Paris Hilton turns to K Street

From: POLITICO Influence - Thursday May 12,2022 09:32 pm

May 12, 2022

With Daniel Lippman

PARIS GOES TO WASHINGTON: Paris Hilton has been popping up across Washington this week as she looks to build support for legislation increasing oversight of youth treatment facilities like the one where she says she endured psychological abuse as a child. But newly filed lobbying disclosures show Hilton has been leaning on a more D.C. influence tactic behind the scenes.

— Disclosures show Hilton’s media and advocacy organization, 11:11 Media Impact, brought on a team of lobbyists at ACG Advocacy at the beginning of April to lobby in Washington on the issue of youth treatment facilities. ACG is the first lobbying firm retained by 11:11 Media Impact. Shawn Smeallie, Julie Philp, Preeti Turpuseema and Manus Cooney will lobby on the account.

— The issue is deeply personal for Hilton, who has spoken out in recent years about the lack of oversight and transparency within the so-called Troubled Teen Industry and facilities’ potential for abuse.

— A 2020 documentary on YouTube in which Hilton discusses being kept in solitary confinement at one such center in Utah has more than 58 million views, and since its premiere, Hilton has pushed for legislation reining in congregate care centers and at the state and federal levels, including one that was signed into law last year in Utah. She alleged in an op-ed this week that she and other institutionalized girls were sexually abused at a facility in Provo.

— Hilton was spotted this week at the White House, where she said she and other advocatesfor congregate-care reform talked with policy staffers. She and advocates also visited the Capitol and an art installation on the National Mall, where Hilton said they were “educating lawmakers about just how badly children in the troubled teen industry are treated … by sharing our experiences with abuse, neglect, and even death of a loved one.”

— Federal legislation to address advocates’ concerns has yet to be introduced, with one advocacy group, Unsilenced, posting this week that supporters were still shopping around a bill for more GOP sponsors. Legislation to regulate congregate-care facilities has won the backing of at least one organization that is bound to catch the eye of the White House — the Beau Biden Foundation, named for President Joe Biden’s late son, has circulated its own petition backing Hilton’s efforts.

McCARTIN DECAMPS FOR CONSERVATION GROUP: Muftiah McCartin, who’s served as the co-chair of Covington & Burling’s public policy practice since 2018, is leaving Covington after more than a decade with the firm to join the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as its vice president for government and corporate relations.

— The firm has tapped Brian Smith and Michele Pearce to co-lead the practice in McCartin’s stead, and both will join Sebastian Vos, the existing global co-chair, in Brussels in leading the firm's global public policy practice group. Smith has been with Covington for more than two decades, and joined after serving various roles in the Clinton administration; he's also a leader in Covington's congressional investigations practice. Pearce joined Covington last year after serving in senior roles at the Pentagon and as a defense adviser to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). She previously held several defense and national security positions in Congress.

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

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BAINWOL JOINS BRUNSWICK GROUP: Mitch Bainwol, who left Ford Motor Co. last year after two years as the automaker’s chief government relations officer, is joining Brunswick Group as a senior adviser with the strategic communications firm. Prior to Ford, Bainwol was president and chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and at the Recording Industry Association of America and was a top GOP aide. “Mitch is an enormously well-respected figure in Washington, where his expertise and networks will be hugely helpful for clients seeking to navigate a highly complex political environment over the coming period,” Brunswick CEO Neal Wolin said in a statement.

— The firm has also hired Andrea Gomes da Silva, who will be based in London. She was previously executive director for markets and mergers at the Competition and Markets Authority, the U.K.’s competition regulator, and will help clients navigate antitrust, competition and regulatory issues.

WHO’S KEPT THEIR PLEDGE TO NOT GIVE TO ELECTION OBJECTORS: Nearly a year and a half ago following the storming of the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, dozens of major corporations, trade groups and law firms rushed to condemn the violence, with many issuing vows to stop political contributions to lawmakers who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

— But out of the nearly 250 organizations that said they were pausing PAC-giving in some way in the wake of the insurrection, through March 31 only 85 — about a third — have stuck with that commitment or have yet to resume donations to those lawmakers, their leadership PACs or the congressional campaign committees that support them, according to a new analysis by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington . The list includes household names like 3M, BlackRock, Target, Bank of America, Mastercard and Zillow, as well as trade groups like TechNet.

— “These companies are foregoing [sic] the potential short-term benefits of political contributions for the longer-term health of the democracy, and they deserve recognition,” the group argued in an accompanying report. “We certainly hope that these companies continue to maintain these commitments and that this report will serve as a benchmark for future corporate responsibility. The urgency to confront and fight back against the erosion of democratic norms has not subsided since January 6th, 2021.”

