Microsoft parts ways with Covington & Burling

From: POLITICO Influence - Wednesday Jun 01,2022 09:25 pm
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By Caitlin Oprysko

With Daniel Lippman

MICROSOFT PARTS WAYS WITH COVINGTON & BURLING: Covington & Burling has ended its lobbying work for Microsoft after more than two decades representing the software giant in Washington, according to a termination filed Tuesday. Covington has lobbied for Microsoft since at least 1999, the earliest date lobbying disclosures are available online. Disclosures show that during the past 23 years the company has paid Covington & Burling more than $10 million to lobby on issues like net neutrality, privacy, national security, immigration, tax and telecommunications.

— Covington & Burling did not respond to a request for comment on the circumstances of the termination. But the termination was filed days after Muftiah McCartin, who co-chaired the law and lobbying firm’s public policy practice and who disclosures show had worked on the Microsoft account since 2013, announced her departure from Covington.

— Covington has also done lots of legal work for Microsoft, including advising the company on its acquisitions of Nokia and Skype and a cloud partnership with Oracle. The firm also led a legal challenge on Microsoft’s behalf challenging law enforcement’s use of gag orders on tech companies. The lawsuit resulted in what Covington boasts on their website was a “landmark reform” reining in gag orders.

— Microsoft also has Covington to thank for its current leadership. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and vice chair, was a partner at Covington before moving over to the software giant in 1993.

MATHIAS HEADS TO FORBES TATE: Robert Mathias, the former longtime president and chief executive of Ogilvy Public Relations, is joining Forbes Tate Partners as a managing partner, in what the firm says is its first addition to its executive leadership team since 2016. Mathias was most recently external affairs chief at the National Park Foundation, and before that led Ogilvy’s Washington office and North American operations for close to two decades.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Did you hear some good gossip at a fundraiser recently? Received an interesting fundraiser invite lately? Let me know: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

 

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SENATE INTEL STAFFER HEADS TO MONUMENT: Chad Tanner is leaving the Hill after 13 years to join Monument Advocacy’s cyber and tech policy practices as a lobbyist. Tanner has served as a professional staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee since 2009, and has also worked for former Reps. John Boccieri and Ted Strickland.

— In a statement, Tanner said he was eager to bring a national security lens to Monument’s work. “With more and more cybersecurity and technology issues intersecting with national security policy, this is a great time for me to be joining such a strong firm and team at Monument,” he said.

HOW MUCH TRADE GROUP HONCHOS DOWNTOWN MADE: “It pays to be an energy association leader in Washington. Just ask Thomas Kuhn. The longtime leader of the Edison Electric Institute, the main trade group for investor-owned electric utilities, made $5.2 million in pay and benefits in 2020.” 

— “He wasn’t the only one making big bucks that year,” E&E News’ Timothy Cama and Robin Bravender report. “An E&E News analysis of energy and industry trade groups’ leaders found that at least 10 of them brought in seven-figure compensation packages in 2020, despite the economic downturn brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Some influential environmental leaders earned more than $500,000 during that time.”

— “Kuhn may be the highest-paid energy trade executive, but he wasn’t the best-paid industry association leader in 2020. The heads of business trade groups that often lobby on energy and environmental regulations received massive compensation packages.”

— “Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers , earned more than $8 million in 2020, the filings show. That represents a huge leap from the $3.7 million Timmons received the previous year. His 2020 pay reflects a two-year bonus and the vesting of a six-year deferred compensation package, said NAM spokesperson Jamie Hennigan.

— “Tom Donohue, who led the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2020, raked in a hefty $7.1 million in 2020, the tax filings show. Donohue left the business group last year after more than two decades at the helm of the organization. The group advocates for energy and environmental issues on its members’ behalf — often taking positions that match the fossil fuel industry’s. Other energy executives also took home big paychecks. Michael Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, made $3.96 million in 2020, a bump from his $3.88 million pay the previous year.”

WALL STREET BRISTLES AT BIDEN TREATMENT: “President Joe Biden is trying to calm Americans this week with a new focus on the economy, including an inflation plan rolled out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, a meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and a pile of senior officials hitting cable TV to tout the White House’s achievements. But the messaging push may not be enough to overcome a vicious blame game on the economy emerging between corporate leaders and the White House,” POLITICO’s Ben White reports.

