Mercury adds Scalise strategist

From: POLITICO Influence - Tuesday Jan 24,2023 11:20 pm

Jan 24, 2023

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With Daniel Lippman

THE NEW LEADERSHIP HIRING SPREE CONTINUES: Mercury has brought on a key member of new House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s political operation as K Street continues to build up its ties to newly ascendant leaders of both parties in the House. James Messner joined the firm as a vice president in its D.C. office after serving for more than three years as the deputy political director for Scalise. Before joining Scalise’s political team, Messner worked at the consultancy FP1 Strategies. He plans on registering to lobby.

FIRST IN PI — GOP, DEM STRATEGISTS JOIN FORCES: The GOP-founded consultancy Firehouse Strategies has acquired Scarlet Oak Strategies, the public affairs firm founded by former Democratic Governors Association political director Raymond Glendening. Glendening will become a partner at Firehouse, which was launched by alumni of Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) White House bid. Brian Doory, a longtime Democratic strategist and the managing director at Scarlet Oak, will keep the same title under the merged firm.

— Firehouse has grown quickly since its launch in 2016, opening new offices in Orlando and New York last year and notching a “major investment” from Semper Fi Partners, Aldine Capital Partners and Wintrust Bank to fuel the firm’s expansion further. The Scarlet Oak acquisition will give Firehouse access to the firm’s network of more than 1,200 operatives spread across every congressional district in the country.

— “This acquisition will significantly strengthen our bipartisan capabilities and expand our in-state operative network,” Alex Conant, one of Firehouse’s founding partners, said in an email. “Scarlet Oak has a track record of building constituencies that are critical to our clients, which will be a great addition to Firehouse's corporate public affairs offerings.”

— Scarlet Oak’s clients have included Blue Cross Blue Shield, CVS Health, Innova, the National Association of Counties and the Chamber of Progress, while Firehouse has worked for FedEx, AARP, the National Retail Federation, the Association for Accessible Medicines and more.

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DOJ SUES TO BREAK UP GOOGLE: “The Justice Department and states including California, New York, Colorado and Virginia filed a lawsuit against Google alleging the search and advertising behemoth illegally monopolized the market for online ads through a yearslong practice of self-dealing, anticompetitive acquisitions, and forcing businesses to use multiple products and services that it offers,” POLITICO’s Josh Sisco reports.

— “The Justice Department and states are accusing Google of illegally monopolizing the roughly $250 billion U.S. market for digital ads. The complaint attacks Google’s conduct in the services it sells to advertisers and publishers and is seeking a break up of the company’s advertising business, along with unspecified damages for harm directly impacting the federal government. Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Tennessee also joined the lawsuit.”

— “It is the first major antitrust lawsuit against a tech company in the Biden administration, continuing efforts started under former President Donald Trump” that also targeted Google’s ad business. But “the case is the latest in a barrage of antitrust lawsuits against Google.”

— In 2020, the department joined a group of state attorneys general in a lawsuit “over Google’s dominance in web searches, and a Texas-led group of state attorneys general challenged its advertising business later that year. Yet another case was filed by a Utah-led group of states last year over Google Play, its mobile app store.”

— “‘Today’s lawsuit from the DOJ attempts to pick winners and losers in the highly competitive advertising technology sector,’ said Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels. ‘It largely duplicates an unfounded lawsuit by the Texas Attorney General, much of which was recently dismissed by a federal court. DOJ is doubling down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees, and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow.’” (As Josh notes, “some parts of the Texas-led case were dismissed last year by a federal judge in Manhattan, but much of the case is continuing.”)

BARRASSO’S TAX COUNSEL HEADS BACK DOWNTOWN: David Bridges is returning to K Street to join Capitol Counsel as a partner after three years on the Hill. Bridges was most recently tax counsel to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the chair of the Senate GOP Conference. Before that, he held the same role with former Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.).

— Bridges’ time on the Hill was preceded by lobbying roles at Kimberly-Clark and the Edison Electric Institute, where he spent nearly a decade. That “unique experience as a senior congressional advisor and in government relations in the energy industry will make him another notable addition to our bipartisan, bicameral team as we once again pursue clients’ objectives under divided government,” Capitol Counsel’s Dave Olander said in a statement — a likely nod to the flood of new energy tax breaks introduced in the past two years, as well as the dueling oversight agendas of the split chambers of Congress.

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THE OTHER HOT ANTITRUST TICKET IN TOWN: The head of Ticketmaster’s parent company came under withering criticism from all sides this morning as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Live Nation President Joe Berchtold over his company’s botched presale for Taylor Swift tickets and Live Nation’s broader power within the live entertainment industry — all while mixing in some of Swift’s own lyrics. “I’m not against big, per se,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said to Berchtold. “I’m against dumb. The way your company handled the ticket sales with Ms. Swift was a debacle.”

