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Presented by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Earthjustice: 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 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Earthjustice | With Daniel Lippman FARA FRIDAY: The Qatari Embassy continues its hiring spree that began at the beginning of this year. Earlier this month the embassy hired Empire Consulting Group’s Mike McKay and Eulice Brandon Garrett to represent the gulf nation in Washington for $40,000 per month, according to a contract filed with the Justice Department. McKay is a former senior adviser to new House Foreign Affairs Chair Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), while Garrett previously worked for Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), new HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge , and as a policy director and political adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden during the 2012 reelection. — Empire Consulting is the fourth new firm to sign the embassy this year, after Integrated Strategy Group, Ogilvy Government Relations and Nurnberger & Associates (as a subcontractor of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, who has represented Qatar for more than a decade). The Qatari government also last month hired Robert Crowe after he left Nelson Mullins, and its Defense Ministry recently hired retired Vice Adm. John Miller, who led the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. Fifth Fleet, according to DOJ filings. GOP SENATORS PRESSURE CORPORATIONS TO WEIGH IN ON CONTESTED IOWA RACE: Both of Iowa’s senators, as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), are seeking to put American corporations who spoke out about efforts to overturn Biden’s victory on the spot over House Democrats potentially overturning the results of an Iowa House race. — In an open letter sent Thursday evening to more than a dozen companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), McConnell and Cotton cited the dozens of companies that condemned or vowed to cut off the 146 Republican members of Congress who objected to certifying Biden’s victory in the wake of January’s deadly insurrection. — “We write to ask if you are taking the same position with respect to members of the House of Representatives who are poised to overturn” the state-certified election of Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks over Rita Hart , the senators, all of whom voted to certify Biden’s win, said. Hart’s appeal to the House centers on 22 votes that she argues were improperly rejected, rather than tens of thousands of ballots in multiple states that would have overturned the presidential race, and is absent the combative rhetoric that surrounded Republicans’ “rigged election” claims. — The letter will likely serve as another warning shot to corporations, some of whom have reportedly already been threatened by some victims of the pause in donations. The senators wrote in their letter that silence about Hart’s challenge might lead some to “question the sincerity of your earlier statements and draw the conclusion that your actions were partisan instead of principled.” — A Chamber spokesperson told PI that the business lobby “agrees that the same standard should apply to verified election results. And we applaud those House Democrats who have raised concerns about reported plans to potentially overturn the verified results in Iowa.” Other recipients of the letter, Marriott, Hallmark, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Best Buy, Amazon, Dell, Airbnb, AT&T, Verizon, Dow Chemical, Walt Disney, Intel, Cisco, Mastercard, Nike and Edison , did not respond to requests for comment. | | A message from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Earthjustice: It’s time to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline. It is operating without a permit and in violation of key environmental laws, needlessly endangering the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for the sake of oil industry profits. The Biden administration can be on the right side of history. Tell President Biden to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline. Click here or text NoDAPL to 43428. | | | Happy Friday and welcome to PI. Send K Street tips and gossip: coprysko@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. WARREN, AMAZON DUKE IT OUT OVER TAXES: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) got into a public spat Thursday night with whoever runs Amazon’s Twitter account after the online retailer fired back at comments she made during a Senate Finance hearing on international taxes, complaining the company manipulates the tax code to skirt paying them. “You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them,” Amazon responded to the senator, adding: “If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by all means, change them.” The company then went on to outline its recent tax payments. — Warren shot back a few hours later , asserting that “I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit ... your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did,” and vowing to make the tech giant “pay your fair share.” She also referenced a unionization push at a distribution warehouse in Alabama and pledged to “break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets.” — The tech giant did not respond to Warren, nor did it reply to a request for comment from PI. Data from the Center for Responsive Politics show Amazon and its subsidiary Amazon Web Services dished out a record $18.7 million on lobbying efforts last year, between the company and a roster of 20 outside firms. While most of its lobbying disclosure reports cite lobbying on tech issues, several also name various tax issues like implementation of the 2017 GOP tax bill. ABOUT THOSE DONATION FREEZES: The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger reports that at least five companies “ appear to have gone back on their suspension of donations to GOP election objectors: AT&T, Cigna Health, Ford Motors, Pfizer, and Wells Fargo.” — “While none of the five companies who seem to have reversed themselves have given directly to official candidate committees, three of the companies—AT&T, Ford, and Pfizer—gave to leadership PACs belonging to members who challenged votes. Additionally, Cigna, Pfizer, and Wells Fargo gave to the NRSC,” whose Chair Rick Scott (R-Fla.) voted against certifying the