— “Biden and Democrats say some of the fault rests with greedy companies artificially hiking prices, skimping on new domestic investments and paying too little in taxes. Corporate executives and business groups blame Biden for — among other things — pumping too much stimulus into the system at the wrong time, not moving fast enough on supply chain fixes or eliminating more Trump-era tariffs.”

— “The finger pointing will only grow more intense as the midterm elections get closer, financial markets continue to gyrate on every bit of news on inflation and consumers continue to spend down their Covid-era savings to keep up with higher prices. And some top executives, especially in the banking sector, are now complaining that while Biden pays lip service to caring about their views on how to fix things, he doesn’t actually listen to them or solicit their input. The finance industry is especially alarmed at the moment given the big losses in stocks and the impact of changing interest rates on their businesses.”

ANNALS OF DARK MONEY GROUPS: “A left-wing dark-money group targeting Elon Musk has been suspended from operating in California and several other states after it failed to file required details about its finances,” the Washington Free Beacon’s Alana Goodman reports.

— “The North Fund, a nonprofit group that has been using the alias ‘Accountable Tech’ to organize a corporate boycott against Musk's Twitter bid, is ‘not in good standing and is prohibited from engaging in conduct for which registration is required, including soliciting or disbursing charitable funds,’ according to a delinquency notice sent in January to the group by California attorney general Rob Bonta (D.). Bonta said the group must file required financial disclosure records to be reinstated.”

— “The North Fund's charitable standing is also expired or revoked in 12 other states, according to government records. These states include Wisconsin, where the fund has been using the trade name ‘Opportunity Wisconsin’ to run millions of dollars in attack ads against Sen. Ron Johnson (R.).”

WHO’S IN CONSERVATIVES’ CROSSHAIRS: “Top Republican congressional aides huddled this month with conservative think-tank leaders on Maryland's Eastern Shore to hone tactics and messaging for Biden administration probes,” reports Axios’ Lachlan Markay.

— “If the GOP wins control in the midterms, leaders want to kick off high-profile investigations as soon as the new Congress is seated. Republicans plan to draw on investigative power from allies across Washington. The retreat was hosted by the Heritage Foundation, the Conservative Partnership Institute and the American Accountability Foundation, a nonprofit run by Trump administration alumni that's dogged Biden nominees with independent investigative work.”

— “Over two days, congressional aides at the retreat got briefings from prominent conservative activists and organizations on a host of investigative tactics,” while the event itself “provides a glimpse of where Republicans see potentially fruitful oversight avenues.”

— “The Oversight Committee, whose chief counsel for oversight attended, has a broad mandate. Its ranking Republican, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), has recently signaled scrutiny of Biden's immigration policies, his son Hunter’s business dealings abroad and tech companies' ostensible political bias. … The Ways and Means Committee, which sent two Republican aides to the retreat, is a powerful panel with oversight jurisdiction over tax and financial policies at the center of a national furor over inflation.”

— Republican oversight won't be confined to federal agencies or the White House, [Heritage’s Mike] Howell said. ‘Big Tech is in the crosshairs,’ he said. ‘They're going to be subject to document requests and subpoenas and depositions.’”

IN MEMORIAM: Nancy Clark Reynolds, a confidante and aide to Ronald and Nancy Reagan who parlayed her influence within Republican circles into a long career as a Washington lobbyist and power broker, died May 23 at an assisted-living facility in Santa Fe, N.M,” The Washington Post’s Emily Langer reports.

— Reynolds served as a press aide to Ronald Reagan while he was governor of California, and later served on the transition team of incoming first lady Nancy Reagan. “Mrs. Reynolds’s ties with the Reagans made her a sought-after figure in Washington, particularly when she partnered with Anne Wexler to form one of the city’s first bipartisan lobbying operations,” per the Post.

 

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Jobs Report

Maya Serkin has been promoted to be manager for client success at constituent management platform Indigov.

Commonwealth Care Alliance has added Liz Goodman as chief legal and public affairs officer. Goodman most recently was executive vice president of government affairs and innovation at America’s Health Insurance Plans.

