Cornerstone lands Warnock aide

By Caitlin Oprysko

With Daniel Lippman

CORNERSTONE ADDS TOP WARNOCK AIDE: Lawrence Bell is leaving the Hill, where he was one of Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-Ga.) top aides, to join Cornerstone Government Affairs. Bell has worked for Warnock since the senator’s first runoff campaign in 2020, serving as Warnock’s chief of staff on the campaign before joining his Senate office as deputy chief of staff, senior adviser and state director.

— Prior to working for Warnock, Bell was a director of state and community affairs in the Atlanta office of the lobbying firm Troutman Pepper Strategies and before that, Bell worked for former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

— Cornerstone aims to leverage Bell’s ties in both Washington and Georgia, where GOP Gov. Brian Kemp has moved aggressively to court investments in the electric vehicle and renewable energy supply chain made possible in part by Democrats’ party-line climate and spending bill passed last summer. The firm has several existing clients based in the Peach State as well, including municipal governments, an effort to designate a new national park in the state and a trade group representing egg producers.

— Bell is only the second former staffer for Warnock — who helped push Democrats over the threshold for a true majority in the Senate — to land on K Street. Pierre Whatley, who was the staff director for Warnock on the Senate Banking subcommittee he chaired, now works at FS Vector, where he lobbies for clients like the crypto exchange Binance.US.

Hello and welcome to PI. Send K Street tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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HARRIS LAWYER JOINS JENNER & BLOCK: Another aide to Vice President Kamala Harris is joining the growing ranks of her former staffers downtown. Josh Hsu, a former counsel to Harris, will join the law and lobbying firm Jenner & Block in March. He’ll be a partner in the firm’s government controversies and public policy litigation practice, so he won’t be registering to lobby.

— Hsu has worked for Harris since her early days in the Senate, and moved over to her presidential campaign before being tapped to spearhead judicial nominations for the Biden transition team. At Jenner & Block, Hsu will advise clients facing scrutiny from the government as well as the press, as both chambers of Congress prepare to ramp up new oversight agendas.

— In recent months Jenner & Block has also lured Emily Loeb back to the firm to co-chair the government controversies practice after serving as associate deputy attorney general in the Biden administration, and brought on two attorneys who worked for the since-disbanded House Jan. 6 Committee.

NEXT UP FOR THE ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT: “Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the country’s leading anti-abortion groups, is crafting the strategy it plans to deploy this year as state and federal lawmakers continue to grapple with the fall of Roe v. Wade,” POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.

— “On a call with reporters on Wednesday, the group’s leaders said they will target four states this year where they see ‘opportunities’ to pass abortion restrictions — Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina and Virginia — continue to press Congress to take votes on anti-abortion policies even if they won’t become law, and prod potential 2024 candidates to explicitly endorse federal anti-abortion laws.”

— “‘This is week one of the very beginning of a new life for our movement,’ president Marjorie Dannenfelser said. … The overturning of Roe gave states a green light to enact restrictions on abortion early in pregnancy for the first time in half a century, and SBA said it is creating a ‘vastly expanded state operation’ to lobby for those policies.”

— “While the bulk of their energies will be directed at state capitals, SBA leaders also said the group will keep pushing the new GOP House majority to take votes on anti-abortion bills — though they are aware the bills have no chance of becoming law.” SBA and groups like it are also looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election “and working to ensure that a vocally anti-abortion candidate wins the GOP nomination.”

DESANTIS BACKERS TEE UP $3M AD BUY: The group aiming to draft Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis into the 2024 Republican presidential primary plans to spend more than $3 million over the next six months to boost DeSantis’ profile and nudge him into the race, James Politi, Lauren Fedor and Caitlin Gilbert report for Financial Times.

— Ready for Ron, a hybrid PAC that has feuded with the FEC over a plan to share its email lists with an eventual DeSantis presidential campaign, shared plans with the agency this morning to drop $2.3 million on TV ads through the end of June — a rate of $100,000 per week. Another $1 million will go toward “phone, mail and digital promotion of a DeSantis candidacy,” per FT.

— “Dan Backer, a lawyer and counsel to Ready for Ron, said the purpose of the ad spending was to create ‘the backbone of a real ground game’ for DeSantis and ‘convince DeSantis that he has the grassroots support to run and win in a general election.’ He added that Ready for Ron wanted to ‘bring in a whole host of people who aren’t part of the current universe,’ including those who are not part of Trump’s base of conservative voters, which has dominated Republican campaigns in recent years.”

