Where K Street’s money went in Wyoming primary

From: POLITICO Influence - Tuesday Aug 16,2022 09:50 pm
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By Caitlin Oprysko

With help from Daniel Lippman

WHERE K STREET’S MONEY WENT IN WYOMING PRIMARY: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is facing off against Trump-endorsed challenger Harriet Hageman, an attorney and onetime Cheney supporter, in the GOP primary today as the House GOP conference chair-turned-party outcast fights to hold on to her seat despite becoming one of former President Donald Trump’s top critics in Congress.

— Cheney is looking to become just the third House Republican who voted to impeach the former president over the events of Jan. 6 to survive their primary, though a recent poll found Hageman ahead of Cheney by almost 30 points. Her near-certain defeat will mark the end of the Cheney political dynasty, at least for now, but lawyers and lobbyists have been some of Cheney’s biggest benefactors throughout her political career ( more than four dozen Republican lobbyists signed up to host one fundraiser for her last year), and K Street has continued to put its money behind Cheney in her reelection fight.

Samuel Olchyk of Venable, Michael Robinson of Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Khary Cauthen of Cheniere, Julius Hobson of Polsinelli and Christopher Boesen of Tiber Creek Associates of Capitol Hill, are among the registered lobbyists who wrote checks to Cheney in the final weeks of the primary, along with Joshua Dorner, the managing director of SKDK’s Washington office and Hal Quinn, the head of the National Mining Association.

CVS Health’s Shannon Penberthy and ACG Advocacy’s Michael Barbera also wrote checks to Cheney this year, and throughout the campaign, she received donations of at least $2,900 — the maximum amount allowed for individuals for a primary — from Nathanson + Hauck’s Megan Hauck, the Business Roundtable’s Josh Bolten and Kristen Silverberg, Blackstone’s Wayne Berman, Coinbase’s Kara Calvert, Fierce Government Relations’ Kirk Blalock, Forbes Tate Partners’ Jeff Forbes (a Democrat), West Front Strategies’ Shimmy Stein and Airlines for America’s Nick Calio.

— A couple of Cheney’s former colleagues turned lobbyists have also boosted her campaign, including the extremely recent Hill-to-K Street convert Filemón Vela, Congress Minutes reported. Former Reps. Mac Thornberry, Martha Roby and Rodney Frelinghuysen also contributed via their old campaign accounts, while former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen gave to Cheney personally.

— Hageman, who’s raised less money than Cheney on the whole, has still drawn pockets of support on K Street. Every lobbyist at Miller Strategies, the firm run by Kevin McCarthy ally Jeff Miller, has contributed to Hageman. Miller last year issued an ultimatum to Republican strategists warning that they could either work for Cheney or they could work for the potential next House speaker, The New York Times reported.

James Richards of Cornerstone Government Affairs, Brian Shinault of American Strategic Partners and Denise Morrisey of Capitol Counsel have also donated to Hageman.

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.

 

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LIV’S PR NETWORK: “As the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament prepared for its launch this year, it quietly contracted the public relations giant Edelman for help. The relationship, which ended in March, was never filed with the Department of Justice under foreign lobbying rules,” Hailey Fuchs and Daniel report.

— The golf marketing firm Performance54 contracted United Entertainment Group, an Edelman subsidiary, to help launch LIV Golf, an arrangement confirmed by Performance54 COO Gary Davidson and a spokesperson for LIV Golf. It “illustrates the degree to which LIV Golf has been able to lean on establishment institutions and professionals even amid a controversial rollout of a tour that has roiled professional golf and captured lawmakers’ attention in Washington.”

— “Ari Fleischer, who was press secretary in the Bush White House, has done public relations work for LIV, and former President Donald Trump has offered his own endorsement of the tour — by holding an event at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club in late July,” with another LIV tournament slated for Trump Doral in the fall.

— “In a statement, Kate Meissner , an Edelman spokesperson, said the firm does not currently have a relationship with LIV Golf. However, she confirmed that United Entertainment Group was enlisted by Performance54 for a project last year that has since concluded. Meissner maintained that the project did not fall under FARA requirements. When asked about the project’s details, she said the firm has ‘confidentiality commitments with all of our clients and are unable to share specific information.’”

BALLARD TEAMS UP WITH K-12 LOBBYIST: Ballard Partners today announced that it has struck up a strategic partnership with education lobbyist Tom Cerra. Cerra is a former deputy superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and has served as the district’s lobbyist for more than two decades while running an education consulting firm. He’ll register to lobby at the federal level as needed on behalf of K-12 clients, Ballard’s Justin Sayfie told PI.

