SKDK NAMES NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Democratic consulting powerhouse SKDK has tapped Doug Thornell to be its next chief executive, The New York Times’ Shane Goldmacher reports, making Thornell “one of only a few Black executives to lead a major public relations and political consulting firm.” — Thornell, whose resume Goldmacher notes spans “the entire alphabet soup of Democratic groups” — the DNC, DCCC, DSCC and Congressional Black Caucus , or CBC — has been with SKDK since 2011, joining as a senior vice president in the public affairs practice before being promoted to managing director and then partner. He currently oversees SKDK’s paid media and political consulting practice. He’ll succeed current CEO Josh Isay, who will step down after nearly two decades at the helm of SKDK but stay on as a senior counselor. — SKDK’s client roster includes major companies as well as nonprofits and political candidates — including President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. Since Biden’s victory, the firm has maintained close ties with the White House, with founding partner Anita Dunn moving back and forth between the White House (where she currently serves as a senior aide to Biden) and SKDK several times, a revolving door that has concerned ethics experts. FEC filings show the firm this year has done work for Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), whose reelection bid is one of the cycle’s most high-profile races, as well as the DCCC. — Thornell told the Times that “it would be one of his goals to promote the next generation of leaders from a diverse set of backgrounds in the public-relations space, and to ‘make sure both the public affairs world and the political consulting world looks like this country.’ SAUDI GOLF LEAGUE TAPS WASHINGTON VET TO LEAD COMMS: Jonathan Grella has joined LIV Golf, the new golf league financed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund that has challenged the PGA Tour’s grip on the sport and sparked blowback in Washington, as its chief communications officer. — Grella previously ran JAG Public Affairs , and before that served as an executive of the U.S. Travel Association, communications director for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and press secretary to former House GOP leader Tom DeLay. “I’m thrilled to be part of the excitement that LIV is bringing to golf. This is a startup with a very bright future,” Grella told PI in a text. — The new league has prompted accusations from critics that it’s a means for the Saudi kingdom to “sports-wash” its record on human rights, and split the sports and political worlds alike. Officials for the league have argued LIV’s aim is to help grow the sport while giving players more agency. — After the PGA Tour banned players who defected for LIV from competing in future PGA Tour events, several of those players sued the tour on antitrust grounds, earning plaudits from critics of the PGA Tour. The Justice Department is reportedly investigating the PGA Tour for antitrust violations as well. LIV veered further into the political landscape by scheduling two of its tournaments at former President Donald Trump’s golf clubs, and its events have attracted protests by the families of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. D.C.’S HOTTEST CLUB IS… ‘BRUNCH BUNCH’: POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs reports on an “increasingly popular fad in money raising : access to a bundle of small gatherings that lobbyists can purchase. Instead of brief facetime with a lawmaker at a single event, they are offered the opportunity to develop almost a familial relationship with him or her over a series of them.” — “For instance, one can break bread within Sen. Ben Ray Luján ’s ‘leadership circle.’ Donors who reserve a seat in the New Mexico Democrat’s gold level campaign club with a $1,000 check are guaranteed a spot at a series of events promoted by his campaign as intimate gatherings.” Other such clubs include Sen. Jeanne Shaheen ’s (D-N.H.) and Rep. Darren Soto ’s (D-Fla.) separate “kitchen cabinets” and Rep. Virginia Foxx ’s (R-N.C.) “Brunch Bunch,” the latter of which costs $1,000 for one event or up to $5,000 for the entire “series of seven brunches.” — The idea is to "entice donations from individuals ... rather than corporate political action committees." Meanwhile "lobbyists can, in turn, use their membership as a sell for potential new clients. The groups have become part of the ecosystem of Congress and K Street, several lobbyists said, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle leaning into the concept.” — “But campaign finance experts questioned whether the groups were inching close to a kind of ‘pay-to-play’ program. Jeff Hauser, the founder of the Revolving Door Project, said that the groups appear to facilitate ‘even more efficient corruption.’” RIP TO YOUR INBOX: “Political fundraising emails are notoriously a mix of over-exaggerations, routine misrepresentations and ALL CAP PLEAS. Relief is not on the way,” our Zach Montellaro writes. — The FEC “gave its blessing to a program proposed by Google on Thursday that will effectively allow federal campaigns and other political committees to bypass spam filters and land in the inbox of Gmail users. The commission, in a 4-1 vote, said that Google’s program would not amount to an impermissible contribution to the committees, clearing the way for the search giant to implement the program should it so choose.” — “The FEC has been inundated with thousands of comments about the proposal, which one commissioner called ‘record breaking,’ with virtually all of them urging the agency to not approve the program. ‘NO,’ one submitted on the eve of the hearing read in its entirety. The Democratic National Committee weighed in to oppose the pilot program,” which is set to run through January unless the program “degrades the user experience.” — A majority of commissioners approved the program, if reluctantly, Zach reports. “‘I am going to support [the program]. I don’t want to, and it is for the same reason all the commenters don’t want to,’ Dara Lindenbaum, a Democratic commissioner, said. But she voted for the program because she believed it was within the law.” She was joined by the three Republican commissioners — Allen Dickerson, Trey Trainor and Sean Cooksey, while Democratic commissioner Ellen Weintraub voted against it and Democratic commissioner Shana Broussard abstained.
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