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Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | With Daniel Lippman ASSOCIATE OF PROLIFIC SCAM PAC OPERATOR PLEADS GUILTY: A California man accused of helping operate a ring of phony political action committees and pilfering hundreds of thousands of dollars from unwitting donors pleaded guilty on Monday to his role in the scheme, the Justice Department announced today . — Robert Reyes Jr., 40, pleaded guilty in the Western District of Texas to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to cause false statements to the Federal Election Commission and one count of money laundering, authorities said. Reyes, along with Matt Tunstall and Kyle Davies were charged last November for the scheme, which focused on just two of the numerous so-called scam PACs Tunstall has been linked to . — According to the department Reyes admitted that two PACs the men ran during the 2016 election raised around $3.5 million by making “false and misleading representations” in robocalls and written and radio ads soliciting donations meant to support either then-presidential candidates Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. — Of that amount, prosecutors said, the two PACs distributed just $19 to “legitimate political causes,” while Reyes pocketed approximately $714,000. The department said Reyes admitted to running additional scam PACs after the 2016 election from which he received $95,000 “from false and misleading solicitations to donors.” As part of his plea, Reyes agreed to forfeit the nearly $810,000 he received as part of the scheme. — Reyes, Tunstall and Davies “instead used the funds they acquired through the scheme to pay for additional fraudulent solicitations for money, to enrich themselves directly, and to support their independent, unrelated business ventures,” according to last year’s indictment. — Prosecutors also alleged that a common third-party vendor for the two committees was used to launder more than $350,000 in illegal proceeds to bank accounts belonging to Tunstall and Reyes or controlled by them. They said Reyes and Tunstall overpaid the vendor, an unnamed company that disseminated robocalls, and then arranged for the company to wire the excess funds in a series of nearly two dozen transactions. — Federal authorities have yet to schedule a sentencing date for Reyes, who faces up to 20 years in prison — an improvement from the 125 years he could have faced prior to pleading guilty. The Justice Department and FEC have both sought to crack down on the proliferation of scam PACs in recent years. Last year a federal judge in D.C. sentenced the operator of a pair of scam PACs to 46 months in prison for a series of fraudulent schemes that included running the PACs and pocketing over $1 million in fake Paycheck Protection Program loans. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. It may be recess, but we’re still around — let us know what’s going on out there: coprysko@politico.com . And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko .
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY . | | | | | CYBER FIRM SIGNS ADI: The cybersecurity firm Zscaler earlier this month hired defense lobbying firm American Defense International in the latest expansion of its advocacy footprint in Washington. Josh Martin , who previously served as chief of staff to former House Armed Services Chair Mac Thornberry, will work to set up meetings with officials on cyber issues, according to a disclosure filed Monday. — The digital security company has drastically scaled up its lobbying spending in recent months. In March, it retained J.A. Green and Company to lobby the Pentagon on cyber issues and the Hill on this year’s NDAA. The same month, Zscaler’s senior director of government affairs Kevin Cummins registered as the firm’s first in-house lobbyist. Zscaler also retains one other firm, Hettinger Strategy Group. — So far this year the company reported spending $270,000 on federal lobbying, more than double the $130,000 Zscaler dropped in all of 2021. The upswing in spending coincides with a major cybersecurity package that passed the Senate this spring that, among other things would codify the responsibilities of the government’s top cyber officials; set out reporting requirements for cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and ransomware payments made in response; and authorize a GSA program known as FedRAMP that regulates how agencies purchase cloud services. — Though the cyber package passed the Senate by unanimous consent, pieces of it — namely the private sector cyber incident reporting mandate — were incorporated into a spending bill signed by President Joe Biden, leaving the fate of the rest of the measure up in the air. WSJ, CHAMBER TRADE BLOWS OVER RECONCILIATION BILL: The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board went after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last night in an op-ed chastising the business lobby for its controversial decision to endorse a slate of House Democrats in 2020, all of whom are expected to lend their votes this week to help pass the party’s tax, climate and health care package that the chamber has fiercely opposed. — “The lobby’s bet in 2020 that supporting ‘centrist’ House Democrats would protect against anti-business policies has been a bust,” the editorial board argued. The Journal’s opinion editors pin the blame for “this political misjudgment” on the chamber’s new leader Suzanne Clark and chief policy officer Neil Bradley. — “Critics of the endorsements noted that most of the Chamber Democrats had a voting record of hostility to business,” the piece says, pointing to past votes by the centrist Democrats to raise the minimum wage, backing the repeal of the 2017 GOP tax bill and favoring increased regulations. As a result, they argue, “Ms. Clark has squandered business money and influence in Washington, and the cost includes the taxes and regulation in Schumer-Manchin that will harm business for years.” — But the chamber fired back at the broadsheet’s assertions , contending the paper “ignores” the business lobby’s recent wins, including passage of the infrastructure bill and USMCA and beating back the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill in discussion last year. “It seems the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board is searching for someone to blame for the Schumer-Manchin deal,” the organization said in a post online. “Last week their thesis was that Senate Republicans had been ‘played.’ ” — The chamber added that it had received an “outpouring of support” in response to a note from the leaders of its board to the full board on Monday that noted the group had endorsed nearly 200 GOP House candidates in 2020, and that candidates of all both parties “were judged on the same scorecard” — which last cycle began incorporating measures of “leadership” and “bipartisanship” — to reach its endorsements. INDUSTRY FIGHTS HEAT SAFETY RULES FOR WORKERS: As extreme heat becomes more pervasive across the country, The Washington Post’s Anna Phillips reports that efforts in states to enact laws requiring “employers to provide outdoor workers with drinking water, shade and rest breaks on hot days” have been watered down or blocked “following opposition from industry groups representing agriculture, construction and other business interests, according to public records and those involved in efforts to craft new rules.” — “The Biden administration’s plan to draft heat rules for workers is likely to face similar resistance and legal challenges from the biggest companies,” and the fate of those rules could come down to the winner of the 2024 presidential election. — “Across the country, industry leaders and lobbyists have made the same argument: States should put off writing their own rules until a national regulation takes effect. But business interests are working to create doubt about whether a national heat rule is needed — or even legal. In comments to OSHA, business groups have said that the compliance costs would be extreme and that employers are already doing the right thing.” — “The American Farm Bureau Federation wrote to the agency, saying it should ‘partner with employers’ on better training materials instead of pursuing a new rule. The National Cotton Council wrote that many heat-related issues are not caused by farm work or poor management, ‘but instead result from the modern employee lifestyle in an advanced 21st century global economy.’ The group pinned workers’ inability to withstand high temperatures on ‘present-day luxuries such as air-conditioning’ and Americans’ ‘sedentary lifestyle.’”
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today . | | | | | | | | — Trentqual Rhone is now the press and staff assistant for Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.). He was previously a press assistant at Protect Our Care. — Bullpen Strategy Group has promoted Elizabeth Gibson and Jay Boyd to senior directors in the communications practice, Ali Hiestand to senior director and Garrett Scocos to senior associate in the research practice and Beth Hitchcock and Andrew Muchnick to senior directors in the media monitoring practice. — Sara Pease is now deputy associate director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. She most recently was a senior manager at Deloitte. — Caroline Snell has joined Michael Torrey Associates as a policy coordinator. She previously was an intern at the firm. — The Aerospace Industries Association on Monday named Katherine Nettrour as vice president of finance, Simone Perez as senior director of civil aviation and Steven Jordan Tomaszewski as senior director for national security space. — Tatyana Bolton will leave the R Street Institute this month to join Google as a security policy manager. Bolton was previously a senior policy director for the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. — Drew O’Brien is joining Seven Letter as a partner. He most recently was executive vice president and managing director at Burson Cohn & Wolfe and president of Direct Impact, and is a State Department alum. — Karishma Merchant is now associate vice president of policy and advocacy at Jobs for the Future . She previously was senior education and workforce policy adviser for Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
| | | Gimenez Salazar Victory Fund (Reps. Carlos Giménez , María Salazar , Libertad, Freedom Force PAC, NRCC)
Hassan Beasley Victory Fund (Sen. Maggie Hassan , Cheri Beasley)
Walker Graham Majority Fund (Sen. Lindsey Graham , Team Herschel, Inc, Georgia Republican Party Inc., NRSC)
| | | Electrolux Home Products, Inc. Employee Political Action Committee (PAC)
Moderate Party Independent Fund (Super PAC)
National Horse Protection PAC, Inc. (PAC)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | American Defense International, Inc.: Zscaler, Inc. And Affiliates
Balance Public Relations & Strategic Solutions Inc: City Of Corpus Christi
Capitol Energy Advocacy, LLC: Chugach Electric Association
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: City Of Waukegan, Illinois
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Illinois Road And Transportation Builders Association
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Village Of Elk Grove, Illinois
Covington & Burling LLP: Sk Hynix America Inc.
Jordan Law Firm, LLC: Pueblo Of Laguna
Michael Rothschild: The Shteynberg Lerner Pac
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Envision Strategy: Canadian National Railway Company
Envision Strategy: Merrick / Surdex Joint Venture
Gulf South Strategies USa, LLC: United Medical Providers
Kent & O'Connor, Inc.: International Association Of Airport Duty Free Stores
Michael Rothschild: Amir Allahverdi
Michael Rothschild: Athletic Wolves
Mr. Dean Martilli: Caring Health Center Inc
Mr. Dean Martilli: Town Of North Providence
The Summerill Law Firm: Allen County Sheriff's Office
Thompson Consulting Group: Miners Landing | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
