LIV’s first FARA registrants will be short-lived

From: POLITICO Influence - Tuesday May 30,2023 11:16 pm
Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street.
May 30, 2023 View in browser
 
POLITICO Influence newsletter logo

By Caitlin Oprysko

With Hailey Fuchs and Daniel Lippman 

LIV’S FIRST FARA REGISTRANTS WILL BE SHORT-LIVED: Two Vivek Ramaswamy advisers were simultaneously earning money through the Saudi government’s public investment fund while working on the entrepreneur’s 2024 presidential campaign, Hailey and I report.

Gitcho Goodwin, a PR and strategic communications firm led by longtime political operatives Gail Gitcho and Henry Goodwin, registered retroactively as foreign agents for the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league. It’s the first time a firm has registered to work specifically for the golf league under FARA, which critics of the LIV have long called for.

An April memo sent out by Ramaswamy’s campaign CEO described both Gitcho and Goodwin as “senior advisors” to the candidate, but Tricia McLaughlin, the campaign’s communications director, downplayed their roles with the campaign following publication, telling POLITICO that the memo overstated Gitcho’s and Goodwin’s roles, and that their firm is working for the campaign as a consultant.

— Gitcho and Goodwin, meanwhile, are no longer working for LIV as of Monday, according to David Laufman, a partner at Wiggin and Dana who advised Gitcho Goodwin on whether to register.

— The firm said in filings with the Justice Department that it did not originally believe it needed to register its PR work, which included drafting “marketing materials, conducted media training for players, and advised the golf league on its corporate social responsibility strategy.” Over the course of its work, the firm learned that the Public Investment Fund — the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia that finances LIV — “occasionally oversaw its public relations activities.”

— Gitcho Goodwin also pointed to various court filings about the nature of the relationship between the Saudi government and PIF, and registered “out of an abundance of caution,” Laufman said. Since March, Gitcho Goodwin earned more than $167,000 in reimbursements and fees for its work, DOJ filings show.

— The firm’s hiring represented just the latest attempt by LIV Golf to make major inroads in U.S. politics, particularly on the Republican side of the ledger. It has teamed up with former President Donald Trump for events at his golf clubs, and plans to host an event at The Greenbrier, which is owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice — currently a Republican candidate for Senate. It has also paid $370,000 to the firm HHQ Ventures — including former Rep. Benjamin Quayle (R-Ariz.) — to lobby on its behalf, according to Lobbying Disclosure Act filings, which require fewer disclosures than FARA

— LIV’s connections to Republican presidential candidates go beyond Ramaswamy and Trump. Gitcho Goodwin was contracted to work for LIV through 50 State LLC and P2 Public Affairs, two subsidiaries of the consulting conglomerate GP3 Partners, which counts Phil Cox as one of its leaders. Cox was a top adviser to the super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign before stepping down recently.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that Cox would be working for LIV. But the new filings indicate that the relationship between his firm and the league began much earlier than previously known, dating back to at least February when Gitcho Goodwin struck an oral agreement with GP3 to work for LIV. Gitcho Goodwin “entered into an oral agreement” with GP3 Partners around Feb. 20 to provide the league with public relations and consulting services, according to the filings.

Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Tips: coprysko@politico.com. Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

 

GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE.

 
 

SIFMA ADDS DAINES AIDE: P.J. Austin is heading back to K Street after nearly eight years on the Hill. Austin will join SIFMA, which represents the securities industry, as a vice president focused on tax policy. He’s spent the past three years as a tax and economic policy adviser to Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a member of the Senate Banking and Finance committees. Before that, Austin worked for former Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).

— Prior to his time on the Hill, Austin worked on the government affairs team for the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste. A spokesperson for SIFMA told PI that Austin plans on registering to lobby.

OUSTED FERC CHAIR SETS UP SHOP DOWNTOWN: “Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick and an ex-agency staff member are launching a new clean energy consulting firm,” E&E News’ Miranda Willson reports.

— “GQ New Energy Strategies aims to help clients respond to new energy policies and regulations and ‘thrive in the ongoing clean energy transition.’” It will be led by former FERC chief of staff Pamela Quinlan in addition to Glick, who left the agency earlier this year after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) refused to confirm him for a second term.

— “The firm will help clients understand new rules issued by FERC, the Treasury Department and the Department of Energy, as well as take advantage of programs in the Inflation Reduction Act. It will also advocate on behalf of clients for policies to expand the electric grid, update the energy permitting process and eliminate market barriers facing emerging energy technologies, among other issues.”

LAYING DOWN A MARKER: A trio of progressive senators preemptively knocked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its support of spending caps in a debt limit deal ahead of an expected tax push from House Republicans next month. They contend “that any tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations would be hypocritical to the GOP’s current debt ceiling demands for across-the-board spending slashes,” Nancy Vu reports for POLITICO Minutes.

— The House Ways and Means Committee is set to take up a series of extensions to provisions in the 2017 GOP tax bill that have begun to expire or are set to shortly, including restoring research-and-development deductions, full bonus depreciation and removing caps on business interest expensing.