BROIDY ASSOCIATE GETS 2 YEARS: A Hawaii businessperson and consultant was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for her role in an illegal lobbying effort aimed at persuading the Trump administration to drop a probe into the alleged looting of a massive Malaysian investment fund, 1MDB, by a Malaysian businessman and to coordinate the return of a Chinese dissident living in the U.S.

— The sentencing capped off a yearslong legal saga for Nickie Lum Davis, who pleaded guilty in 2020 to aiding and abetting FARA violations by failing to publicly disclose the scheme, which also involved former RNC fundraiser Elliott Broidy and Fugees rapper Pras Michel.

— As part of her guilty plea, Davis agreed to cooperate with the government and serve as a witness in their cases against Broidy and Michel. Broidy later received a full pardon from former President Donald Trump, something Davis lobbied for unsuccessfully, and Michel has yet to go on trial.

— More recently, Davis sought to have the case tossed and then to withdraw her guilty plea while accusing her former lawyer of acting unethically while negotiating her plea deal in order to curry favor with a prosecutor on the case who she also sought to have removed. U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi denied those motions, which the former attorney, Abbe Lowell, and DOJ lawyer John Keller contended were not based in fact.

— “In exchange for millions of dollars, Davis and others tried to use back channels to influence officials at the highest levels of the U.S. government and sell connections to the ‘highest foreign bidder,’” DOJ’s Keller said at the sentencing in Hawaii, The Associated Press’ Jennifer Sinco Kelleher reported. The government had asked for a 2.5-year sentence for Davis, and Kobayashi noted that Davis hadn’t shown remorse for her involvement in the scheme.

EXECS HUDDLE WITH GOVERNORS: Members of the Business Roundtable and the National Governors Association gathered a dozen CEOs and a bipartisan group of governors to discuss workforce strains today. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, who chairs the Roundtable’s education and workforce committee, led the discussion along with NGA Chair and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

— Other participants included Democratic Govs. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Jared Polis of Colorado and GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma in addition to chief executives representing the retail, hospitality, tech, insurance, construction, manufacturing and transportation industries.

— “The public and private sectors each have a role to play in developing workforce development solutions, but to make the biggest impact at scale, we’ve also got to work together,” Kirby said in a statement. “Doing so, we can continue advancing policies and initiatives to ensure America is home to the most skilled workforce in the world.”

HOUSING INDUSTRY MOBILIZES AGAINST NEW TENANT RULES: “The White House is preparing to roll out new measures as soon as this month to protect tenants in the wake of post-pandemic price spikes,” POLITICO’s Katy O’Donnell reports, and “the housing industry, already facing a declining market, has mounted a preemptive counter-push.”

— “The industry is bracing for ‘some pretty intense regulation,’ said Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, whose members include landlords. ‘They need to be very cautious about what they’re doing,’ said Howard, who was one of a handful of industry representatives at a November White House meeting on tenant protections. ‘There’s a real chance of creating a problem that doesn’t exist.’”

— “With a possible recession looming, the Biden administration will be looking for ways to provide relief to cash-strapped Americans suffering from a higher cost of living. Since the U.S. House is now under Republican control, the kind of sweeping economic legislation enacted during the last two years is off the table.”

— “While rent is still driving up overall inflation — thanks in part to a data lag in the official inflation gauge — the national median rent has fallen for four straight months, according to the latest data from Apartment List.”

— “‘Complicating this process isn’t good at any time in the market cycle,’ said Greg Brown, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Apartment Association,” which along with 10 other trade groups urged the White House last month to resist pressure for new regulations. “‘But we’re in the fourth straight month of rent declines. I think things are adjusting again, so it does raise the question, are they responding to a situation of three to four months ago, not what is currently happening or will be happening in the near future?’”

CORRECTION: Wednesday's edition of Influence of this newsletter misstated Michael Kennedy's incoming position at Intuit. He will be chief corporate affairs officer.

