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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 help from Nancy Vu and Daniel Lippman FARA FRIDAY: Ahmad Massoud, the leader of a key Afghan opposition group, has accused the Taliban of locking him out of his Twitter account — a crucial means of communication for Massoud and his National Resistance Front. But he’s now back on the social media platform, thanks to an unusual mixture of assistance from the group’s D.C. fixers and an intervention from Elon Musk himself. — “Immense gratitude to @elonmusk & Robert Stryk for their vital support in regaining control of my compromised Twitter account,” Massoud wrote in a post to his more than 208,000 followers last night. “Their unwavering diligence led to a rapid recovery with no lasting damage.” — The bizarre episode involving Massoud, Stryk — a U.S. lobbyist who initially made a name for himself on K Street by unapologetically representing unsavory global players — and the polarizing social-media executive underscores Twitter’s importance to political movements and influence efforts across the globe, even as dysfunction has roiled the platform since Musk took it over last year. — Massoud “being able to be on Twitter is a huge opportunity for him to put out his information against the atrocities the Taliban are inflicting on the Afghan people,” Stryk told PI. — “It’s one of those things you just don’t think about,” he argued. “But when you have a medium like Twitter that can actually, you know, put out the Taliban propaganda that effectively subjugates women, children … so for Massoud to have his voice back, I think is a very powerful voice.” — “It’s a real testament to the platform that Musk now owns, the power he has,” added Stryk, whose firm began working for Massoud pro bono shortly after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. — Stryk, who insists that he strives to remain above the partisan fray in his “private diplomacy” work, has vocally criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal. In its aftermath, he’s pushed for the administration to provide resources to Massoud’s movement while rallying opposition to any U.S. recognition of the Taliban government. — Massoud first lost access to his Twitter account about a month ago, said Ali Nazary, NRF’s head of foreign relations and a spokesperson for Massoud. Nazary said that, because the phone number that was registered to Massoud’s account was now under the Taliban’s control, Massoud wasn’t able to reset his password. — Locked out of his account, Stryk said Massoud appealed to him for help, and he then asked officials in the national security community for a hand before trying to get in touch with Twitter directly. After connecting with a top security staffer from Twitter to explain the situation, Stryk told PI their case languished until a few days ago, when “I got some information that Musk had personally been briefed on” the matter and decided to move to restore Massoud’s access. — Within the hour, Stryk and Nazary said, Twitter representatives got in touch to begin verifying the identities of Massoud, his lobbyist and his spokesperson in order to restore access to Massoud’s account. (Twitter did not respond to a request for comment on the situation, apart from an auto-reply from the platform’s press email with the poop emoji.) — “Just going and taking a look at his Twitter account, it shows the amount of viewership and shows the influence it has, the ability to mobilize people for the cause of democracy,” Nazary said, adding that the account now has new security protocols “that will prevent the Taliban from ever gaining access — or any other terrorists from gaining access — to this valuable account.” Happy last Friday of recess and welcome to PI. Now that you’re back in town, keep the tips coming: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | FLYING IN: The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies is kicking off the first session of its annual monthslong fly-in next week. Members from Arkansas, Maryland and Texas will be on the Hill to discuss issues like data privacy, cyber insurance, auto right-to-repair and insurance regulation. — They’re scheduled to huddle with staff of House Financial Services members French Hill(R-Ark.), Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Roger Williams (R-Texas), as well as Sens. John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), according to the trade group. — The North American Blueberry Council will also be in town next week, bringing growers from nine states to meet with nearly four dozen offices on the Hill. Growers will push for policies to boost blueberry exports and improve competitiveness in the industry, as well as the provision of additional resources to help replace damaged blueberry trees. — Moving Health Home, a coalition launched during the pandemic to preserve and expand health care options at home, will hold its first ever fly-in next week. More than 20 companies and health systems, including Ascension, Signify, Amazon and Best Buy, will look to rally support for a bipartisan bill set to be introduced next week that aims to expand access to health care at home. OMIDYAR NONPROFIT ADDS OMB AIDE: Sanjiv Rao has joined Democracy Fund, the nonprofit funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, as managing director for movements and media. Rao was most recently senior equity fellow in the Office of Management Budget. — The group also promoted Lara Flint to managing director of elections and institutions and Tom Glaisyer to executive adviser to the president, and added Harvard University’s Danielle Allen, Libra Foundation’s Crystal Hayling and Law and Political Economy Project’s K. Sabeel Rahman to its board. THE EV LOBBYING BOOM: “The Biden administration’s climate change agenda has spurred an unprecedented lobbying boom driven by mineral and battery companies in search of incentives for expanding North American operations,” E&E News’ Timothy Cama and Hannah Northey report. — “More than 30 of those companies retained lobbying firms for the first time since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, an E&E News analysis of disclosure records found, while many others boosted their lobbying might or greatly increased spending.” — “The rush to influence lawmakers and agencies is evidence of the challenges and opportunities related to meeting the president’s goal of seeing half of all new cars sold be zero-emission vehicles by 2030. That push requires a mineral and battery production capacity that largely resides abroad — something policymakers are scrambling to change. — ‘There’s a real frenzy of activity and a genuine excitement in the manufacturing spaces that were very precarious investments a short time ago, said Mike Carr, a former Hill aide and Obama administration official who is now partner at the bipartisan lobby firm Boundary Stone Partners. ‘So everybody’s scrambling to ensure that their voices are heard.’” — The firm has “signed clients including solar cell maker Hanwha Q Cells, battery storage company Antora Energy Inc. and battery maker Form Energy. The firm last year launched the Coalition for American Battery Independence to push for U.S. battery incentives.” — “Critical minerals, battery and other clean-tech companies have already scored major policy wins during the Biden administration and are now working to secure their vision of how the infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act and other initiatives are implemented. … Many companies are also pushing Biden and Congress to accelerate the permitting process for infrastructure projects, including transmission lines to help meet the administration’s green goals. It’s currently the most prominent energy and environment legislative fight.” CORRECTION: Thursday’s Influence misidentified the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s legal arm and misstated a crypto exchange that was previously a member of the Crypto Council for Innovation. The crypto exchange was FTX.US. PI regrets the errors.
