FTX’s last lobbyists head for the exits

From: POLITICO Influence - Wednesday Nov 16,2022 10:48 pm

Nov 16, 2022

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With Daniel Lippman

FTX’S LAST LOBBYISTS HEAD FOR THE EXITS: Empire Consulting Group terminated its contract with the U.S. arm of FTX last week, according to a disclosure filed this morning, leaving the embattled crypto exchange without any hired guns in Washington amid a tidal wave of scrutiny. As Influence reported yesterday, the exchange’s other outside lobbying firms, Conaway Graves Group and Rich Feuer Anderson, dropped FTX last week as well.

— In the latest hit to the exchange, the House Financial Services Committee this morning announced it will hold a hearing next month about FTX’s implosion. The panel is seeking testimony from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as other entities related to the firm’s collapse including Bankman-Fried’s trading firm Alameda Research and rival crypto exchange Binance , which offered to rescue FTX last week before pulling out of the deal. The Senate Finance Committee is also eyeing a hearing on the issue next month.

ANNALS OF DARK MONEY: DonorsTrust, one of the largest dark money groups on the right, brought in more than $1 billion last year , a massive haul fueled by a pair of separate anonymous gifts totaling more than $425 million dollars each, POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs reports.

— “DonorsTrust used those funds to support a vast network of prominent conservative causes, including a $17.1 million gift it made to The 85 Fund, a group founded by a major engine of the conservative movement: Leonard Leo . All told, DonorsTrust spent about $192 million last year and entered 2022 with roughly $1.5 billion in assets.”

— “2021 was a tumultuous year in the nation’s civic mindset with turbulent elections, the abatement of government-mandated lockdowns and school closings, and the beginning of a global economic crisis,” said Lawson Bader , the group’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Our givers recognized not only how damaging these were at the time, but how damaged they left us in the long-term. Consequently, our donor-advisors are ensuring a revenue stream to invest in non-profits committed to healing and restoring our frayed social fabric.”

— The group’s fundraising last year, disclosed in a tax return obtained by POLITICO, “dwarfed previous yearly totals by hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2020, the group brought in about $360 million in total revenue.”

— Last year, DonorsTrust reported just three contributions: One listed for $427 million, and another for about $77 million. The third donation, worth roughly $426 million, came on Dec. 30, 2021 from “closely held common stock in a C-corporation.”

— The massive gift comes with perks: “As a 501(c)(3) charity, donations to DonorsTrust are tax-deductible. And in giving hundreds of millions worth of stock, the anonymous donor or donors behind the roughly $426 million gift could avoid paying taxes on the capital gains, according to Philip Hackney, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a former IRS official.”

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What is academic medicine? Cutting-edge treatments and expert patient care start in innovative medical school classrooms, research labs, and bustling emergency rooms inside our network of over 150 medical schools and nearly 400 teaching hospitals and health systems across the U.S. In fact, patients treated at teaching hospitals have up to 20% higher odds of survival compared to those treated at non-teaching hospitals. Learn how academic medicine saves lives at whatstartshere.aamc.org.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Keep your post-midterm takes coming: coprysko@politico.com . And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko .

HEALTH GROUPS PUSH TO EXTEND COVID-ERA TELEHEALTH RULE: “An alliance of hundreds of firms and industry groups is lobbying Congress to include a provision in an end-of-year spending package allowing high-deductible health plans to offer telehealth before patients hit their deductibles,” POLITICO’s Ben Leonard reports.

— “ In a letter to House and Senate leaders Tuesday, more than 350 groups under the banner of the Alliance to Fight for Health Care called on Congress to take action before the current rule permitting the coverage expires on Dec. 31. More than 30 million Americans are on high-deductible plans.”

— “‘Protecting access to affordable telehealth to address mental health care needs is critical,’ James A. Klein, president of the American Benefits Council , a group representing the interests of corporations’ employee benefit plans, said in a statement. ‘With health plans in place for 2023, this provision must be extended before the end of the year. Health care coverage is planned prospectively and is already in place for 2023. It can’t be adjusted retroactively.’”

— “Other signers included the ERISA Industry Committee, which also represents the employee benefit interests of large employers, AHIP , the trade group for health insurers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”

WE’LL PASS: “Wells Fargo & Co. has declined a request from Democratic lawmakers to cut ties with a right-wing group of state treasurers that opposes sustainable investment practices,” per our Jordan Wolman, the latest illustration of how corporate America is being squeezed on both sides of the aisle over ESG measures.

— “Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and 15 other Democrats sent letters to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf in October asking them to look into whether their banks support the State Financial Officers Foundation and to withdraw backing if they found it to be the case.”

