CLICKER: The folks over at Marathon Strategies have put together a handy guide to next year’s class of freshman lawmakers . The directory, which will be updated as races continue to be called, is sortable by state. TECH FOES LAUNCH LAME DUCK ANTITRUST PUSH: A coalition of smaller tech companies and the Tech Oversight Project is launching a six-figure ad blitz urging the Senate to take up stalled bipartisan legislation to prevent tech giants from preferencing their own products over competitors’ on their platforms. — It’s a last-ditch effort for advocates who have pressed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for months to schedule a floor vote on the measure before a likely Republican takeover in the House, where Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has indicated he opposes the bill. — “With a more than likely Republican House to take over in January, the time to get this done is now,” said Sacha Haworth, the Tech Oversight Project’s executive director, pointing to the effort’s White House backing . — The ad buy is being funded in part by DuckDuckGo, Yelp, Roku, Neeva, Proton, Andi and Kelkoo Group , a collection of tech firms that have long sought to challenge the dominance of bigger companies like Apple, Amazon and Google. — The spot casts the American Innovation and Choice Online Act as a “ticket to freedom” from tech monopolies and a vehicle to “unleash American competition.” It will air through the end of the year on cable networks in Washington, “or until antitrust reform is passed,” the coalition said. — The Computer and Communications Industry Association, a tech lobbying group whose members include Apple, Amazon, Meta and Google, and which has poured money into its own ad campaigns and lobbying to run out the clock on the bill, contended that it still does not have the votes to pass. — “Rather than wasting time on flawed legislation that’s doomed to fail, Congress should spend the lame-duck prioritizing must-pass legislation with broad bipartisan support,” said Katey McCutcheon, a spokesperson for CCIA’s Don’t Break What Works campaign. CONSERVATIVE GROUP LAUNCHES ANTI-ESG LOBBYING ARM: “A conservative group that has been at the forefront of red-state attacks on Wall Street's embrace of sustainable investment policies is looking to build on those efforts through a new nonprofit backed with millions of dollars,” POLITICO’S Jordan Wolman reports. — “Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, said the spinoff lobbying group, called Consumers’ Defense , will help Republicans ramp up their battle against environmental, social and governance efforts that they decry as ‘woke’ investing.” — “‘We needed a vehicle by which we could be very explicit in the ways in which consumers’ interests should be protected from ESG,’ Hild said in an interview about the new group, which launched on Tuesday. ‘We decided it made sense to launch a 501(c)4 that can endorse legislation, that can be very specific about how we talk to legislators and government officials.’” — It will “employ lobbyists in various states to help push legislation strengthening the fiduciary duty of pension fund managers or more aggressive ‘energy boycott’ bills that would direct state entities to divest from companies that they say are discriminating against fossil fuels. … The group also plans to be involved in the 2024 election cycle, where Hild said it will ‘help amplify the ESG issue’ through advertisements, billboards, a digital campaign and direct mail.” FORMER NAACP HEAD WILL LEAD SIERRA CLUB: “Former NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous was unanimously chosen to serve as the next executive director of the Sierra Club, which has struggled with race and equity issues in recent years,” per our Catherine Morehouse. Jealous will be the first person of color to lead the environmental group, which has sought to “pivot toward including socioeconomic issues under its umbrella of environmentalism.” — “Sierra Club’s previous executive director, Mike Brune, resigned last year amid internal conflicts over how to address race and equity in the wake of protests following the murder of George Floyd. An internal investigation into the organization found widespread cultural problems , including the protection of abusive senior staff and volunteers against workplace harassment and discrimination allegations.” NO FARA CHARGES FOR RUDY: “Rudy Giuliani, an attorney and adviser to former President Donald Trump, won’t face criminal charges over his work on issues related to Ukraine , federal prosecutors said Monday” per our Josh Gerstein. — “The investigation of Giuliani grabbed headlines last May when the FBI raided the former New York mayor’s home and office, carrying out a court-ordered search warrant seeking evidence of violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The probe was believed to be focused on his efforts in 2019 and 2020 to prompt Ukraine to launch an investigation into the business dealings of Hunter Biden ” in order to dent the presidential bid of his father Joe Biden. — “The FBI raids against Giuliani last year seemed to signal a particularly grave criminal investigation, since the sign-off of senior Justice Department officials is required for searches of premises used by lawyers.” — “However, in recent months the probe seemed to have petered out. On Monday, Manhattan-based federal prosecutors overseeing the investigation told a federal judge there was no longer a need for a court-appointed special master to oversee the sifting of records from Giuliani’s home and office because the investigation had essentially ended.” WHOOPS: “On Feb. 2, 2021, the Hawaii State Senate issued an honorary certificate to Honolulu businesswoman Nickie Lum Davis for her ‘public service and outstanding contributions to her community.’ At the time, the proclamation seemed noncontroversial ,” Honolulu Civil Beat’s Nick Grube writes. — “What the certificate didn’t say, however, was that Davis had pleaded guilty in August 2020 to federal charges and was awaiting sentencing in a complex criminal case. The U.S. Justice Department has accused her and others of secretly lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests,” an omission that “has caught a handful of senators by surprise.” — The certificate “was issued just two weeks after Davis was unsuccessful in securing a pardon from former President Donald Trump on his last day in office,” and last month was submitted by Davis’ Hawaii-based attorney “as part of an exhibit to a sentencing memo that sought to downplay his client’s involvement in the influence campaign while at the same time highlighting her good deeds.”
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