| | | SPOTTED at SMI’s spring reception Thursday on the firm’s rooftop, per a tipster: Col. Dennis Wille of U.S. Space Command, Peter Hill of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Bill McCann of SMI, Steven Carlson of Rep. Chris Pappas’ (D-N.H.) office, Mark Fowler of Ameresco, Samer Hamadeh of Zeel, Ireland Leslie of Sen. Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) office, Tom Hicks of the Mabus Group, Ryan Maddock of Rep. Bill Keating’s (D-Mass.) office and Rachel Alansky of Seamless HR Solutions. — Stephen Spaulding is returning to Common Cause to be vice president for policy and external affairs. He was most recently policy director on the Senate Rules Committee. Common Cause also promoted Kathay Feng to vice president for programs. — Alex Bellizzi is joining FTI Consulting as a director in the financial services public affairs practice. Bellizzi was most recently communications director for Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Financial Services Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee. — Gabby Smith has been promoted to director at Vogel Group. She was previously a senior associate at the firm and is a Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) alum. — Jeff Sanchez is now chief of staff for federal at PhRMA. He previously was a senior adviser for Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). — Philip Shulman is joining American Bridge as state-level communications director. He most recently was a senior communications adviser to Mandela Barnes’ Wisconsin Senate campaign.
| | | NEW JOINT FUNDRAISERS None.
| | Friends for Philip Agliano (Super PAC)
Max’s Back PAC (Super PAC)
POETIC JUSTICE PAC (Super PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | | Actum I, LLC: The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Metglas, Inc.
Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Match Group Holdings
American Society Of Civil Engineers: Institute For Sustainable Infrastructure
Apex Advocacy LLC: Boyd Watterson Gsa Reit
Apex Advocacy LLC: Cameron County Commission Court
Apex Advocacy LLC: Mutualink, Inc.
Apex Advocacy LLC: Professional Hospital Guyanabo
Apex Advocacy LLC: Puerto Verde Holdings, LLC
Apex Advocacy LLC: Southern Methodist University
Apex Advocacy LLC: Starr Camargo Bridge Company
Apex Advocacy LLC: W.W. Grainger, Inc.
Aquia Group, LLC: High Earth Orbit Robotics Pty Ltd
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Miccosukee Tribe Of Indians Of Florida
Desimone Consulting, LLC: City Of College Place, Wa
Desimone Consulting, LLC: First 5 FundamentalsDesimone Consulting, LLC: Port Of Walla Walla
Empire Consulting Group: Francis Energy
Foley & Lardner LLP: Byron-Bethany Irrigation District
Foley & Lardner LLP: Californias Promise Neighborhoods Network
Foley & Lardner LLP: Quickmd
Glencore Ltd.: Glencore Ltd.
Hart Health Strategies: Association Of Women In Rheumatology
Hart Health Strategies: Molecular Testing Labs
Hart Health Strategies: Professional Compounding Centers Of America
Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, LLC: Poet, LLC
K&L Gates, LLP: Town Of Ayden North Carolina
Lodestone Dc: Communities In Schools
New Century Government Affairs (F/K/A Terrence C. Wolfe): The Cormac Group On Behalf Of Easterseals Of Swfl
Squire Patton Boggs: Aarp
Squire Patton Boggs: The Kroger Co.
Squire Patton Boggs: Torque3 Inc.
Squire Patton Boggs: Wau Holland Stiftung
The Duberstein Group Inc.: Intrafi Network
Welsh Rose, LLC: Calvary Hospital
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Abt USa LLC: Rushmore Strategic Advisors LLC On Behalf Of Alexander Manolev
Abt USa LLC: Rushmore Strategic Advisors LLC On Behalf Of Kiril And Georgi Domuschiev
Abt USa LLC: Rushmore Strategic Advisors LLC On Behalf Of Pink Media Group Doo Beograd
Bravo Group: We Work For Health
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: Braincreators
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: California Intercity Rail Corridors Linking Everyone
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission
Covington & Burling LLP: Nexgen Power Systems, Inc.
Covington & Burling LLP: Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Formerly Known As Sepracor Inc.)
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Ochin
K&L Gates, LLP: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of Groq Inc.
K&L Gates, LLP: Ripcord, Inc.
Mchugh Lemay Assoc., LLC: Brainscope Company, Inc.
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: H. Lee Moffitt Center Cancer Center
Miller & Chevalier Chartered: Mt. Vernon Investments Lp
Mr. Rex Sherry: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of Hid Global
Mr. Rex Sherry: Clark Street Associates On Behalf Of Trucklabs
National Environmental Strategies: Pacific Gas And Electric
National Environmental Strategies: Sterling International Inc
National Environmental Strategies: Utah Council For Clean Energy
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: Change Healthcare
Prasam: Sas Institute
Squire Patton Boggs: Alliance Of National Heritage Areas (Anha)
Thorn Run Partners: Government Counsel LLC On Behalf Of Akorn Inc.
Welsh Rose, LLC: America’s Essential Hospitals
Welsh Rose, LLC: Bluestone Strategies (On Behalf Of Kaiser Foundation Health Plans)
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