— “ The letters followed a House Financial Services Committee meeting in September where Casten questioned Dimon and Scharf about whether their firms are funding the SFOF, which is connected to conservative activist Leonard Leo . The bankers said that if their companies were backing the groups they would ‘probably’ stop it if the SFOF was attempting to prevent the financial sector from freely allocating capital.”

— “JPMorgan declined to comment, said Trish Wexler, a spokesperson for the bank. Wells Fargo, in a letter viewed by POLITICO, told the lawmakers that it sponsored an SFOF conference this year. … ‘While we may not agree with every position this or any other organization takes, engagement overall is important for our customers, company, and employees,’” the bank’s head of government relations and public policy Brian Smith wrote.

A message from the AAMC:

SMALL BUSINESSES SUE OVER SHELL COMPANY RULE: “A small business lobbying group filed suit Tuesday to block the Treasury Department’s upcoming requirement that tens of millions of small businesses register with the government as part of an effort to prevent the criminal abuse of anonymous shell companies,” The Associated Press’ Fatima Hussein reports.

— “The National Small Business Association argues that the new reporting rule violates the U.S. Constitution, saying it is unduly burdensome on small firms, violates privacy and free speech protections and infringes on states’ powers to govern businesses.”

— “The legal challenge points to the friction between maintaining privacy rights and the government’s effort to uncover sources of criminal activity, especially as the U.S. attempts to sanction Russian oligarchs and wealthy friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of his invasion of Ukraine.”

— The legal challenge, filed in federal court in Alabama federal against the Treasury Department, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and acting Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Himamauli Das.

— The Treasury rule, which was finalized in September, marked a legislative victory for transparency advocates who have long lobbied for legislation cracking down on the use of shell companies , but which small business groups have decried as overly burdensome. The department has “said the regulatory burden will be small, costing about $85 per business, but will offer massive benefits to law enforcement, which will be one of few parties with access to the database.”

WHAT’S ON THE CHAMBER’S TO-DO LIST: The Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday laid out its preferred legislative agenda for lawmakers as they returned to town for the lame duck. In a letter to members , chief policy officer Neil Bradley sorted the group’s asks into two buckets based on pending deadlines and items on which there has already been bipartisan progress and “where the new Congress would have to start over again if you fail to complete action prior to January 3.”

— Bradley urged lawmakers to, in addition to passing the NDAA and a full-year government funding package, be ready to avert a rail strike if necessary, extend the deadline for certification of the Boeing 737 MAX until at least September 2024 and reinstate the ability of employers to fully deduct research and development expenses.

— The Chamber also wants lawmakers to pass legislation on permitting reforms, retirement security, accommodations for pregnant workers, and the INFORM Consumers Act , among others.

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Jobs Report

— Maya El Jawhari and Sequoia Ragland are joining Ferox Strategies. El Jawhari will be a policy analyst and previously was an intern at the Joint Economic Committee. Ragland will be a health care policy analyst and previously was a health policy intern at the Federation of American Hospitals.

— Dan McFaul has been named the managing partner of Ballard Partners’ D.C. office. McFaul has been a partner in the firm’s Washington office since 2017.

— Former Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting has joined the board of directors at Blockchain.com, where he will also chair the audit and risk committee.

— Tim Del Monico is joining EPA as associate administrator of congressional and government affairs. He was most recently chief of staff to Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.).

— Marcus Childress is joining Jenner & Block as special counsel. He was previously investigative counsel for the House Jan. 6 committee.

— Will Carnwath will become co-lead of the healthcare and life sciences practice at Brunswick Group. He was previously head of the Singapore office.

— The Bipartisan Policy Center Health Program has added two directors, Shana Christrup and Oliver Kim. Christup will serve as BPC’s public health director and Kim as health policy director.

— Capitol Counsel’s Lyndon Boozer is now chair of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC.

— Kelly McGrath has joined Citadel as a director of government affairs. She was previously associate vice president at Porterfield, Fettig & Sears.

— Avisa Partners is acquiring and integrating Forward Risk and Intelligence, which will now be known as Forward Risk (An Avisa Partners Company). Forward Risk will retain its existing and independent website, branding, leadership team and client roster, and its co-founders Luke DiMaggio, Andrew Wooster and Brendan Foo will become partners at Avisa.

— Matthew Windrum is now a vice president at Kasirer. He was previously director of government relations at Western Governors University.

— Aubrey Quinn is joining the Entertainment Software Association as senior vice president. She previously was partner and COO at the Clyde Group.

