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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 Daniel Lippman MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE DEVELOPER ADDS IN-HOUSE LOBBYIST: Equitrans Midstream has boosted its lobbying footprint in Washington on the heels of this year’s budget ceiling deal that paved the way for the completion of the company’s contentious Mountain Valley pipeline. Equitrans, the pipeline’s developer, registered its first in-house lobbyist at the federal level last month as the newly greenlit project wound its way through a series of legal challenges, according to newly filed disclosures. — Michael Killion will lobby for Equitrans on issues related to oil and gas infrastructure, according to the disclosure, including a sweeping energy bill passed by House Republicans and the bipartisan debt ceiling legislation signed into law in June. Killion serves as Equitrans’ deputy general counsel for government affairs and has been with the company since 2011, before the pipeline business was split off from parent company EQT Corporation. — In addition to Killion, Equitrans retains Bradley Arant Boult Cummings and Bighorn Public Affairs Group. The pipeline — a joint venture with NextEra Energy, Consolidated Edison, AltaGas Ltd. and RGC Resources for which Equitrans is the lead developer — retains Cassidy & Associates as a subcontractor to Perkins Coie and briefly retained Vinson & Elkins while negotiations for the budget deal were ongoing. — Language in the debt ceiling bill “approved all permits pending for the 300-mile natural gas pipeline and stated that only the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., could hear narrowly-tailored challenges to the project,” per POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre and Alex Guillén — a major win for the project’s backers in West Virginia’s congressional delegation including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who made the pipeline the face of his push for a federal permitting overhaul. — Environmental groups and local residents opposed to the project are left with few legal options after a federal appeals court dismissed a challenge to the pipeline last week, but federal regulators this week flagged safety concerns with the pipeline to Equitrans, per E&E News’ Carlos Anchondo. TGIF and welcome to PI. Don’t look now, but there’s only one more week to get your best lobbying and influence tips in before our annual late summer hiatus. Send ‘em over: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE. | | | | | ANNALS OF SCAM PACS: Federal authorities arrested two prolific PAC operatives on Thursday on charges of defrauding unwitting donors to the tune of tens of millions of dollars meant for charity and political causes, in a continuation of the government’s crackdown on operators of so-called scam PACs. — Las Vegas telemarketer Richard Zeitlin faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, while Robert Piaro, the treasurer of numerous PACs and political groups with benevolent-sounding names such as Americans for the Cure of Breast Cancer, the Association for Emergency Responders & Firefighters, the U.S. Veterans Assistance Foundation and Standing By Veterans, has been charged with wire fraud and mail fraud, according to indictments unsealed in federal court in Manhattan. — Zeitlin’s and Piaro’s dealings have been profiled extensively in the press, including by POLITICO, and The New York Times most recently reported that federal prosecutors had subpoenaed recordings of fundraising calls by Piaro’s groups, some of which it profiled weeks earlier. — “The indictment of Mr. Zeitlin said he directed employees at his call centers to falsely suggest to donors that they were contributing to charities, not political groups,” Chris Cameron and David Fahrenthold write for the Times. “For instance, the indictment said, Mr. Zeitlin directed callers to tell donors their support would help disabled veterans by ‘getting them the medical needs the V.A. doesn’t provide.’ That money instead went toward a group that focused on political advocacy, prosecutors said.” — “A separate indictment for Mr. Piaro said he ‘made and authorized others to make fraudulent claims’ about how donations to several political action committees, known as PACs, would be spent, raising about $28 million through false statements and misrepresentations, leading donors to believe the PACs would advance specific legislation, educate lawmakers, and conduct and fund research.” PLAYING TO YOUR STRENGTHS: “One of the world’s largest advertising firms is crafting a campaign to thwart a California bill intended to enhance people’s control over the data that companies collect on them” — in part by using some of that very same data, POLITICO’s Alfred Ng reports. — “According to emails obtained by POLITICO, the Interpublic Group is coordinating an effort against a bill that would make it easier for people to request that data brokers — firms that collect and sell personal information — delete their dossiers.” — “The IPG emails reveal how an advertising company could use that same personal data and targeting capabilities to undermine a public policy proposal that threatens its bottom line. The emails show an exchange between the company’s global chief digital responsibility and public policy officer, Sheila Colclasure, and other executives discussing what the firm can do to block the bill.” — “‘We would like to mount an “opposition campaign” using in-house digital advertising capabilities, targeting California,’ Colclasure wrote in an Aug. 14 email sent to others at IPG and reviewed by POLITICO. Those capabilities could include creating ads targeted at California residents to foment public opposition to the bill and prominently placing those ads on popular websites.” — The company’s campaign already includes a website urging visitors to contact the bill’s main Democratic author to voice their opposition to. “The emails obtained by POLITICO note that the Consumer Data Industry Association and the law firm Venable built and sponsored the website, while Interpublic Group worked on the effort to promote the campaign. But the site, which was registered last week, originally did not disclose who was behind it.” — “And when POLITICO revealed the website’s similarities to an ad industry push on Wednesday, Interpublic Group spokesperson Thomas Cunningham” and Chad Engelgau, CEO of IPG-owned data broker Acxiom, “denied their companies were involved. Engelgau’s statement to POLITICO Thursday did not respond to questions about this discrepancy,” but “CDIA has since updated the No to SB 362 website to include the industry’s affiliation.”
