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Presented by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living | With Daniel Lippman FIRST IN PI — API TAPS NEW TOP LOBBYIST: The American Petroleum Institute has named Amanda Eversole its next chief advocacy officer. She previously spent two years at JPMorgan as its corporate responsibility team's managing director and head of public affairs, and is a longtime U.S. Chamber of Commerce alum. — Eversole joined the oil and gas lobby back in 2018 as its chief operating officer to lead the trade group’s strategic planning efforts. The new role “broadens the remit and takes that strategic underpinning, and allows me to go to the Hill and go to state capitals to really talk about the way the industry is part of solving some of the biggest problems facing our nation and, frankly, the world,” Eversole said in an interview, pointing to the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy markets. — The trade group, which has come under pressure from members because of its past stances on fighting climate change, is still working to craft its own climate framework, Eversole said. At the same time, API will continue monitoring discussions in Congress over a potential climate and social spending package to ensure such a bill does not include what Eversole said are “punitive taxes that single out our industry” that she argued “would be would be a step in the wrong direction.” — “Amanda has been an incredible advocate for our industry and an indispensable partner for me since she came to API nearly four years ago,” API President Mike Sommers said in a statement. “Her strategic insight, coupled with her ability to build relationships and deliver results on behalf of our member companies, is well-established, and I’m delighted that Amanda has agreed to step into this expanded role.” — The organization is promoting Shannon DiBari to oversee API’s day-to-day business operations as senior vice president for business, operations and strategy. DiBari joined the trade association in 2018 as well, and is also a Chamber alum, previously serving as executive vice president and COO. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Got a lobbying tip? Get in touch: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living: Congress: Invest in frontline care workers who protect America’s seniors.
saveourseniors.org/ | | | FEDS SEIZE DATA IN FARA PROBE OF EX-GENERAL, BROOKINGS HEAD: “The FBI has seized the electronic data of a retired four-star general who authorities say made false statements and withheld ‘incriminating’ documents about his role in an illegal foreign lobbying campaign on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar,” AP’s Alan Suderman and Jim Mustian report. — “New federal court filings obtained Tuesday outlined a potential criminal case against former Marine Gen. John R. Allen, who led U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan before being tapped in 2017 to lead the influential Brookings Institution think tank.” — “It’s part of an expanding investigation that has ensnared Richard G. Olson, a former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan who pleaded guilty to federal charges last week, and Imaad Zuberi, a prolific political donor now serving a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges. Several members of Congress have been interviewed as part of the investigation.” — “‘There is substantial evidence that these FARA violations were willful,’ FBI agent Babak Adib wrote in a search warrant application” that AP reports appeared to have been filed in error. “Allen also misrepresented his role in the lobbying campaign to U.S. officials, Adib wrote, and failed to disclose ‘that he was simultaneously pursuing multimillion-dollar business deals with the government of Qatar.’” — “The FBI says Allen gave a ‘false version of events’ about his work for Qatar during a 2020 interview with law enforcement officials and failed to produce relevant email messages in response to an earlier grand jury subpoena.” IT’S ALL COMING UP FARA: “A spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) this week registered as a foreign agent of a former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, belatedly detailing work she performed for the politician between 2018 and 2020,” The Washington Post’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reports. — “The spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, made the disclosure following contact from the Justice Department, according to her attorney, Michael Sherwin. She began her work in 2018 as a volunteer in the post-Soviet country, Sherwin said, and was ultimately paid $25,000 over the course of two years. She received her first payment, of $10,000 in October 2018, in cash, according to her filing. She stayed for free for six weeks in an apartment owned by a Saakashvili associate.” — “‘Her efforts included writing op-eds, reaching out to supporters and officials, and advocating on his behalf in Georgia and in the United States,’ Sherwin said. ‘The work ended in 2020. Ms. Pushaw was notified recently by the DOJ that her work on behalf of Mr. Saakashvilli likely required FARA registration. Ms. Pushaw filed for the registration retroactively as soon as she was made aware,’” a pattern of enforcement that Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein and Birkenstock’s Joshua Rosenstein called fairly standard for DOJ. — “Pushaw, a year into her tenure as DeSantis’s press secretary, has become a prominent protector of her boss and a fierce critic of the media. Twitter briefly locked her account last year after the Associated Press said the criticism she directed at a reporter caused him to receive death threats.” — “She has written openly on social media of her work for Saakashvili, who was arrested last year when he returned to Georgia after eight years in exile. Associated with factions critical of the Kremlin, Saakashvili led Georgia from 2004 until 2013 and entered Ukrainian politics after that country removed a pro-Russian president in 2014. A court in Georgia, now controlled by Saakashvili’s political opponents, convicted him in absentia in 2018. He faced arrest three years later when he made a theatrical return to his country, posting a copy of his plane ticket on social media.”