GO INSIDE THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT: POLITICO is featuring a special edition of our “Future Pulse” newsletter at the 2022 Milken Institute Future of Health Summit from Dec. 6 to 8. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of health industry leaders and innovators solving the biggest global health issues to ensure a healthier, more resilient future for all. SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE .

New Joint Fundraisers

TEAM MOONEY (Rep. Alex Mooney, Americans For Legislating Excellence PAC)

New PACs

AAPI SUPER GAPPAC FUND, INC. (Super PAC)
American Freedom Now (Super PAC)
Intersect Power, LLC PAC (PAC)
Join the Red Wave (Super PAC)
Worker Power PAC for Georgia (Super PAC)

New Lobbying Registrations

All Of The Above Consulting, LLC: Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group Coalition
Ambessa Solutions LLC: Bosquet Polynice
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: One Equity Partners
Capitol Tax Partners, LLP: Cypress Creek Renewables
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Adapdix Corporation
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Art Into Acres
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Firehawk Aerospace
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Fortescue Future Industries
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Ghost Robotics Corporation
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: National Audubon Society
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Praeses
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Step One Foods
Fs Vector LLC: Alliance For Innovative Regulation (Air)
Harpley Cs, LLC: Apptronik, Inc
King & Spalding LLP: Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency And Financial Advisory Authority (Aafaf)
King & Spalding LLP: Webuild - US Holdings Inc.
Mccarthy Advanced Consulting LLC: International Association Of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Workers
Mccarthy Advanced Consulting LLC: Transport Workers Union Of America Afl-Cio
Neale Creek, LLC: Gideon Foundation
Prism Group: Allkem Limited
Prism Group: Bluestone Commercial Capital LLC

New Lobbying Terminations

Capitol Energy Advocacy, LLC: Arizona Lithium Ltd.
Capitol Energy Advocacy, LLC: Western Rare Earths
Cartwright & Riley, Inc.: University Of St. Augustine For Health Sciences
Ct Group Fka Ctf Global LLC: Paratek
Ct Group Fka Ctf Global LLC: Systematic Inc.
D&P Creative Strategies, LLC: Border Network For Human Rights
Fahmy Hudome International, Inc: Saliba Action Strategies (On Behalf Of Islamic Relief Worldwide)
Fonnesbeck Capitol Strategies, LLC: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Fs Vector LLC: Amur Equipment Finance
Fs Vector LLC: Amur Equipment Finance
Fs Vector LLC: Anchorage Digital
Fs Vector LLC: Billgo, Inc.
Fs Vector LLC: Facebook, Inc.
Fs Vector LLC: Pinwheel Api
Fs Vector LLC: Transunion
International Business-Government Counsellors, Inc: Pepsico Inc
Ipolicy Solutions: Clear Labs
Mcallister & Quinn, LLC: The College Of Saint Rose
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Altamed Health Services Corporation
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Amerisource Bergen
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Loopland Group LLC
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Prime Healthcare
Monument Strategies, LLC: Humanetics Corporation
Mr. Khalil Saliba: Islamic Relief Worldwide
Mr. Thomas Kahn: Cormac Group On Behalf Of Americans For Puerto Rico'S Self-Determination
Mr. Thomas Kahn: Cormac Group On Behalf Of Bell Legal Group
Mr. Thomas Kahn: Cormac Group On Behalf Of Lir Media
Mr. Thomas Kahn: Cormac Group On Behalf Of The American Friends Of The Hebrew University
Mr. Thomas Kahn: Cormac Group On Behalf Of The Foundation For Human Rights In Cuba
Mwmurray Consulting LLC: Rti International
Odonnell & Son LLC: Aireko Foundation
Odonnell & Son LLC: Pg&E
Park Strategies, LLC: The Arc, Oneida-Lewis Chapter
Rkf Global Consulting Inc: Sea Electric
Ross Capon: American Association Of Private Railroad Car Owners
Social Security Works: Social Security Works
Tricida Inc.: Tricida Inc.

A message from the AAMC:

Academic medicine touches the lives of everyday Americans—every day. And it all starts in innovative medical school classrooms, cutting-edge research labs, and bustling emergency rooms across the country. Our network of over 150 medical schools and nearly 400 teaching hospitals and health systems never stop pushing toward a healthier tomorrow—from driving medical research and advancing expert patient care to promoting health equity and strengthening the physician workforce. Our member institutions and health systems work together to educate future health care professionals and discover research breakthroughs that give hope to patients, families, and communities nationwide. What starts in academic medicine improves the health of people everywhere. Learn more at whatstartshere.aamc.org