ANOTHER ONE: Apple has nabbed another top government antitrust official, POLITICO’s Josh Cisco reports, “marking the latest of a series of government enforcers to decamp to the tech giants they've been investigating.”

— “Until recently, Jeff Wilder served as Director of Economics at the DOJ’s antitrust division, supervising the economic aspects of antitrust probes including merger reviews and the tech giants.” DOJ, of course, is in the middle of antitrust litigation against another tech giant, Google, and is investigating Apple for potential antitrust violations as well.

— “Wilder is the latest in a long line of DOJ and Federal Trade Commission antitrust officials going to Apple. Kyle Andeer, who oversees the company’s antitrust work, was previously a trial attorney at the FTC, and Frances Marshall, who led the antitrust division’s SEP policy work between 2017 and early 2020, also now works at Apple. Wilder's departure came after DOJ hired Stanford business professor Susan Athey as its chief economist. She is a former Microsoft economist who testified on behalf of Epic Games in that company’s antitrust trial against Apple.”

STOKING THE CULTURE WARS: “A conservative ‘dark money’ group is claiming that it will spend millions of dollars in the run-up to the midterm election blasting what it calls ‘the woke ideology of sheltered white liberals,’” POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt reports.

— “Citizens for Sanity , a tax-exempt nonprofit organization working with prominent Republican consultants, has begun running a television, newspaper and billboard advertising campaign in battleground congressional districts, according to details shared first with POLITICO. This week, the organization says it will begin running a contentious six-figure TV ad blitz highlighting the issue of transgender women playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.”

— The commercial was produced by John Brabender , a longtime Republican operative “who has worked for a range of high-profile Republican candidates over the years,” and “imagines a transgender athlete competing in a women’s track meet and handily defeating the competition.”

— “Republican operative Ian Prior is serving as a strategic consultant to the group. He is also executive director of Fight for Schools , another nonprofit that helped to make critical race theory a central issue in the 2021 Virginia governor’s race, as shorthand for a broader critique of how race and social issues are being taught in the K-12 education system. Most public school officials across the country say they do not teach the theory, even in districts where lawmakers are seeking to ban it.”

TIK’D OFF: TikTok’s top lobbyist swiped back at a warning from the House’s IT office last week urging House staffers not to download the wildly popular video platform due to security and privacy concerns, Huddle’s Katherine Tully-McManus reports.

— In a letter to House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor, TikTok’s Michael Beckerman sought to counter “factual inaccuracies” leveled in CAO’s advisory to staffers including about where U.S. user data is stored, and what data TikTok is able to collect from users.

— “While we would have preferred a dialogue with your office prior to the Advisory being sent, we look forward to meeting with you to further discuss the facts laid out in this letter and ensure that accurate information about TikTok is shared going forward,” Beckerman wrote.

Jobs Report

Brendan Conley is now a director at Hamilton Place Strategies. He most recently was Iowa comms director for Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and is a Bruce Poliquin alum.

Scott Blake Harris has been appointed senior spectrum adviser at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. He was previously chair and partner at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP.

Brendan Seifert is joining The Data Trust as political data acquisition coordinator. He most recently was on the Natural Products Association’s government affairs team.

Harry Khanna has started a legal tech company called Magistrate. He previously was a senior software engineer at the DNC, and is a Wilson Sonsini and Sullivan & Cromwell alum.

Lester Davis is now vice president and chief of staff at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. He most recently was vice president of public affairs at SKDK.

John Dring is now senior counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He previously was an administrative law judge with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

New Joint Fundraisers

Devolder Santos Nassau Victory Committee (Devolder-Santos For Congress, Gads PAC, Nassau County Republican Committee (Federal Account))

New PACs

A Better DC (PAC)
Bitcoin Freedom PAC (Super PAC)
Defending the American Dream PAC (Leadership PAC: Juan Ciscomani)
Ohio Voters (Super PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Kraft Heinz Foods Company
Burrell International Group LLC: Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.
Digital Currency Group: Digital Currency Group
Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC: Alpha Eagle Technology Corp.
Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC: Chicanos Por La Causa
Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC: Crystal Clearwater Resources LLC
Mayforth Group, LLC.: Newport County Ymca
Venable LLP: Coldquanta

New Lobbying Terminations

Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Remora
Capitol Consultants LLC: Capitol Consultants LLC
Lordstown Motors Corp: Lordstown Motors Corp
The Merchant Strategy, Inc.: Intermex Wire Transfer LLC

 

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