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SPOTTED at a reception last night celebrating the hires of senior Latino staffers on the Hill, per a PI tipster: Noel Perez of GM, Jorge Aguilar of theGROUP DC, Jessica Vallejo of Microsoft, Jose Borjon of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Dean Aguillen of Ogilvy, Marcela Zamora of Verizon and Carlos Sanchez of Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s (D-N.M.) office, and new hires Jessica Martínez of the Joint Economic Committee, Jacky Usyk of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Jason Rodriguez of Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s (D-Texas) office, Claudia Urrabazo of Rep. Rob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) office, Stephanie Palencia of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ office, and Wendy Hamilton of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s (D-Mass.) office.

— Fabiola Rodriguez has joined Mercury Public Affairs as a vice president in the D.C. office. She was most recently spokesperson and press secretary to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

— Patrick Mahan has joined Rising Tide Associates as director of public affairs. He most recently served as military legislative assistant to Rep. Nicole Malliotakis(R-N.Y.).

— Amanda Gravely and Jake Sticka are now partners at Rising Tide Interactive. Gravely was previously vice president and creative director and Stick was previously vice president for client strategy.

— Maddie Barbee has joined the National Multifamily Housing Council as PAC director and Dinia Abduljelil has joined as government affairs associate. Barbee was most recently a senior finance associate at Angerholzer Broz Consulting and is an SKDK alum and Abduljelil was most recently a research assistant at the Eurasia Center. 

— The consulting firm HillStaffer will take over as the legislative and policy team for the NAFA Fleet Management Association following the retirement of longtime NAFA legislative counsel Pat O’Connor.

— Chuck LeVinus has been promoted to senior vice president at Ervin Graves Strategy Group. He was previously vice president at the firm.

— BSA | The Software Alliance has promoted Beverly Chang to assistant general counsel, Kate Goodloe to managing director, Anne Riser to department coordinator for policy and public affairs and Tomoko Naoe to director of policy on the global policy team.

— Pamela Arluk has joined NCTA – The Internet & Television Association as vice president and associate general counsel. She was most recently chief of the Competition Policy Division at FCC.

— Glen Kedzie has launched Energy & Environmental Strategies LLC, a consulting firm, where he will be a principal. He was previously vice president and energy and environmental counsel with the American Trucking Associations for more than two decades.

— Theresa Fariello has been named to the board of directors at Energy Vault. She’s senior vice president of government affairs and global public policy at United Airlines.

— Scott Cullinane is now a senior government relations adviser at American-Ukrainian nonprofit Razom. He most recently was deputy team leader for B&S Europe, where he worked on a contract for the EU Delegation in Washington.

— Audrey Jackson has been promoted to be senior manager for government affairs at Carvana. She most recently was manager for government affairs at the company.

— SKDK is naming executive vice president Elizabeth Kenigsberg the new head of its cybersecurity and technology practice.

— Naomi Seligman is joining Whistleblower Aid as their first vice president of external affairs. She helped launch Media Matters for America and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and more recently accused a former Eric Garcetti aide of sexual misconduct.

— Abbie McDonough is now a senior managing director at the Levinson Group. She most recently was communications director for former D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, and is a Heidi Heitkamp, Jay Rockefeller and Paul Kanjorski alum.

None.

AMERICA STRONG AND FREE ACTION INC. (Super PAC)
The American Union PAC (PAC)
Cache PAC (Leadership PAC: Mary Peltola)
Endeavor PAC (PAC)

A1.9 Strategies LLC: Istari, Inc.
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Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Ecospears
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Capitol Hill Partners: American Clean Power Association
Carpi & Clay, Inc: City Of Carlsbad
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Ghostworks Marine
Catalyst Global Strategies, LLC: Equity Group Holdings
Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies: Eastern Effects, Inc.
Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies: Li-Cycle Inc.
Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies: Msa Security
Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies: National Association Of Government Guaranteed Lenders
Exigent Government Relations: Sentry Insurance Company
Holland & Knight LLP: Puget Sound Regional Council
Innovative Federal Strategies, LLC: Trusted Semiconductor Solutions
Kd Government Relations, LLC: Health Industry Distributors Association
Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC: The Boardroom
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Mindset Advocacy, LLC (Fka Cypress Advocacy, LLC): Master Solutions, LLC Obo Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority (Bjcta)
Mindset Advocacy, LLC (Fka Cypress Advocacy, LLC): Protective Life Corporation
Prime Policy Group: Service Employees International UnionSavage Health Policy, LLC: Physician Clinical Registry Coalition
Uncorked Advocates: Association Of Fundraising Professionals
Uncorked Advocates: Prevent Child Abuse America