| | | | A NEW PODCAST FROM POLITICO: Our new POLITICO Tech podcast is your daily download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy around the world. From AI and the metaverse to disinformation and cybersecurity, POLITICO Tech explores how today’s technology is shaping our world — and driving the policy decisions, innovations and industries that will matter tomorrow. SUBSCRIBE AND START LISTENING TODAY. | | | | | DEM GROUP PREPS 8-FIGURE PUSH TO BACK ELECTION OFFICIALS: “A group that works to elect Democrats as the top election officials in states around the country is planning a $10 million venture to pay for private security for election officials of both parties, register new voters and try to combat disinformation,” the Times’ Nick Corasaniti reports. — The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State is launching a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called Value the Vote “that will initially focus on five battleground states: Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin.” Travis Brimm, the Democratic group’s executive director, will serve as president of Value the Vote, and told the Times it had already raised $2.5 million of its $10 million pledge. — “We’ve seen our election officials come under threat while they’re just trying to do their jobs, and they’re doing a fantastic job,” Brimm told the paper. “They deserve the ability and the right to feel safe while they’re doing their job.” — “Since the 2020 election, once-uncontroversial matters of election administration have increasingly become entangled in partisan politics,” with increased threats against election administrators triggering waves of resignations. “In turn, the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State grew rapidly after the 2020 election, when former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn the results drew attention to the importance of the position. The group went from raising a few million dollars each election cycle to raising and spending more than $30 million in the midterms last year.”
| | — Valerie Keys is now deputy press secretary at the Commerce Department. She previously was a senior associate at SKDK. — Di Reimold has joined the Aerospace Industries Association as vice president of civil aviation. She was previously deputy vice president of flight program operations at the FAA.
| | Team Riley (MOORE FOR WEST VIRGINIA, INC., MOUNTAINEER PAC)
| | AMERICANS UNITED FOR COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM (Super PAC)
GUESS & CO CORPORATION HOLDING CO, INC PAC (PAC)
Pennsylvania Leadership Alliance (Hybrid PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Capitol Counsel LLC: Wafd Bank
Cemvita: Cemvita
Collier Collective, LLC: Avac (Aids Vaccine And Advocacy Coalition)
Collier Collective, LLC: Drug Policy Alliance
Collier Collective, LLC: Prep4All
Cresco Labs LLC: Cresco Labs LLC
Equitrans Midstream Corporation: Equitrans Midstream Corporation
Hillcrest Strategies LLC (Fka Nicholas Flocken): Sofar Ocean Technologies
Hillcrest Strategies LLC (Fka Nicholas Flocken): Windborne Systems
K&L Gates, LLP: Allegheny County Airport Authority
K&L Gates, LLP: Duquesne University Of The Holy Spirit
Lobbyit.Com: American Board Of Opticianry And National Contact Lens Examiners
Lobbyit.Com: Anbex Inc.
Lobbyit.Com: Like Minded Software
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Milo'S Tea Company Inc.
Potomac Partners Dc: City Of Adelanto, Ca
Rich Feuer Anderson: Blackrock Funds Services Group LLC (Formerly Blackrock Capital Management Inc.)
Salvo Strategies: Action Hoising, Inc.
Salvo Strategies: Redevelopment Authority Of Fayette County, Pa
Salvo Strategies: Washington County, Pennsylvania
The Charles Group, LLC: Columbia Helicopters, Inc.
The Charles Group, LLC: Tactical Air Support, Inc.
The Farley Group, Inc.: The Yavapai-Apache Nation
West Front Strategies LLC: Oleary Productions USa LLC
Winning Strategies Washington: Velico Medical
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Demand Progress Action, Inc: Demand Progress Action, Inc
Polsinelli Pc: American Glaucoma Society
Polsinelli Pc: Fujifilm Electronic Materials USa, Inc.
Polsinelli Pc: Prevent Blindness
The Fiorentino Group: Dive Equipment & Marketing Association | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
