Republicans hammer at dark money groups in opening statements

From: POLITICO Influence - Monday Mar 21,2022 09:05 pm

Mar 21, 2022

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With Daniel Lippman

DARK MONEY IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR GOP IN FIRST DAY OF JACKSON HEARINGS: As the opening day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson kicked off this morning, there were a couple common threads on the dais.

— One by one in their opening statements, multiple GOP senators name-checked Demand Justice, a judicial advocacy group formed to compete with conservative heavyweights like the Federalist Society and Judicial Crisis Network . They homed in on Demand Justice’s vocal support for Jackson’s nomination and how it relates to advocacy by the dark money group, which isn’t required to disclose its donors, for expanding the Supreme Court.

— Chuck Grassley , the top Republican on the committee, repeated prior complaints about what he said was “the troubling role of far-left dark money groups like Demand Justice have played in this administration's judicial selection process,” accusing the group of “attacking the independence of the judiciary.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) echoed that, accusing Demand Justice of “sow[ing] public distrust in the legitimacy of the Supreme Court."

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also mentioned Arabella Advisors, a consulting firm for nonprofits. The firm shares some staff and has received payments for “business and administrative services” from the liberal dark money behemoth Sixteen Thirty Fund, which helped seed Demand Justice (as well as a number of other progressive causes) before Demand Justice separated from the organization last year.

— Graham’s opening statement focused on dark money in the context of the candidate he and other South Carolina lawmakers had pushed for to win the nomination, J. Michelle Childs , whom progressives opposed. “I think it does matter, that the groups that came to your aid at the expense of Judge Childs, how did that happen and why were they doing what they’re doing?” Graham asked. “What is it about your nomination that the most liberal people under the umbrella of Arabella threw in their money, their time, their support and threatened Joe Biden if he picked Judge Childs?” he argued.

— Of course, this line of questioning is no surprise — Judicial Crisis Network, which has boasted of its eight-figure spending on separate Republican Supreme Court nominees in recent years, swiftly launched a $2.5 million ad blitz last month targeting “the liberal dark money network led by Arabella Advisors that helped get Joe Biden elected, pressured Justice Breyer to retire, and is now seeking to replace him with a rubber stamp for their unpopular and far-left political agenda.” (The Washington Post’s fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, this month deemed such attacks hypocritical.)

— In his comments kicking off today’s hearing, Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sought to pre-but such talking points from Republicans. He told Jackson that “there may be others who alleged that you are before us today as a product of the campaign of dark money groups.” But he argued that Jackson’s “record and the process that led to this nomination belie that claim. To suggest that you're here merely because an organization supports you ignores your qualifications and the broad range of support you bring to this.”

— Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who frequently rails against the influence of dark money in politics and the courts — even as such money increasingly pours in from the left — maintained that Jackson “is before us on the basis of her own merit, not the recommendation of a secretive right-wing donor operation, hiding behind anonymous multimillion-dollar donations and aimed at capturing the United States Supreme Court as if it were some 19th-century railroad commission.”

— For its part, Demand Justice appeared to welcome the attention. “Every time you hear Republicans talk about us, it’s just another reminder: they know they can’t win a debate about Judge Jackson’s extraordinary qualifications,” the group, which announced after Jackson’s nomination that it would spend $1 million backing her confirmation, said in a tweet. Its executive director, Brian Fallon , tweeting from a watch party, said that Grassley’s mention of Demand Justice’s support elicited cheers from attendees.

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STUDENT LOAN PROVIDERS JOCKEY FOR PAYMENTS TO RESUME: “Private student lenders are vigorously lobbying to get the Biden administration to restart federal student loan payments as the pandemic-related moratorium continues to hurt their bottom line,” POLITICO’s Michael Stratford reports, as Biden weighs whether to extend the pause past May 1.

— “The emergency relief has suspended monthly payments and interest for roughly 40 million federal loan borrowers for the past two years, but it has also sapped demand for some private student loan products and cut into profits.”

— “SoFi , one of the largest student refinance companies, told investors earlier this month that the Biden administration’s last extension of the payment freeze in December was expected to reduce the company’s profits by $20 million to $25 million in the first quarter of this year. The company is one of several private student lenders that, in recent months, have stepped up their fight to get the Biden administration to stop — or at least curtail — the unprecedented freeze on federal student loan payments that’s now entering its third year.”

— “Several private student lenders and their lobbyists have reached out to Democratic and Republican offices on Capitol Hill to counter the high-profile calls from Democrats asking for another extension. And they’ve voiced concerns to the Biden administration, where a decision on the issue is once again pending among senior aides at the White House ahead of the May expiration of the existing relief.”

