LIV Golf work causing headaches

From: POLITICO Influence - Wednesday May 31,2023 09:38 pm

May 31, 2023

With Daniel Lippman

LIV GOLF WORK CAUSING HEADACHES: Vivek Ramaswamy fired one of the firms consulting for his presidential campaign after it was revealed that the firm had simultaneously been doing public relations work for the Saudi-financed LIV Golf league, your host and POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs report.

— As Hailey and I reported yesterday, Gitcho Goodwin, the firm led by longtime political operatives Gail Gitcho and Henry Goodwin, registered retroactively May 25 as foreign agents for LIV — out of what they said was “an abundance of caution in an era of unprecedented FARA enforcement.”

— Campaign spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin sought to downplay the strategists’ role with Ramaswamy’s campaign and later said that the campaign was no longer working with Gitcho Goodwin as of Tuesday. The firm shot back that it believed it was doing the right thing by registering, and that “if Vivek Ramaswamy wants to fire us for that, that’s up to him.”

— Gitcho Goodwin has also parted ways with the Saudi golf league, but the firm isn’t the only one in town to lose a client because of work for the Saudi-financed golf league.

— This month, the American Golf Industry Coalition — the lobbying alliance of industry players that includes the PGA Tour, PGA of America, the U.S. Golf Association, the LPGA, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the National Golf Course Owners Association and more — dropped its lobbying firm Guidepost Strategies, the coalition’s CEO, Greg McLaughlin, told PI.

— McLaughlin, who also leads the World Golf Foundation and is an executive with the PGA Tour, did not elaborate further on the reason behind the split. But Guidepost Strategies, which lobbying disclosures show has worked for the coalition since at least 2021, is owned by the consulting conglomerate GP3 Partners, the entity that brought Gitcho Goodwin on as a subcontractor to work for LIV.

— When the industry coalition was informed about GP3’s work for LIV, with which one of its most prominent members is openly at war, the lobbying contract was terminated, according to a person familiar with the contract, who was granted anonymity to speak openly about the firms’ inner workings.

— Ryan Canfield is the sole lobbyist listed on Guidepost’s disclosure reports for the American Golf Industry Coalition. Staff websites for Guidepost and GP3, as well as for P2 Public Affairs, a GP3 affiliate named in Gitcho Goodwin’s FARA filings, list several of the same staffers, including partner Phil Cox, an ally of 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis who The New York Times reported earlier this month is advising LIV.

— Despite the apparent overlap, the source insisted that there was no crossover between the LIV and industry coalition accounts, telling PI that since GP3 began working for LIV, “no one who worked on LIV — at all — worked on the other contract, and vice-versa.”

Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI, where your host's inner child is still poring over the new feature on Barbie's Dreamhouse in Architectural Digest. Send influence tips and let me know which room is your fave: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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HALEY RAISES CASH FROM FARA REGISTRANTS WHILE BASHING THEM: “Despite calling for a ban on foreign lobbying, in which Americans lobby lawmakers and the public for foreign interests, Republican 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has raised tens of thousands of dollars in political donations from foreign lobbyists,” ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim reports.

— “The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under the Trump administration, Haley has recently been campaigning on her opposition to foreign lobbying, saying that embassies — and not private consultants or lobbyist agents — should represent foreign interests in the U.S.”

— “Banning foreign lobbying has been part of her stump speech against aid to foreign countries, especially money she suggests is going to countries whose interests seem to be at odds with those of the United States.”

— “Haley's rhetoric hasn't stopped her from raising funds from supporters that are currently or formerly registered agents working for foreign entities” — like Chartwell Strategy Group’s Ozzie Palomo, who’s registered as a foreign agent on behalf of the government of Georgia and a Romanian political party, as well as the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, and has given $6,600 to Haley’s joint fundraising committee.

CHAMBER SWIPES BACK AT DEM SENATORS: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce batted away criticism from a trio of Democratic senators who accused the business lobby of being at odds with itself by calling for extraneous items like permitting reforms to be included in a debt ceiling deal, and because of the Chamber’s likely support for a package of tax cuts set to move next month — all while maintaining the urgency of averting a default on the nation’s debt.

— In a letter last week to Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark and obtained by POLITICO, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) demanded to know “how the Chamber justifies supporting the Republican agenda of continued tax cuts for the wealthy, while cheerleading for threats to impose a default and austerity for everyone else.”

— Former GOP Rep. Evan Jenkins, now the Chamber’s top congressional lobbyist, responded to the lawmakers on Tuesday by putting the onus back on them to support the deal struck by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden ahead of the fast-approaching debt cliff, a deal facing dissent on the left.

— “The only question that remains is how much support the agreement will garner in Congress. We ask you to publicly offer your support for the agreement prior to the House taking the bill up for a vote,” Jenkins wrote, adding that “failure to pass this agreement will result in a first-ever federal government default with catastrophic economic consequences, including higher interest rates, a major recession, and significant job losses.”

— Jenkins also dismissed the senators’ suggestion that demands from some Republicans as a condition for their vote to raise the debt ceiling might trigger a recession. He declined to divulge the organization’s conversations with lawmakers about extending provisions from the 2017 tax overhaul or supporting new tax cuts after seeking spending cuts.

— Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough’s David Wilkins, who lobbies for several Canadian provinces, and Alexandra Scott Amorosi, who has lobbied for foreign clients in the past, are also among Haley’s donors, per ABC.

