Trump acolytes as former White House budget chief Russ Vought and top domestic policy aide Brooke Rollins.”

K STREET GEARS UP FOR BIDEN’S REGULATORY PUSH: “The Biden administration is preparing a wave of new regulations as it embarks on its second year, sparking resistance campaigns from business lobbyists representing financial services, agribusiness, medical-device makers and others,” The Wall Street Journal’s Brody Mullins and Ryan Tracy report.

— “Lobbyists and business groups are responding to what some describe as the federal government’s most concerted regulatory push since the Obama administration. Some Democrats hope the regulatory effort will deliver some policy wins for progressives and union activists ahead of November’s midterm elections, especially now that President Biden’s congressional agenda has stalled amid infighting within the Democratic Party.”

— “The White House’s newly installed chiefs at regulatory agencies are rolling out a lengthy list of new rules” that, taken together, “have alarmed businesses and prompted them to launch lobbying efforts to enlist allies in Congress.”

A message from Natural Allies for Clean Energy:

Jobs Report

— Nathan Ohle is now president and CEO of the International Economic Development Council. He was previously chief executive of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership.

— Kivvit is adding Jalisa Washington-Price and Arielle Goren as managing directors. Washington-Price previously was vice president of political and advocacy at iHeartMedia, and is a Biden-Harris alum. Goren previously founded Juno Strategies and worked for Uber policy and comms. They’re also adding Christine Lee as a senior associate and Mashal Hashem as an associate.

— Daniel Sauers and Erin McCoy have joined Ervin Graves Strategy Group as research associates as part of the firm’s new Graduate to Government Accelerator program.

— James Lai is joining Vogel Group as a director. He most recently was director of government affairs for Lot Sixteen’s trade and energy practice and is a Senate Energy Committee and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) alum.

— Michael Wascom has joined Strategic Elements as a strategic partner. He also serves as executive vice president of the PR agency Reputable and president and chief executive of Banyan Woods Group, and is a Moak Group and American Airlines alum.

— Kenneth Weinstein is now a senior adviser at Brunswick Group. He previously was president and CEO of the Hudson Institute and U.S. ambassador-designate to Japan in 2020-21.

— Jessica Rihani is joining Mindset as COO. She previously was COO of Signal Group.

— Katie Jordan has joined Corteva as a federal government affairs associate. She was most recently financial disclosure program manager for the Senate Ethics Committee.

— Michael Mosier has joined Oliver Wyman as a senior adviser to its anti-financial crime and digital assets practices. He was most recently acting director of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

— Phil Bongiorno is now senior vice president for advocacy and government relations for the American Academy of Physician Associates. He was most recently vice president for policy and government relations for the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.

— Emily Teitelbaum is joining the Libra Group as chief communications officer. She previously was vice president for public affairs communications at Wells Fargo, and is an Edelman and Jim Webb alum.

— The National Alliance on Mental Illness has promoted Jennifer Snow to national director for government relations and policy and Brandon Graham to director of advocacy. Snow was previously director of public policy and Graham was previously senior manager of advocacy campaigns.

— Stasha Rhodes is joining Keefe Singiser Partners as a partner. She previously was director of democracy campaigns at the Hub Project.

— Allison Remsen, executive vice president at USTelecom |The Broadband Association, has been named the trade association’s first chief strategy officer, per Morning Tech.

— Josh Connolly is joining LinkedIn as senior manager of U.S. policy and economic graph, per Playbook. He previously was chief of staff for Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.).

— Matthew Masterson is now director of information integrity at Microsoft. He previously was a nonresident fellow at Stanford University’s Internet Observatory and is a CISA and EAC alum.

— Jessica Harris will be director of strategic communications at Brookings. She was most recently director of communications for the think tank’s governance studies program.

— Drew Preston has joined Duke Energy as director of federal government affairs and Taylor Meredith has joined as senior manager of federal government affairs. Preston previously worked at the Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce and is a U.S. Chamber of Commerce alum and Meredith most recently served as counsel for chemical safety and hazardous waste for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and is an EPA alum.

— Perkins Coie named Val Dahiya, the firmwide chair of the Securities Trading and Markets practice, as the managing partner of the firm’s Washington office.

— Liza Rebold is now working on the government innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies. She is an alum of Ray McGuire’s NYC mayoral campaign and former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s (D-Fla.) office.

— Mannal Haddad will be senior comms manager at the Campaign Legal Center, Playbook reports. She previously was comms director for Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.).

— Laurel Loomis Rimon is now a partner at Paul Hastings. She previously co-chaired the fintech practice at O’Melveny.

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New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

American Congress Party (PAC)
Build Back the American Dream (PAC)
Colorado Liberty PAC (Hybrid PAC)
SC Parents Action (Super PAC)
Southern Indiana Freedom PAC (Super PAC)
Stephan McClure (Super PAC)
True Michigan PAC (Super PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Bridge Public Affairs, LLC: Disability Rights International
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Antoaneta Vassileva
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Texas Children's Hospital
Carpi & Clay, Inc: County Of San Mateo
Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC: Triumph Enterprises, Inc.
Innovative Federal Strategies, LLC: Toppan Photomasks Round Rock, Inc.
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Exxonmobil Corporation
O'Donnell & Associates LLC: John K. Castle
Piper-Smith: Fayette County Public Schools
Piper-Smith: Simmons College Of Ky
Platinum Advisors Dc, LLC: California Association Of Port Authorities
Platinum Advisors Dc, LLC: Cie Manufacturing
Platinum Advisors Dc, LLC: Sag-Aftra
The Russell Group, Inc.: Stronger America Through Seafood

New Lobbying Terminations

Artemis Esg: Cambridge Crops, Inc. Dba Mori
Shared Services Leadership Coalition: Shared Services Leadership Coalition

A message from Natural Allies for Clean Energy:

Across the country and across our economy, America is building a vital and exciting clean energy future. Natural gas is accelerating this transition and can help us rapidly achieve our climate goals. By partnering with renewable energy sources, natural gas has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. On its own, natural gas emits 50% less carbon compared to coal, making it a lower-carbon alternative that fills gaps and prevents disruptions whenever sources like solar and wind are unavailable. Existing interstate pipelines for natural gas also offer versatility for transporting hydrogen, renewable natural gas and other zero-carbon fuels of the future. Investing in natural gas infrastructure equips us for continued innovation while ensuring an affordable, reliable transition for all Americans. Natural gas is accelerating our clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org