— “SoFi and CommonBond, another student loan refinance lender, in recent weeks have shopped around language for the next government funding package that’s aimed at pressuring the administration into narrowing the relief to cover fewer federal student loan borrowers, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by POLITICO.”

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IF YOU MISSED IT THIS WEEKEND: “Three Russian businessmen have dropped their defamation lawsuit against Fusion GPS and its founder Glenn Simpson over the so-called dossier the Washington-based investigative firm prepared during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign about alleged ties between presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russia,” our Josh Gerstein writes.

— “The owners of Russia’s Alfa Bank — Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and German Khan — filed the suit in federal District Court in Washington in 2017, claiming that they were libeled by suggestions in the dossier that they were cronies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and that they aided Russian government efforts to meddle in the 2016 American election.”

— “The trio abruptly threw in the towel in the case last week in part of a series of legal moves that appear linked to the international pressure on Russian business moguls over Russia’s war on Ukraine, as well as to financial sanctions various governments have imposed on various oligarchs alleged to have ties to the Kremlin.”

THEY’RE BAAACK, SORTA: “The novel coronavirus had upended nearly every routine, including campaigning, by this time two years ago — before vaccines and as lockdowns, indoor capacity limits and mask mandates became commonplace. Now, with mask and other requirements lifting across the country and people reengaging more in social and civic life, candidates, political organizers and D.C. lobbyist donors say in-person events are coming back, making the 2022 midterm campaigns more of a return to normal. Or, at least, normal-ish,” reports Roll Call ’s Kate Ackley.

— “The inside-the-Beltway fundraising scene, which has slowly been coming back since last spring, has begun to boom again with in-person festivities, according to lobbyists and party committees’ schedules of events.”

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Jobs Report

— Roberta Elias has been named vice president of strategic advocacy and initiatives at the American Beverage Association. She most recently was director for policy and government affairs at the World Wildlife Fund.

— Amber Yanez is joining Home Depot as PAC manager and Sara Garcia is joining as D.C. office manager and executive assistant. Yanez most recently was PAC and grassroots manager at Transamerica and Garcia most recently was a scheduler and deputy recruitment director for the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association.

— Brunswick Group has added Cabe Franklin as partner for client services. He has been with McKinsey & Company for the last 25 year where, most recently, he led the firm’s change communications practice group.

— Matt Ashburn is joining LangleyCyber as chief strategy officer. He is a former CIA officer who has served as the chief information security officer for the National Security Council.

— Ivan Zapien, a partner in Hogan Lovells’ government relations and public affairs practice, has joined the board of directors at Venture Philanthropy Partners + Raise DC, which applies a venture capital model to nonprofit investments.

— Meghan DiMuzio is now senior director of corporate reputation in Anheuser-Busch’s D.C. office. She previously was senior vice president at Forbes Tate Partners and executive director of the Coalition for App Fairness.

DON’T MISS POLITICO’S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE.

New Joint Fundraisers

Booker Gillibrand Victory Fund (Sens. Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand)
CVD Victory Fund (Rep. Beth Van Duyne, Eli Crane for Congress)
Palazzo Victory Fund (Palazzo for Congress, Patriot Political Action Committee, NRCC)
Take Back the House California 2022 (Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Mike Garcia, Young Kim, David Valadao, Ken Calvert, Michelle Steel, Scott Baugh for Congress, Matt Jacobs for Congress, Majority Committee PAC MC PAC, NRCC, TAKE BACK CA-03 REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FUND 2022, TAKE BACK CA-13 REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FUND 2022, TAKE BACK CA-09 REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FUND 2022, TAKE BACK CA-49 REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FUND 2022, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY FEDERAL ACCT. )

New PACs

America First Voices (Super PAC)
America Forever (PAC)
CONSERVATIVE VALUES PAC (Super PAC)
Forward Rhode Island (Super PAC)
Job Creators Action Fund (Super PAC)
Ohio Freedom Fund Political Action Committee (Super PAC)
No More Mo (Super PAC)
Service Knowledge Oath Leadership PAC (SKOL PAC) (Leadership PAC: Tyler Kistner)
Winning Team PAC (Super PAC)
Your Lowcountry Neighbors (Super PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Batie & Associates, LLC: Act House
Batie & Associates, LLC: Norfolk Southern Corporation
Blue Star Strategies LLC: Biomerieux, Inc.
Cga Strategies LLC: Sierra Pacific Industries
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Issue One
Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Reading International, Inc.
Liberty Tools LLC: Liberty Tools LLC
Ms. Tami Wahl: Afg Distribution, Inc.
The Nickles Group, LLC: Tobacco Free Kids Action Fund

New Lobbying Terminations

None.

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