— “I want to congratulate and thank you for an absolutely stunning achievement,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who’s said that regulators should not rule out unwinding Live Nation’s 2010 merger with Ticketmaster, told Berchtold. “You have brought together Republicans and Democrats in an absolutely unified cause.”

— As Josh and POLITICO’s Maggie Miller reported last night, Berchtold blamed the Swift debacle in part on a cyberattack — a defense that landed poorly with both lawmakers and fellow witnesses, which included the chief executive of rival ticket seller SeatGeek and others in the music industry.

— Berchtold pushed back on the barrage of complaints from around the hearing room about the scale of Live Nation’s power over artists, venues and ticket markets alike, and he endorsed legislative fixes to crack down on what he described as “industrial-scale ticket scalping” and “deceptive” tactics used by ticket resellers and requiring greater transparency regarding ticket fees.

COMING SOON TO YOUR SPAM FOLDER?: “Google plans to discontinue a pilot program that allows political campaigns to evade its email spam filters, the latest round in the technology giant’s tussle with the GOP over online fundraising,” The Washington Post’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reports.

— “The company will let the program sunset at the end of January instead of prolonging it, Google’s lawyers said in a filing on Monday. The filing, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, asked the court to dismiss a complaint lodged by the Republican National Committee accusing Google of ‘throttling its email messages because of the RNC’s political affiliation and views.’”

— “‘The RNC is wrong,’ Google argued in its motion. ‘Gmail’s spam filtering policies apply equally to emails from all senders, whether they are politically affiliated or not.’ The RNC complaint, filed last October, made clear that Google’s pilot program failed to allay GOP criticism of the company’s spam filters. That criticism mounted last summer amid the party’s disappointing online fundraising performance.”

— “While rejecting the GOP’s attacks, Google nonetheless bowed to them. The company asked the Federal Election Commission to greenlight the pilot program, available to all campaigns and political committees registered with the federal regulator. The company anticipated at the time that a trial run would last through January 2023,” and a spokesperson said more than 100 committees of both parties took advantage of the pilot program once it got the green light in August.

MORE NOTABLE FIRMS: Here are a couple more notable firm revenues from this weekend's filing deadline. The Vogel Group reported $10.1 million in lobbying revenues for 2022, up from $5.3 million in 2021. They brought in $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, versus $2 million in the last quarter of 2021.

— Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid also saw an increase in 2022, bringing in $11.7 million for the year compared to $9.5 million in 2021. The firm reported $3 million in lobbying revenues for the final three months of the year, versus $2.6 million in Q4 2021.

Jobs Report

SPOTTED at a kickoff reception last night for the Congressional Black Caucus’ policy retreatfor supporters to welcome its newest members, per a PI tipster: CBC PAC Chair Gregory Meeks(D-N.Y.), CBC Chair Steven Horsford(D-Nev.), Paul Brathwaite of Federal Street Strategies, Hilary West of JPMorgan Chase, Edward Hill of Paramount, Robert Harris of Apple, Cherie Wilson of Delta Air Lines, Brandon Webb of Amazon, Ashley Baker Hayes of Charter Communications, Nigel Stephens of Phoenix Strategies, Marie Long of AT&T, Tiffani Williams of The Daschle Group, Virgil Miller of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, John Mason of Altria, Zoe Cadore of Calpine Corp. and Albert Wynn of Greenberg Traurig.

— Hana Greenberg is now director of federal government affairs at Target. She previously was vice president for tax at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and is a Ron Kind and Chuck Schumer alum.

— UL Standards & Engagement is adding Katie Denis as head of communications, David McKnight as head of partnerships, Lesley Rohrbaugh as head of insights and policy analysis and John Wolfe as director of strategic initiatives.

— Jake Rascoff is now director of climate financial regulation at Ceres. He previously was legislative director and legislative assistant for energy and climate for Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

— Mark Strand will retire from the Congressional Institute at the end of the year. He has been president for 16 years.

— Luz Eleane Martínez has joined Fulcrum Public Affairs as the firm’s chief of staff. She most recently was campaign manager for D.C. Councilmember Robert White during his 2022 mayoral run.

— Adriianna Lagorio is now senior director at Center Road Solutions. She was most recently the legislative director for former Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.).

— ROKK Solutions has promoted Lindsay Singleton to the newly created role of chief development officer. She was previously a managing director at the firm.

— Adam Jorde is now head of government affairs for Twilio. He was previously the company’s lead for government affairs and communications policy.