Adfero has added Melanie Vynalek as an account executive in the public affairs practice, Zoe Ashburn as an account executive in the health practice, Grace Varela as an assistant account executive in the health practice, and Deion Maith as a junior project manager.

Alexa Velickovich has been named a senior content executive at Mattio Communications. She most recently was comms coordinator at POLITICO.

Michael D. Saperstein is a new partner in the Washington, D.C., office of law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer, per Morning Tech. He was previously vice president of strategic initiatives at USTelecom – The Broadband Association.

Rational 360 is adding Rob Van Raaphorst as senior vice president and Jake Wilkins as senior director. Van Raaphorst most recently was vice president of communications at the Mortgage Bankers Association . Wilkins most recently was communications director for Johnson’s reelect, and is a Kevin Cramer alum.

Adam Tragone is now an attorney at the Institute for Free Speech. He most recently was an attorney at Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky.

Courtney Alexander is now a strategic media adviser at Republican Main Street Partnership. She most recently was vice president of public affairs at the Strategy Group Company, and is a Congressional Leadership Fund and American Action Network alum.

Chris Holt is now vice president of policy at the Alliance for Health Policy. He previously was director of health care policy at the American Action Forum.

Patrick Malone is joining Amazon’s public relations team, working mainly on global humanitarian relief and disaster response efforts. He previously was deputy chief of staff and communications director for Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), and is an Earl Blumenaeur alum.

Drew Pusateri is joining Cruise, GM ’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, as director of trust and safety and strategic communications. He most recently was a policy communications manager on Meta's strategic response comms team, and is a Claire McCaskill and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs alum.

New Joint Fundraisers

Bennet Caraveo Victory Fund (Sen. Michael Bennet, Caraveo for Congress)
KELLY FOR ALASKA VICTORY (Alaska PAC, Kelly for Alaska)
Serve Oklahoma (Kendra Horn for Senate, Oklahoma Democratic Party)
STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY JFA (Reps. Matt Cartwright, Elaine Luria, Kim Schrier, Dina Titus, Tom O’Halleran, Sharice Davids, Kathy Manning, Chris Pappas, Marcy Kaptur, Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton, Greg Stanton, Josh Harder, Jahana Hayes, Sanford Bishop, Elissa Slotkin, Dan Kildee, Cindy Axne, Mike Levin, Bill Foster, Lauren Underwood, Jared Golden, Angie Craig, Andy Kim, Tom Malinowski, Mikie Sherrill, Susan Wild, Scholten for Congress, Christina Bohannan for Congress, Jay Chen for Congress, Liz Mathis for Congress, Courtney for Congress, Max Rose for Congress)
Ted Lieu Victory Fund (Rep. Ted Lieu, Progressive PAC)

New PACs

ALASKA PAC (Leadership PAC: Kelly Tshibaka)
Bright Future Fund (Super PAC)
PATRIOT Uprising (PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP: Mind 24-7, LLC
Capitol Counsel LLC: Pbm Accountability Project
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Rk Strategic Management Solutions, LLC
Desimone Consulting, LLC: Catholic Charities Eastern Washington
Holland & Knight LLP: Ansys, Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: Biomade
Holland & Knight LLP: Ninetwelve Institute
Law Offices Of George Harris, LLC: The Health Care Authority Corporation Of The City Of Thomasville
Phoenix Global Organization Incorporated: Seven Seas Financial Guarantor Services LLC.
Thompson Coburn LLP: Zeta Charter Schools
Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Hindu American Foundation
Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Proof Of Stake Alliance
Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Urvin Finance
Twinlogic Strategies, LLP: Directv, LLC
Velocity Government Relations, LLC: Fathom Tanks
Venable LLP: Nuclearsafe Technologies

New Lobbying Terminations

Cohen & Gresser LLP: Mercury Public Affairs, LLC Obo Apei (Fka American Public University System)
Covington & Burling LLP: Microsoft Corp
North Carolina Baptist Hospital: North Carolina Baptist Hospital
Tauzin Consultants, LLC: Green Cooling Tower Operations LLC
The Federal Group, Inc.: International Association Of Forensic Nurses
Wake Forest University Health Sciences: Wake Forest University Health Sciences

 

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