election. HOW STEPHEN MILLER PLANS ON PLAYING SPOILER TO BIDEN: Stephen Miller, the former White House adviser “known for his hard-line immigration policies and conservative culture war postures, is launching a new legal group. And he’s looking to use it to make Joe Biden’s life miserable,” POLITICO’s Gabby Orr writes. “The group, which will be known as America First Legal, will help organize Republican attorneys general against perceived executive branch abuses in addition to filing lawsuits of its own, according to six people familiar with the planning.” PR WORLD TURNING AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUEL PRODUCERS: Ad agencies and PR firms are beginning to back away from the oil and gas industry as environmental groups begin to go after what they call “greenwashing,” or misleading consumers about companies’ impact on climate change, The New York Times’ Tiffany Hsu reports. Dozens of ad agencies have signed a pledge put together by the advocacy group Fossil Free Media to no longer work for oil and gas companies, utility companies or their lobbyists, while Democratic officials across the U.S. have filed lawsuits “accusing Exxon, the trade group American Petroleum Institute and others in the industry of engaging in deception about climate change, including through their ads” and “several publications have limited or stopped accepting fossil fuel ads.” LUETKEMEYER OWNS STAKE IN BANK REPPED BY ABA: Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri, one of the top Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee, owns an up to $25 million stake in St. Elizabeth Bancshares, an S corporation whose chief executive is Luetkemeyer’s brother and which is a “dues-paying member of the American Bankers Association,” the banking lobby whose business is constantly in front of the Financial Services Committee, per Sludge ’s Donald Shaw. “When the group’s lobbyists speak to Congress, they are speaking in part on behalf of Representative Luetkemeyer’s own bank,” Shaw reports, citing annual financial disclosures that show that “Luetkemeyer has taken in between $4.6 million and $26 million in pass-through income from the bank since becoming a member of Congress.”
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| | | — Tommy Kaelin is joining the Progressive Policy Institute as their new digital director. He was most recently with Immersion Legal Graphics and is a Judiciary Committee and Anthony Brindisi alum. — Katherine Nanney is rejoining the Merritt Group’s government team as an account manager. She was most recently a senior account executive at Finn Partners. Upon her return to the firm, her clients will include Deloitte, Elastic, Qlik and ASRC Federal. — Lauren Blair Bianchi is now vice president of public affairs for the Consumer Bankers Association. She previously was communications director for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). — National Journal has announced five promotions: Afzal Bari to president of National Journal membership, Luke Hartig to president of National Journal research, Heather McKeon to vice president of membership overseeing revenue, strategy and product growth, and Chris Dornfeld to senior vice president of technology for National Journal Group. Katie Collins, senior vice president and chief business development officer, will expand her duties to focus on business development strategy for the research division’s entire portfolio. — Jean Dimeo will be managing editor of Route Fifty, part of Government Executive Media Group, and Brent Woodie will be associate editor. — Tom Steyer’s NextGen America has hired Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez as their next executive director, per Morning Score. She was previously a Democratic Senate candidate in Texas. — Avery Gardiner is joining the staff of Senate Judiciary antitrust Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) as chief counsel for competition and tech policy, Morning Tech reports. Gardiner most recently worked at the Center for Democracy and Technology and is an alumna of DOJ’s antitrust division. — Julie Alderman is starting as director of research at the League of Conservation Voters, Playbook reports. She previously was political research manager at Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
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Republican Liberties Union (PAC)
Police and Trooper Support (Super PAC)
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| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: Pacific Architects And Engineers, LLC
American Defense International, Inc.: Battelle Memorial Institute
American Defense International, Inc.: Viaclean Technologies, LLC
Ballard Partners: Asset Investment Group LLC
Blank Rome Government Relations: American Queen Steamboat Company
Blank Rome Government Relations: Hertz Herson
Capitol Counsel, LLC: Association Of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
Covington & Burling LLP: Emd Millipore
Federal Hall Policy Advisors, LLC: Insurance Services Office, Inc.
Fti Government Affairs: Humana Inc
John Ladd & Associates, Inc.: Old North State Medical Society
Keller Partners & Company: Grande Ronde Hospital
K&L Gates LLP: Cleco Power LLC
K&L Gates LLP: United States Cannabis Council
Natixis North America LLC: Natixis North America LLC
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: Port City Air, Inc.
Siemens Medical Solutions USa, Inc: Siemens Medical Solutions USa, Inc
The Madison Group: Executive Leadership Council
The Madison Group: Sime Darby Plantation Berhad
The Madison Group: Ucan
United States Cannabis Council: United States Cannabis Council
US Inventor Inc.: US Inventor Inc.
Winning Strategies Washington: Kaya17
Winning Strategies Washington: National Alliance On Mental Illness
Winning Strategies Washington: Omniprophis Corporation | | New Lobbying Terminations | | Ballard Partners: Association Of Dental Support Organizations | | A message from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Earthjustice: The Dakota Access Pipeline is dangerous, doesn’t have the permits it needs, and is an affront to tribal sovereignty. A federal judge ordered the government to consider the risks to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the environment. Tell President Biden to respect the law and tribal rights by shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline. Click here or text NoDAPL to 43428. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