— Matt Mowers has started the bipartisan global public strategy firm Valcour. He previously was a senior White House adviser for the Trump State Department and ran for Congress twice in New Hampshire. John Callaghan will be associate director of the firm. He most recently was political coordinator for Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s (R-N.J.) campaign.

— Carlyle Golden is joining Anheuser-Busch as director of federal government affairs. She previously was NRCC PAC director and is an NRSC alum.

— Valeria Ojeda-Avitia is now comms director for Rep. Gabe Vasquez(D-N.M.). She previously was a principal at Precision Strategies.

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New Joint Fundraisers

Katherine Clark Victory Fund (Rep. Katherine Clark, FAIR SHOT PAC, DCCC)

Protect the House 2024 (Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Lauren Boebert, John Duarte, John James, Zach Nunn, David Schweikert, Mike Lawler, Brandon Williams, Juan Ciscomani, Marc Molinaro, Lori Chavez-Deremer, Tom Kean Jr., Don Bacon, Ryan Zinke, David Valadao, Jen Kiggans, Anthony D'Esposito, Derrick Van Orden, Ken Calvert, Michelle Steel, Mike Garcia, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Kevin Kiley, Scott Perry, Anna Paulina Luna, Ashley Hinson, Monica De La Cruz, Bryan Steil, Chuck Edwards, Brian Fitzpatrick, Nancy Mace, MAJORITY COMMITTEE PAC--MC PAC, NRCC, Congressional Leadership Fund, Arizona Republican Party, California Republican Party Federal Acct., Colorado Republican Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Illinois Republican Party - Federal, Republican Party Of Iowa, Michigan Republican Party, Republican Party Of Minnesota - Federal, Nevada Republican Central Committee, New Hampshire Republican State Committee, New Jersey Republican State Committee,Ny Republican Federal Campaign Committee, North Carolina Republican Party, Ohio Republican Party State Central & Executive Committee, Republican Federal Committee Of Pennsylvania, Republican Party Of Texas, Republican Party Of Virginia INC, Washington State Republican Party, Republican Campaign Committee Of New Mexico, Oregon Republican Party)

New PACs

BLUE 2032 COMMITTEE (Super PAC)
Leadership America Needs PAC (Hybrid PAC)
LEAD TO SERVE PAC (Super PAC)
Pasifika PAC (Super PAC)
The Real Texas PAC (Super PAC)

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New Lobbying Registrations

38 North Solutions, LLC: Generac
Aquia Group, LLC: Vulcan Materials Company
Chw Advisors: Momentive Performance Materials Quartz, Inc.
Grayrobinson Pa: Florida Classic Consortium
Included Health: Included Health
James Dykstra: I-5 Consortium Cities Joint Powers Authority
J M Burkman & Associates: Dr. Joseph Pober
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: City Of River Falls, Wi
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: Ephraim Mcdowell Regional Medical Center
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: Northwestern State University
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: Sampson Regional Medical Center
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: The Laradon Foundation
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: University Of Providence
Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: Wayne County Hospital
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Si Group Client Services
Stono Public Affairs: City Of Newark
Stono Public Affairs: Inclusivity Strategic Consulting
Stono Public Affairs: Kean University
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Dba Taft Advisors LLC Fka (Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP): Synergos Holdings
Van Scoyoc Associates: Partnership For Education Advancement
Venn Strategies: Forge Nano
Viking Navigation LLC: Bluejay Advisors LLC On Behalf Of Cathcart Rail, LLC
Winning Strategies Washington: Ppag (On Behalf Of Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, Chartered, LLP)

New Lobbying Terminations

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Wild Elements Halo, LLC
Capitol Hill Consulting Group: Securing America'S Future Energy (Safe)
Conrad Law & Policy Counsel: American Forest & Paper Association
Conrad Law & Policy Counsel: American Fuel And Petrochemical Manufacturers
Conrad Law & Policy Counsel: Business Roundtable
Conrad Law & Policy Counsel: Color Pigments Manufacturers Association, Inc.
Conrad Law & Policy Counsel: Society Of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (Fka Synthetic Chem Mfrs Ass'N)
East End Group, LLC: Novartis
Jefferson Business Consulting, LLC: Davita, Inc.
Jefferson Business Consulting, LLC: Leidos Inc
Kit Bond Strategies: The Transitioning Federal Small Business Coalition
Oldaker & Willison, LLP (Formerly Oldaker Law Group, LLP): Adventist Health System
Park&K Public Affairs LLC: Florida Association Of Community Health Centers
Steptoe & Johnson LLP: Plantronics, Inc., And Its Subsidiaries
The Ferraro Group: Renown Health

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bp is a top energy investor in the US:
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