Adams And Reese, LLP: Rush Health Systems
Alcalde & Fay: City Of Hampton
Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Argo Ai, LLC
American Defense International, Inc.: Clearview Ai
Arentfox Schiff LLP: Alliance Of Nonprofits For Insurance, Risk Retention Group, Inc.
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Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz /The Daschle Group: 3M
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Barnes & Thornburg, LLP: Town Of Munster
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Alden Torch Financial LLC
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Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Atlas Power Holdings, LLC
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Butzel Long, P.C.: Synergies Castings Limited
Capitol Counsel LLC: Alliance For Business Partnerships
Capitol Counsel LLC: Hologic Inc
Capitol Tax Partners, LLP: Breakthrough Energy Action
Cardinal Infrastructure LLC: Montgomery County, Maryland
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Synexxus Inc.
Clark Street Associates: American Semiconductor Innovation Coalition
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Mystic Aquarium
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Beta, Inc.
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Hancock County Port And Harbor Commission
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Peraton Corporation
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Duane Morris LLP: Bryant & Stratton College
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Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC (F/K/A Ervin Hill Strategy): American Antibiotics Initiative Inc.
Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC (F/K/A Ervin Hill Strategy): Comcosm International, Inc.
Global Prospects LLC: International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association
Hargan Strategies, Formerly Reported As Hargan And Associates: Md Health Pathways
Hawley LLC: Ml Assoc Obo Clark St Assoc Obo Am Semiconductor Coalition Obo Ibm
Hogan Lovells US LLP: American Gaming Association
Hogan Lovells US LLP: California State Teachers' Retirement System
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Pacific Seafood
Holland & Knight LLP: Lacore Enterprises, LLCHusch Blackwell Strategies: At&T Services Inc
Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Healgen Scientific
Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Vaxart Inc.
Joan P. Milas: Transparentbusiness, Inc.
Jtr Strategies LLC: Pangiam
Kadesh & Associates, LLC: Matsys, Inc.
King & Spalding LLP: Acera Surgical, Inc.
K&L Gates, LLP: Catalyst Old River Hydroelectric Limited Partnership
K&L Gates, LLP: First Trust Portfolios L.P.
K&L Gates, LLP: Horseracing Integrity And Safety Authority
K&L Gates, LLP: Trans-Atlantic Business Council
Lot Sixteen LLC: Blue Ridge Power LLC
Mchugh Lemay Assoc., LLC: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of American Semiconductor Innovation Coalition
Mclarty Inbound LLC: Desarrolladora Y Operadora De Infraestructura De Honduras, S.A. De C.V.
Meeks, Butera & Israel Pllc: Sierra Nevada Corporation
Mindset Advocacy, LLC (Fka Cypress Advocacy, LLC): Citigroup Washington Inc
Northern Compass Group LLC: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP Obo University Of Alaska
Outset Medical: Outset Medical
Peter Damon Group LLC: Boa Vida Healthcare, LLC
Plains All American Gp LLC: Plains All American Gp LLC
Potomac Partners Dc: Shinnecock
Prime Policy Group: Aristotle, Inc.
Prime Policy Group: Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp
Prime Policy Group: Cummins Inc
Prime Policy Group: Northeast Maritime Institute
Prime Policy Group: Roaring Fork Transportation Authority
Prime Policy Group: United Service Organizations
Prime Policy Group: Vertex Energy Operating, LLC
Rampy Northrup LLC: Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp
Revere Federal Strategies: Mercury Systems Inc.
Ricchetti Incorporated: Hno International Inc.
Ricchetti Incorporated: Vaxart Inc.
Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh LLC (Fka Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh Pc): Sportfishing Association Of California
Squire Patton Boggs: Transdigm Group Incorporated
Strategies 360: 4S-Silversword Software And Services
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Tch Group, LLC: At&T Services, Inc.
The Liaison Group, LLC: Arizona Dispensaries Association
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The Raben Group: Alliance For Safety And Justice
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Thorn Run Partners: Novartis Corporation
Tusk Strategies, LLC: Lactalogics, Inc.
United By Interest, LLC.: Futures Restored Inc.
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Van Scoyoc Associates: Dana Farber Cancer Institute
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