— Still, the report should be taken with a grain of salt: A POLITICO review of campaign finance filings conducted earlier this year found that throughout 2021, in-house government affairs staffers for at least 13 companies gave personal donations to Republicans who objected to the presidential election results, effectively sidestepping their companies’ bans. That includes lobbyists for Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Allstate and Nike — all of which made CREW’s list.

THE CRYPTO MIDTERMS: The Associated Press’ Brian Slodysko and Fatima Hussein report on the extent to which crypto“executives have flooded money into federal races, spending $20 million so far, according to records and interviews. It’s a delicate but deliberate march by companies that by their very nature make money based in part on evading government attention.”

— “In addition to campaign spending, more than $100 million has been spent lobbying around the issue since 2018 by crypto companies, as well as those who stand to lose if the industry goes mainstream, records show. … The push comes as the Biden administration and Congress not only consider new regulations but also set funding levels for agencies that will oversee them.”

— “Many cryptocurrency proponents long opposed regulation. But lobbyists say that’s now a settled debate and their current aim is to persuade skeptics not to regulate too aggressively,” AP reports “Perianne Boring, founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce , has been lobbying lawmakers and federal agencies since 2017, trying to make the case for developing accounting standards for cryptocurrency and other digital assets and to help crypto firms become publicly traded companies. ‘Because there are no standards, many businesses are hesitant to touch cryptocurrency,’ said Boring, whose group has spent $1.9 million lobbying the federal government.”

— “Some lobbyists are hoping that a wave of campaign spending could help, much of it directed to Democratic primary races. ‘Folks in crypto are, all of a sudden, happy to go to political fundraisers,’ said Kristin Smith, the executive director of the Blockchain Association. Smith, whose group has spent $4.2 million on lobbying since 2018. She added, ‘The government could actually come in and really mess it up if we aren’t constructively engaging.’”

FLYING IN: The Nature Conservancy is joining the many organizations holding their first in-person fly-ins since the pandemic. Advocates from nearly two dozen states are meeting in person with members from their state delegations, while representatives from other states are participating remotely. The group will press Democrats and Republicans alike to advance climate and clean energy policies like the ones in House Democrats’ reconciliation bill, as well as conservation funding, the Water Resources Development Act and other bills.

— Executives from cloud software provider VMWare are also in town this week, to attend the White House’s Open Source Summit and to meet with lawmakers and administration officials, including Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.), more about multi-cloud, 5G/open RAN and cyber issues.

Jobs Report

— Cameron Trimble is now an executive vice president at Precision Strategies. He previously was White House director of digital engagement, and is a Biden campaign and National Museum of African American History and Culture alum.

— Matt Mika is now vice president of government affairs at Atlas Crossing. He most recently was director of government relations at Tyson Foods, and is a Tim Walberg, Dave Camp, Nick Smith and George W. Bush alum.

— Nathan Toth has joined Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies as a principal in the New York practice. He’s been deputy director of Finance for the New York City Council for the past 11 years.

— Michelle Kinzer is now deputy program manager for public policy at Esri. She previously was government relations manager for the American Association of Geographers.

— Jason Kanter is now government and regulatory affairs executive at IBM on the workforce policy team. He previously served as professional staff on the Ways and Means Committee, and is a Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) alum.

— Joan Marsh is retiring as executive vice president for federal regulatory relations at AT&T. Tim McKone is retiring as AT&T’s executive vice president for federal legislative relations.

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New Joint Fundraisers

Kaptur Victory Fund (Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio Democratic Party)

New PACs

The Battle of Dallas Foundation (Super PAC)
Help Free Pizza (PAC)
OJC PAC (PAC)
Progressive Voices for Peace (Super PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Abi Associates: Wolfspeed, Inc.
Acg Advocacy: 11:11 Media Impact
Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Lyft
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: Cro, LLC
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: Novaphos
Cardinal Infrastructure LLC: Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority
Cr Federal: Ergon, Inc.
Cr Federal: First South Farm Credit, Aca
Cr Federal: Granite Telecommunications, LLC
Cr Federal: Iac, Ltd.
Cr Federal: Kansas City Southern Railway Company
Cr Federal: Leidos
Cr Federal: Ligado Networks
Cr Federal: National Aviation Academy
Cr Federal: Sanderson Farms, Inc.
Cr Federal: Taylor Defense Products, LLC
Cr Federal: Tenax Aerospace
Cr Federal: Vertex Aerospace
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Dentons US LLP
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Dentons US LLP On Behalf Of Avant Healthcare
Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations LLC: Dentons US LLP On Behalf Of Town Center Cid
Garmin International, Inc.: Garmin International, Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: Intelligent Waves LLC
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: Transit Labs