CICILLINE’S SWAN SONG: Nancy Scola sat down with Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) for POLITICO Magazine, ahead of the congressman’s last day in office today. In the exit interview, one of Capitol Hill’s top antitrust hawks shared some parting advice for his soon-to-be-former colleagues looking to build on his failures to rein in Silicon Valley and explained why he’s hanging up his hat now after seemingly coming so close last Congress.

— In addition to dishing on his ranking of Big Tech execs, he also discussed where tech antitrust efforts got derailed last Congress, but Cicilline ultimately expressed optimism that tech’s deep-pocketed lobbying machine can be overcome in Washington. One of the key takeaways from his time in office? “Antitrust is cool again.”

STEVENSON RETIRES FROM MPA: Vans Stevenson is leaving the Motion Picture Association today after more than three decades with the trade group. He joined the trade association back in 1989, and served for 25 years as the group's senior vice president for state government affairs, a role in which he devised the legislative strategy that saw 45 state laws enacted to ban the use of recording devices in theaters as well as the enactment of state tax breaks to lure productions around the country. Stevenson scaled back his role with MPA last year, and has been succeeded by Kathy Bañuelos.

— “The Motion Picture Association celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, and Vans has literally been here for a third of our existence,” MPA CEO and Chair Charlie Rivkin quipped in a statement. Prior to joining the MPA, Stevenson was a government affairs, public relations and marketing executive at Blockbuster and Warner Cable Communications.

Jobs Report

— Stephen Kent is joining the Consumer Choice Center to help lead media and PR efforts. He was previously director of operations at Echelon Insights.

— The American Cleaning Institute has added Jamie Logan as manager of state government affairs and promoted Ryan Heisler to senior manager of environmental and scientific affairs. Logan was most recently a policy analyst with the National Emergency Management Association.

— Rebecca Mears is now director of democracy at the Center for American Progress. She most recently was a political law associate at Elias Law Group.

— Rebecca Brocato and Christian Marrone are now senior advisers at WestExec Advisors. Brocato previously was chief of staff of the Development Finance Corporation. Marrone previously was senior vice president for government affairs for Lockheed Martin.

— Andrew Reilly is now communications director at the National Beer Wholesalers Association. He previously was communications manager at the International Foodservice Distributors Association.

— Jonathan Murphy is now leading military helicopter and military aircraft communications for Airbus U.S. space and defense. He was previously senior manager for PR and public affairs at Raytheon Technologies and is a John Warner and Senate Armed Services Committee alum.

— Kaitlynn Ward is now director of government affairs for America's Poison Centers. She previously was director of federal affairs for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

— Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid has hired Erin Howley as a legislative assistant. She’s a recent University of Michigan grad who previously interned for Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

— Sydney Petersen will be senior media relations manager for the National Women’s Law Center. She was most recently press secretary for Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).

— Natalie Boyse has started as global program manager at ORF America, the U.S. affiliate of India’s Observer Research Foundation. She is a Trump Pentagon and HHS and Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney and Poolhouse alum.

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New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

Jobob and Friends (Super PAC)
Liberty and Freedom PAC (Super PAC)
Onteora Parents Engaged Now (PAC)
South Carolina Equity Political Action Committee (PAC)
TELL IT LIKE IT IS PAC (Super PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Atlas Crossing LLC: American Chemistry Council, Inc.
Atlas Crossing LLC: Crei Holdings LLC
Avisa Partners US, Inc.: Syngenta Corporation
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Seagate Technology LLC
Emily Hetherington: Aarp
Innovative Advocacy: Epoxy Interest Group
K&L Gates, LLP: Thalo Labs Inc.
Mindset Advocacy, LLC: Otc Markets Group
Modern Cartographers LLC: United Coalition Of Public Safety (Ucops)
Ogilvy Government Relations: Perry, White, Ross & Jacobson (On Behalf Of Genetworx, LLC)
Polsinelli Pc: Judge Rotenberg Educational Center
Polsinelli Pc: Tellus App, Inc.
Relation Strategy, LLC: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.: Azucareros Del Istmo Centroamericano
Squire Patton Boggs: Restoration Forest Products, LLC

New Lobbying Terminations

Alta Crest LLC: Specialist Telemed
Capitol Tax Partners, LLP: Tinuum Group LLC
Hackney Government Affairs Group (Formerly Clint Hackney & Company): Gas Technology Institute
Hart Health Strategies: Molecular Testing Labs
Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Novozymes North America, Inc.
J.P. Deese & Associates, LLC: Defi Angels LLC
Liberty Government Affairs: Navigators Global, LLC On Behalf Of Office For The Gov., State Of South Dakota
Mark Malone: Cps Energy
Mark Malone: Energy Future Holdings Formerly Known As Txu Corp
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Yealink (Xiamen) Network Technology Co. Ltd.
Mg Housing Strategies LLC: Silver Street Development Corporation
Mickenberg, Dunn & Smith, Plc: US Cannabis Council
North Star Strategies, LLC: Jackson Bioenergy
North Star Strategies, LLC: Lexington Legends Minor League Baseball Team
Summit Strategies Government Affairs LLC: Adre
Summit Strategies Government Affairs LLC: On Behalf Of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc Allegheny County Airport Authority
Summit Strategies Government Affairs LLC: Pittsburgh Area Real Estate Redevelopment
The Consilio Group: Sabrewing Aircraft Company, Inc.