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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 PNC ADDED LOBBYING FIREPOWER AMID ZELLE SCRUTINY: PNC drastically expanded its lobbying footprint and boosted its spending on federal lobbying last quarter amid increased scrutiny in Washington of Zelle , the payments app owned by a consortium of banks including PNC, disclosures filed last week show. — In early September, disclosures show PNC retained Mat Lapinski, Jason Gleason, Ben McMakin, Todd Weiss and Salim Alameddin of Crossroads Strategies and Ashley Davis, Chris Buki, Craig Kalkut, Malloy McDaniel, Kristi Remington and Shimmy Stein of West Front Strategies to lobby on bank regulatory and payment issues and general financial services issues, respectively. — Crossroads and West Front are the first outside firms lobbying for the bank since 2014, according to disclosures. PNC also nearly doubled its lobbying spending last quarter compared with what it reported spending from April through June. The bank spent $110,000 during that period but dropped $200,000 from July through September — only about $20,000 of which went to one of PNC’s new lobbying firms. PNC’s third quarter spending was up eight-fold over what it spent on lobbying through the first three months of this year. — The spending increases correlate to complaints from lawmakers and regulators about rates of fraud and scams on peer-to-peer payment systems like Zelle, PayPal and Venmo, the use of which has soared since the pandemic. Zelle, which is owned jointly by PNC, Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo and operated by Early Warning Services, has increasingly become a target of lawmakers after a series of reports focused on the payment app . — In hearings on back-to-back days last month before the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee, lawmakers grilled bank CEOs over consumer protections, singling out Zelle in particular. — Weeks later Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a report based on internal data provided by banks , including PNC, alleging that they “are not repaying the vast majority of cases where customers were fraudulently induced into making payments on Zelle” nor are they “repaying customers who contest ‘unauthorized’ Zelle payments — potentially violating federal law and CFPB rules.” — Banks and their trade associations have pushed back on the incoming fire by arguing that fraud is relatively low when looked at against the total volume of transactions taking place on Zelle, while also circulating data contending that nonbank payment competitors such as PayPal, Venmo and Cash App see much higher rates of fraud than on Zelle. Banks have also warned that increased liability for scams, as the CFPB is reportedly weighing , could force them to slow down instantaneous payment offerings or impose fees on customers. — Bank of America also hiked its lobbying spending last quarter to $860,000 — its highest quarterly spend since 2018. The bank also reported lobbying for the first time on Regulation E, which requires banks to provide refunds for unauthorized electronic transactions — but not for instances in which customers unwittingly send money to scammers. Good afternoon and welcome to PI . Send K Street tips and gossip: coprysko@politico.com . And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko .
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DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID . | | | | | BARRACK TAKES THE STAND: “Tom Barrack testified that his support for longtime friend Donald Trump’s presidency was ‘disastrous’ for him and his business, further suggesting it was the very reason he was on trial for allegedly acting as an agent of the United Arab Emirates,” Bloomberg’s Patricia Hurtado and David Voreacos report. — “The Colony Capital LLC founder, who took the stand Monday in his own defense in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, was asked by his lawyer about the assistance he gave Trump’s campaign and administration. Barrack, 75, said he thought Trump was ‘bold’ and ‘smart’ but that he had thought his friend would become more ‘moderate’ and ‘acceptable’ in office.” — “‘I thought he would transition, but he had a style I and others didn’t appreciate,’ Barrack said, adding that Trump’s divisiveness led to a ‘death march’ of investor exits at Colony. … His relationship with Trump was also why ‘I’m sitting with you today,’ Barrack told jurors.” — “Barrack said he thought he could steer Trump’s administration policy in the region in a more positive direction. ‘I had this amazingly good businessman who could not spell “Middle East,” nor did he have any interest in the Middle East,’ he said. ‘He was interested in Israel.’ ‘I thought this is my last chapter,’ Barrack continued. ‘If I could be some tiny prod in weaving that web of tolerance between these countries and America, I would be done. But none of that happened.’” — Before Barrack took the stand, Trump came to the defense of his inaugural committee chair in a post on his social platform Sunday night. Trump asserted Barrack is being “unfairly persecuted” because of their relationship and professed belief in Barrack’s innocence, denying allegations that prosecutors had not made about Barrack. SCHMIDT STEERED FEDERAL AI RECOMMENDATIONS WHILE PRIVATELY INVESTING IN AI: At the same time Eric Schmidt was leading a federal advisory commission tasked with coming up with policy and national security recommendations on nearly every aspect of the emerging artificial intelligence sector — including drafting legislative language that later became law and steering “billions of dollars of taxpayer funds to industry he helped build,” the former Google CEO “was actively investing” in the industry , CNBC’s Eamon Javers reports. — “Five months after his appointment, Schmidt made a little-noticed private investment in an initial seed round of financing for a startup company called Beacon, which uses AI in the company’s supply chain products for shippers who manage freight logistics, according to CNBC’s review of investment information in database Crunchbase.” — “There is no indication that Schmidt broke any ethics rules or did anything unlawful while chairing the commission.” Still, while he was “wielding enormous influence over the future of federal AI policy, he was also potentially positioning himself to profit personally from the most promising young AI companies.” — “Altogether, Schmidt and entities connected to him made more than 50 investments in AI companies while he was chairman of the federal commission on AI. Information on his investments isn’t publicly available,” though people close to Schmidt told CNBC “his investments were disclosed in a private filing to the U.S. government at the time.” ABRAMS VOTING RIGHTS PUSH BENEFITTED AIDE’S LAW FIRM: “The voting rights organization founded by Stacey Abrams spent more than $25 million over two years on legal fees , mostly on a single case, with the largest amount going to the self-described boutique law firm of the candidate’s campaign chairwoman,” POLITICO’s Brittany Gibson reports. — “Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, Abrams’ close friend who chaired her gubernatorial campaign both in 2018 and her current bid to unseat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp , is one of two named partners in Lawrence & Bundy, a small firm of fewer than two dozen attorneys. The firm received $9.4 million from Abrams’ group, Fair Fight Action, in 2019 and 2020, the last years for which federal tax filings are available.” — “Lawrence-Hardy declined to comment on how much her firm has collected from Fair Fight Action in 2021 and 2022 — years in which Fair Fight Action v. Raffensperger , for which Lawrence-Hardy was lead counsel, had most of its courtroom activity. Fair Fight Action has maintained that the suit — which ended last month when a federal judge ruled against the group on all three remaining claims — served an important role in drawing attention to voting inequities.” — “But some outside the group questioned both the level of expenditures devoted to a single, largely unsuccessful legal action and the fact that such a large payout went to the firm of Abrams’ close friend and campaign chair.” NEVERMIND ON THAT NEVERMIND: After signaling to POLITICO earlier this month that he might be done shelling out on midterm races — irking some on the left — several crypto-financed super PACs funded in part by crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried are plotting six-figure ad campaigns in the final days of the election, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports. — Web3 Forward and Crypto Innovation “plan to invest in TV ads supporting candidates from both sides of the aisle just days before the midterm Election Day, Nov. 8,” according to one of the groups’ chief strategists. “The PACs aim to initially air their aids in California, Oregon, Colorado and Texas, but are still assessing which candidates they will support. … Neither PAC has bought any campaign ads since September, when primary elections were coming to a close.” — The groups are “funded primarily by the GMI PAC , another super PAC that has seen massive donations from cryptocurrency leaders. The contributions include $2 million in January from FTX CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried. The group also got $1 million each in May from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, two managing partners at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, records show. … Former Trump White House communications director and SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci donated $100,000 to Crypto Innovation in March, according to an FEC filing.” CORRECTION: Friday’s edition of Influence has been updated to correct the ranking of the top 20 lobbying firms by third quarter revenue. PI regrets the error.