In a letter to Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark obtained by POLITICO, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) “argued that the 2017 tax cuts ‘increased the deficit by $1.9 trillion,’ citing a previous CBO study released in 2018. Supporting the tax cuts while ‘cheerleading’ House Republicans’ demands of spending cuts, according to the senators, is hypocritical.”

— “Even as you cheer Congressional Republicans’ demands for deep cuts to critical programs that Americans rely on, you also continue to support Republican proposals to extend TJCA tax cuts for its giant corporate members,” the lawmakers wrote. “Of course, the Chamber also spent millions in 2017 in order to pass TCJA in the first place.”

— Clark praised the deal struck over the weekend by the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avert a default, saying in a statement that “federal leaders should use this opportunity to limit out-of-control spending to avoid simply passing on the issue to future generations.”

— The Chamber issued a key vote alert on the debt ceiling deal on Monday. Days earlier, chief policy officer Neil Bradley told POLITICO that he had not met with McCarthy amid the standoff, arguing that it would amount to the business lobby “wasting [McCarthy’s] time to come in and say, ‘look how much I agree with you.’”

GRIN AND BEAR IT: “With less than a year until the primaries, politicians’ wealthiest benefactors are sizing up the presidential hopefuls soliciting their donations. But many on Wall Street find the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch unappetizing,” The Wall Street Journal’s Cara Lombardo reports.

— “Wall Street likes Biden’s steady hand and cabinet picks like Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, but his aggressive stance on antitrust enforcement has turned off potential backers whose profits depend on a healthy supply of corporate deals. And while another Trump term could deliver the traditional Republican goodies of lower taxes and less regulation, financiers are worried that the former president’s unpredictability could wreak havoc on global markets.”

— Another wrinkle: “With the rise of online fundraising and its ability to reach the masses, Wall Street’s money is less important to candidates than it used to be. Still, bankers and their ilk enjoy easy access to candidates and spend millions encouraging those with business-friendly policies, such as protecting the favorable tax treatment of private-equity profits.”

— The distaste is also proving fertile ground for No Labels’ efforts to finance a viable independent presidential ticket, with the centrist group “steadily adding Wall Street supporters. Founded in 2010, the group took off in 2016 when it launched a coalition of super PACs with the help of a quartet of billionaires, including investor Nelson Peltz and hedge-fund manager Louis Bacon. Zoom fundraising events during the pandemic attracted new followers.”

Jobs Report

Sondra Imperati has been named the vice president of brand strategy at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Prior to that, she worked as director of brand strategy and integrated marketing at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

Rob Todaro is now communications director for Data for Progress. He previously was a senior communications manager for the Trevor Project.

Fragrance Creators Association has named Dan Selechnik as its new director of regulatory affairs. He most recently served as senior scientist at the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials.

Meredith Mellody has joined Brown-Forman, which produces Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve and more, as vice president and director of federal affairs. She was most recently director and chief of staff for the defense, services and strategy team in Boeing’s lobbying shop and is a Harry Reid alum.

Anna Newby is now director of public affairs for the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Department of Energy. She previously was senior director for communications at Albright Stonebridge Group.

Tracy Roosevelt is now attorney adviser in the office of the general counsel of the Department of the Navy. She previously was in the international litigation and arbitration practice at Foley Hoag.

Mark Menezes will become the new president and CEO of the U.S. Energy Association in June, succeeding acting Executive Director Sheila Hollis, Morning Energy reports. Menezes was deputy Energy secretary in the Trump administration.

Dustin Meyer has been promoted to senior vice president of policy, economic and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. He previously was vice president of natural gas markets.

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

Democratic Voter Project (Super PAC)
Restoring American Values.Org (Super PAC)
STARSPANGLEDBANNER (Leadership PAC: Richard Casey)
Turn Ohio Blue (PAC)
Wabtec Political Action Committee (PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Datavant Inc.: Datavant Inc.
Dla Piper LLP (US): Vertanical Gmbh
Generation Investment Management LLP: Generation Investment Management LLP
Holland & Knight LLP: Commercial Spaceflight Federation
Holland & Knight LLP: Everspin Technologies Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: Nhanced Semiconductors, Inc.
Husch Blackwell Strategies: Believer Meats
Perry, White, Ross & Jacobson, LLC: National Strategies
Sb Strategic Consulting, Inc.: City Of Sparks, Nv
The Livingston Group, LLC: Rare Element Resources Ltd
Tiber Creek Group: Partnership Project Action Fund (Obo Climate Action Campaign)

New Lobbying Terminations

Grassroots Political Consulting LLC: Amerivita Home Care

 

DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW.

 
 
 

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Listen on Apple Podcast
 

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to .

More emails from POLITICO Influence

May 26,2023 09:15 pm - Friday

K Street warms up to psychedelics

May 23,2023 09:40 pm - Tuesday

AARP adds appropriations help

May 19,2023 10:20 pm - Friday

Barbara Lee hits K Street to raise cash

May 18,2023 10:19 pm - Thursday

NAM takes brawl with PBMs to the airwaves