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Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | With Daniel Lippman UKRAINE HIRES SKDK: Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations is getting speech writing assistance from a veteran of the craft, according to new documents filed with the Justice Department. Stephen Krupin, a former senior speechwriter to former President Barack Obama who’s now managing director and head of executive communications at the Democratic consulting powerhouse SKDKnickerbocker, registered as a foreign agent to support Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya on a pro-bono basis, according to the documents filed Monday. — Krupin, who also served as a speechwriter for then-Secretary of State John Kerry and former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, is the only person registered on the account, which describes his role as providing Kyslytsya “speech writing support” in connection with comments to the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly. — Kyslytsya made headlines last week for an impassioned plea at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council the same night that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces moved into Ukraine, kick-starting what’s now been a week of hostilities in the country. In the speech, Kyslytsya implored his Russian counterpart to halt the invasion, later warning that “there is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, ambassador.” In another address at the U.N. on Monday, Kyslytsya read aloud text messages between a Russian soldier and his mother, moments before the soldier was killed. TENEO NO LONGER REPS HEDGE FUND THAT BOOTED SANCTIONED OLIGARCHS: CEO consultancy Teneo no longer represents a Luxembourg-based investment firm that removed a pair of co-founders sanctioned by the EU for their ties to Putin, documents filed with the Justice Department this week show. Teneo said in its supplemental statement, required under FARA to be filed every six months, that its relationship with the hedge fund, LetterOne, ended on Oct. 31. — The firm confirmed to POLITICO on Tuesday that that Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven , two of the hedge fund’s co-founders, had stepped down from the board as a result of the EU sanctions. The two Russian oligarchs were also scrubbed from the website listing the firm’s board members. According to the DOJ filings, Teneo “did not engage in communications with U.S. government officials” on LetterOne’s behalf. The consultancy reported that it had received $450,000 over the six-month period to provide “strategic counsel” to LetterOne and its directors, "including arranging sponsorship for a media event concerning long term investing.” — Though Teneo’s work for LetterOne ended last fall, the firm still has ties to the hedge fund. Evan Davies, LetterOne’s non-executive chair, is also a senior adviser for the consultancy. Meanwhile, BGR Government Affairs has represented the hedge fund in Washington since 2015. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Have a lobbying tip? Get in touch: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from Altria: Moving beyond smoking. Altria’s companies are leading the way in moving adult smokers away from cigarettes – by taking action to transition millions toward less harmful choices. We are investing in a diverse mix of businesses to broaden options beyond traditional, combustible cigarettes. See how we’re moving. | | | BIDEN HHS AIDE RETURNING TO FULCRUM: Josie Villanueva, a former Hill staffer who joined Fulcrum Public Affairs shortly before heading to work in the Biden administration, is returning to the firm as a vice president. Villanueva served as a counselor to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra as part of the Administration for Children and Families. While she’ll be barred from lobbying the Biden administration, Villanueva is free to lobby her former colleagues on the Hill, where she worked for Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and more recently Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.). BUSINESS, ADVOCACY COALITION ASKS FOR IMMIGRATION FIXES THIS YEAR: A new coalition of over two dozen trade associations and advocacy groups is calling on lawmakers to come together to deliver on several key immigration reforms by the end of this year, a tall order given the looming midterms. — In a letter to congressional leadership today, the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus acknowledged the steep task, writing that “given the current state of our politics, it may seem impossible to achieve bipartisan immigration policy solutions. Yet, we know that solutions are possible and, with your support, are attainable this year.” The new alliance includes groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers, as well as industry groups representing hotels, retailers and farmers, religious groups and organizations like the National Immigration Forum and LIBRE Initiative. — Rather than advocating for a complete overhaul of the immigration system, the groups are pressing for more piecemeal reforms in the current Congress, contending that “reaching a legislative consensus on incremental reforms to our immigration system in the short term can lead to larger, more systemic bipartisan reforms in the future.” — The push comes after President Joe Biden urged lawmakers in Tuesday night’s State of the Union to make something happen on immigration, name-checking the Chamber in particular to highlight the relatively broad support immigration reforms have. Calling for a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, those with temporary status and farm and essential workers, Biden pointed to the intersection of supporters including the Chamber to argue that “it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s [the] economically smart thing to do.” — The coalition echoed Biden’s call for a pathway to citizenship, as well as investments in “smart border security and improving infrastructure at ports of entry” and “secure, orderly, and compassionate processing at the border.