| | | | JOIN WOMEN RULE THURSDAY FOR A TALK WITH DEPARTING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: A historic wave of retirements is hitting Congress, including several prominent Democratic women such as Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, House Democrats’ former campaign chief. What is driving their departures? Join POLITICO on Oct. 27 for “The Exit Interview,” a virtual event that will feature a conversation with departing members where they'll explain why they decided to leave office and what challenges face their parties ahead. REGISTER HERE . | | | | | | | | — Michelle Giuda will be director of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. She was most recently executive vice president of geopolitical strategy & risk at Weber Shandwick and is a State Department alum. — Lindsay Hamilton is now principal for corporate communications on the Amazon Books PR team. She most recently was associate EPA administrator for public affairs. — Danielle Brown is joining BSA | The Software Alliance as senior director of legislative strategy. She most recently was general counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee. — Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates has added Jenn Ohn as senior manager of health policy and reimbursement strategy and Grace Hill as an operations associate and assistant to the CEO. Ohn was most recently a health policy manager at McDermott+Consulting. — The World Cocoa Foundation has appointed Chris Vincent as its new president and Peter Boone, CEO of Barry Callebaut, as chair of the Board. Vincent was previously interim president. — Courtney Veatch is now director of federal government affairs at Fresenius Medical Care. She most recently was associate director of federal affairs at the Alzheimer’s Association. — Rachel Kingery is now senior media relations manager at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She previously was comms director for Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.). — Innovation Policy Solutions has promoted Megan Anderson Brooks to president and added Lindsey Trischler as a principal. — Madison Hubbard is now adviser for government relations at TransUnion. She previously was a legislative assistant at Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas. — Jacqlyn Schneider will be a partner in FGS Global’s food and agriculture practice. She most recently was deputy staff director for the Senate Agriculture Dems. — Lauren Waldron is now communications director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform. She most recently was communications director at WTS International.
| | | BUDD VICTORY IN NORTH CAROLINA 2022 (Rep. Ted Budd, Great America Committee, North Carolina Republican Party)
Red to Blue Long Island (Rep. Adam Schiff, Zimmerman for Congress, Bridget Fleming for Congress, Blue Momentum PAC)
| | | BACK THE BLUE VICTORY FUND (Super PAC)
National Security Innovation Base PAC (NSIB PAC) (PAC)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Actum I, LLC: Electrophysiology Advocacy Foundation (Epaf)
Bracewell LLP: Orascom Construction International N.V.
Capital Park Partners LLC: Capco LLC
Cr Federal: Wayne Farms, LLC
Crypto Council For Innovation: Crypto Council For Innovation
Food Directions, LLC: Kellogg's Company
Frost Brown Todd LLC: Prysmian Group
Geoffrey P. Gray: TD Bank, Na
Hbw Resources: K&L Gates
Healthsperien LLC: U.S. Medical Management, LLC
Jtr Strategies LLC: Zipline
Mike Williams Capitol Strategies LLC (F/K/A Mw Capitol Strategies LLC): Ocean Fleet Services, Inc.
Pale Blue, LLC: Demand Progress Action, Inc.
Rich Feuer Anderson: Two Sigma Investments, Lp
Steptoe & Johnson LLP: Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC
The Franklin Partnership: Innoverse
The Vogel Group: Autel Automotive Intelligence USa
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: Affordable Community Living Corporation
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: City Of Compton
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: City Of La Verne
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: City Of Paso Robles
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | 121 Strategies & Government Relations: Secure Id Coalition
A2 Strategies, LLC: Phibro Animal Health Corporation
Alta Crest LLC: Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc.
Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP: National Indian Child Welfare Association
James Callan Associates: Gharda Chemicals International, Inc.
Lee Terry Consulting LLC: Huawei Technologies USa Inc
Mr. Aaron Oesterle: Space Frontier Foundation
Policy Navigation Group: Keller & Heckman On Behalf Of Responsible Science Policy Coalition
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: City Of Merced
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: City Of South San Francisco
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: North Central Fire Protection District
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: The Bay Club Company | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