| | | | WIN A VIP TICKET TO JOIN POLITICO’s CONGRESS TEAM FOR COCKTAILS AND CONVERSATION: Our reporters spend each day firing off questions to elected officials and their staff – so we figured it’s time to return the favor and give lawmakers a chance to turn the tables on us with a (short!) reverse press conference, featuring Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Representative Julia Letlow (R-LA) followed by cocktails & conversation. Enter for a chance to join newsmakers at this exclusive event on June 15th at The Observatory at America’s Square on Capitol Hill. Winners will be notified by June 10th (travel and accommodations not provided, this is a widely attended event pursuant to House & Senate ethics rules). ENTER HERE. | | | | | FLASHBACK: Pushsaw, in a November 2018 interview with the Georgian English-language paper Georgia Today , insisted that she had no obligation to register as a foreign agent for her work for Saakashvili. “No. I'm very open about my support for him, not unlike many of the lobbyists who did not register with FARA and tried to conceal their affiliations and their payments; I am not getting paid and I'm not concealing who I support,” she replied when asked whether she considers herself a lobbyist. — Asked whether being paid for the work is “a decisive factor,” Pushaw responded that it isn’t, but argued that her lack of a registration obligation was because “I'm not working for anyone who's running for office in Georgia or who is holding office in Georgia or any foreign country.” The FARA Unit clearly disagrees. (h/t our Megan Wilson) ROUNDS AIDE DECAMPS FOR BOCKORNY GROUP: Joe Bliss has left the Hill after nearly a decade in the office of Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), joining the Bockorny Group as a principal. Bliss has served in numerous roles in Rounds’ personal office and the EPW subcommittee Rounds once chaired since 2015, most recently serving as a legislative aide. In a statement, fellow South Dakotan and Bockorny Group CEO Dave Bockorny said Bliss will “further strengthen our dual focus on both national and South Dakota/Upper Midwest federal client representation.” FLYING IN: DoorDash, the Alliance to End Hunger, the Food Bank of Delaware and members of the the Congressional Hunger Caucus held a briefing on the Hill today as part of an effort by the delivery app to “highlight ways to broaden food access in the U.S.,” including with local delivery. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) was set to speak at the event alongside Alliance to End Hunger head Eric Mitchell, DoorDash’s Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, Food Bank of Delaware chief executive Cathy Kanefsky and DoorDash Drive’s Brittany Graunke. — The Large Public Power Council , which represents more than two dozen of the largest public power utilities in America, held its fly-in on Tuesday, meeting with staffers on both sides of the aisle for members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Environment and Senate Public Works Committee. The group also met with Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). In their meetings they pushed for access for public utilities to direct-pay tax credits. 7-ELEVEN BRINGS ACG LOBBYIST IN HOUSE: 7-Eleven has tapped a familiar face to lead its new Washington office. Molly Ahearn Allen, who most recently lobbied for the convenience store chain while a partner at American Continental Group (now ACG Advocacy ), has joined as a senior director. Prior to ACG, Allen worked for the American Medical Group Association and the National Community Pharmacists Association, and she got her start on the Hill serving in now-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office. SPOTTED at a fundraiser on Tuesday night at Sonoma for Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) hosted by Cornerstone Government Affairs’ Anthony “Lazer” Lazarski and TJ Tatum, per a PI tipster: CGA’s Chris Hodgson and Joe Bischoff, Fierce Government Relations’ Eric Zulkosky, Bristow Group’s John Seale, Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America’s Ali Gormley, NASCAR’s Jordan Jiloty, KPMG’s Adam Wolf, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Paul Gutierrez, Beer Institute’s Annie Starke Lange and American Society of Radiation Oncologists’ Courtney Williams.
| | | | A message from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living:   | | | | | | — Ryan McCrimmon is now a senior strategist at strategic and crisis communications firm Miller Ink. He most recently was a night policy editor for POLITICO. — Catherine Hicks has left Brunswick Group where she was an associate. She is heading to Columbia Business School to be an MBA student. — James Tyrrell is now a member at Dickinson Wright. He most recently was a partner at Venable, and is an RNC and FEC alum. — Jack Fencl is now an associate at the Herald Group. He previously was a state affairs associate at Americans for Tax Reform. — Jason Matheny will be president and CEO of the RAND Corporation. He previously led White House policy on technology and national security at the National Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. — Josh Fendrick is now manager for U.S. policy at Coinbase. He most recently was economic policy adviser for Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and is a Josh Gottheimer alum. — Joe Damond joined Edelman Global Advisory as a senior health adviser. Damond was previously at BIO, where he served as deputy chief policy officer and executive vice president for international affairs.
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MCMORRIS RODGERS SMILEY WINNING WASHINGTON 2022 COMMITTEE (Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Smiley for Washington Inc., Washington State Republican Party)
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American Defense Fund (Super PAC)
Be Better America PAC (PAC)
Climate Power Action (Super PAC)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Blount Strategic Initiatives: Myriad Genetics, Inc.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Connolly Enterprises LLC
Capitol Decisions, Inc.: Capital Caring Health
David Cohen: American Samoa Economic Development Authority
Empire Consulting Group: Advanced Technology International
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP: Anglo American Plc
K&L Gates, LLP: Trident Group America, Inc.
Laura Wood Peterson Consulting, Inc.: Opti-Harvest
Monument Strategies, LLC: Humanetics Corporation
Mr. Rex Sherry: Clark Street On Behalf Of Witricity
Plurus Strategies, LLC: T-Mobile USa, Inc.
Podesta.Com: Aim Immunotech Inc.
Wbd Strategies LLC: American Optometric Association
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: International Code Council
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: Teck Resources Ltd.
Plurus Strategies, LLC: Ml Strategies, LLC (On Behalf Of T-Mobile USa, Inc.)
| | | | A message from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living: Long term care is facing a historic workforce crisis due to chronic Medicaid underfunding and pandemic burnout that continues to become more dire. It’s time to build back our workforce and invest in the frontline heroes who are dedicated to caring for America’s seniors.
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