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | UTILITIES PRESS WHITE HOUSE TO LET RUSSIAN URANIUM KEEP FLOWING: “The U.S. nuclear power industry is lobbying the White House to allow uranium imports from Russia to continue despite the escalating conflict in Ukraine, with cheap supplies of the fuel seen as key to keeping American electricity prices low, according to two sources familiar with the matter,” Reuters’ Ernest Scheyder and Trevor Hunnicutt report. — “The United States relies on Russia and its allies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for roughly half of the uranium powering its nuclear plants … which in turn produce about 20% of U.S. electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the World Nuclear Association.” — “Washington and its allies have imposed a series of sanctions on Moscow in the past week as Russian forces pushed deeper into neighboring Ukraine, though the sanctions exempt uranium sales and related financial transactions. The National Energy Institute (NEI), a trade group of U.S. nuclear power generation companies including Duke Energy Corp and Exelon Corp , is lobbying the White House to keep the exemption on uranium imports from Russia, the sources said. The NEI lobbying aims to ensure that uranium is not caught up in any future energy-related sanctions, especially as calls intensify to sanction Russian crude oil sales, the sources said.” UKRAINE’S CASE FOR ENERGY SANCTIONS: Andriy Kobolyev, the former head of Ukrainian state-owned natural gas company Naftogaz , “said he has been meeting with U.S. senators and Biden administration officials to push for sanctions on Russian fossil fuel exports , which he asserts will be necessary to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin and those around him to halt their invasion of Ukraine,” POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre and Betsy Woodruff Swan report. — “Kobolyev said he has been holding these meetings with the blessing of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ‘We are pushing for a full embargo on oil and gas from Russia to the West,’ Kobolyev said in an interview. ‘In my experience dealing with [Putin’s] team and him personally, one of the cornerstones ... is that the energy supply is so important to the West — the collective West — that no matter what [Russians] do, they'll always be forgiven, that Western countries will crawl back on their knees asking for their oil and gas,’ he said.” — “‘If the West makes the first move and says “look, we are putting sanctions” or “we are saying no to your gas and oil,” that will undermine that important hypothesis that Putin personally is using to convince people around him to do completely crazy things,’” he added.
| | | |   | | | | | | — Jonathan Adelstein is departing the Wireless Infrastructure Association, where he is president and chief executive, to become managing director and head of global policy and public investment for DigitalBridge Group. — Michael Kennedy has been promoted to a senior vice president, global government relations and public policy at VMWare. He was previously vice president, global government relations and public policy and is a former chief of staff to former Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). — Lee Anne Pirrello has joined the National Confectioners Association as vice president of member value and engagement strategy. She was previously vice president of membership at the American Medical Informatics Association. — Melinda McGrath has joined Troutman Pepper’s energy practice group in Charlotte as a partner. She joins the firm from McGuireWoods. — Vinoda Basnayake is now the president of the Qatari headquarters of Aspiration, a multibillion-dollar American public good corporation focused on fighting climate change. He most recently was a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and chair of its D.C. government relations practice. — Regina Schleiger has joined SGH Macro Advisors as director of central bank policy research, Morning Money reports. She spent most of the past two decades as an analyst at Medley Global Advisors. — Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has hired Rosalyn Brummette as a policy advisor for ag, natural resources and public lands, per Morning Ag. She previously was manager of public policy for market development and renewable fuels at the National Corn Growers Association. — Erika Symmonds joined the Solar Energy Industries Association as its vice president of equity and workforce development, Morning Energy reports. She previously served as vice president of workforce development and service-learning at Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit Grid Alternatives. — Anneke Green, Joshua Gilder and Anna Wellisz have launched Reach Global Strategies, per Playbook. Green most recently was a senior director at the White House Writers Group, and is a Bush White House and Mitch McConnell alum. Gilder is a Reagan White House and State Department alum. Wellisz is a veteran strategist. — Mary Owens is now comms director at Susan B. Anthony List, per Huddle. She most recently was comms director for Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), and is a Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) alum. — Justin Ouimette will be vice president of government affairs at the State Freedom Caucus Network. He currently is executive director of the House Freedom Caucus. — Pete McAleer has joined Bombardier’s government affairs office as senior counselor for defense programs. He most recently was national security adviser to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and is a Marine Corps veteran. — Alex Howard is now lead communications and PR manager at AT&T, focusing on media relations based in D.C. He most recently was director of strategic comms and media affairs at the McKeon Group, and is a Hillary Clinton and Obama White House alum. — Sean McGlynn has been promoted to government affairs adviser at K&L Gates.
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| | | Americans Determined to Advance Michigan (Super PAC)
Americans for Secure Elections (Super PAC)
Warrior Met Coal, Inc. Federal Political Action Committee (Warrior Met Coal Federal PAC) (PAC)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Bridge Public Affairs, LLC: Middle Tennessee Electric
Dutko Worldwide, LLC: Liberty Steel Holdings USa Inc.
Fifestrategies, LLC: Bsa Business Software Alliance, Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: Board Of County Commissioners Of Pitkin County, Co
Peebles Kidder: Alturas Indian Rancheria
Schaerr Jaffe LLP: Rebel News
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Univision Communications Inc.
Dutko Worldwide, LLC: Wyelands Capital
Meltsner Strategies, LLC: National Organization Of Social Security Claimants' Representatives
Perry Bayliss Government Relations, LLC: Neustar
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