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Presented by Electronic Payments Coalition: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | |  | | By Daniel Lippman and Caitlin Oprysko | | | With help from Megan R. Wilson MILLER STRATEGIES TO AMEND FILINGS THAT OMITTED FOREIGN STAKEHOLDERS: As congressional scrutiny of foreign funders in third-party litigation financing grows, the prominent Republican lobbying firm Miller Strategies said it will update lobbying disclosures for the International Legal Finance Association that omitted five foreign companies that are members of the trade group, Daniel reports. — West Front Strategies, which also lobbies for the litigation finance association, listed the companies in the “foreign entities” section on its registration filing in 2021, and the five companies are also listed on the ILFA’s website. — The non-American companies listed by West Front — Harbour Litigation Funding, Innsworth Advisors Limited, Nivalion AG, Omni Bridgeway and Therium Capital Management — are part of the multibillion-dollar litigation finance industry that help fund often-expensive lawsuits in exchange for a cut of settlements or judgments that result. — “This was an oversight on our part, and we will amend accordingly,” Miller Strategies founder and CEO Jeff Miller told PI when asked about the discrepancy. His firm registered last June to lobby for the ILFA on “issues related to the rule of law and the legal system.” The firm was paid at a rate of $50,000 per quarter, but Miller said it paused its work for the association at the end of the year. As of Thursday afternoon, PI had not spotted the amendment online. — The omission comes as there is growing concern in Washington about foreign sources of litigation money having an adverse impact on American courts. At least one Chinese company has financed several intellectual property lawsuits in American courts, which former acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Joseph Matal told Bloomberg was “our worst fears confirmed” because “anything China does is concerning because nothing over there is really independent.” — Last November, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote to several Florida-based federal judges calling for greater transparency with regard to foreign financing of lawsuits. — Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced a bill last year that would require disclosure from foreign entities funding litigation in federal courts, ban foreign governments and sovereign wealth funds from taking part in the practice, and order the Department of Justice to write a report on such foreign funding. A 2022 study from the Government Accountability Office highlighted the lack of data on the issue. — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses that face frequent lawsuits, has expressed worry about what it sees as the national security threat of foreign litigation funding, arguing that foreign entities could finance litigation as part of geopolitical competition against the U.S. — The industry has defended itself by saying it helps businesses, especially smaller ones, to pay for legitimate legal claims against larger and better-financed adversaries so they don’t have to use money from their R&D or operating budgets and can continue to invest in their companies. They have also argued that investors in the industry have no control over which cases are financed, nor do they have the ability to gain access to sensitive case information, or control or influence litigation decisions. Happy Thursday, and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | TOP BP LOBBYIST HEADS TO ENTERPRISE: Downey Magallanes has left BP, where she served as the oil major’s head of policy and federal government affairs, after more than five years with the company. She’s joining the rental car giant Enterprise Mobility as its vice president of federal affairs. — Magallanes, who previously served as former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s deputy chief of staff for policy, will be based in D.C., unlike Enterprise’s other in-house lobbyists, who work out of the company’s Missouri headquarters. Enterprise has boosted its lobbying expenditures in recent years, dropping a record $1.3 million in 2022 and $1.1 million in 2023 even after dropping two outside firms in 2021. 9/11 FAMILIES SWIPES AT NEW COMMS HELP FOR PIF: The head of a group of 9/11 victims’ families slammed former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart today over his firm’s decision to sign on to help Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund after previously criticizing the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. — Strategic comms firm Rational 360, where Lockhart works as a managing director, registered with the Justice Department this week to provide PR and comms support for the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is facing congressional scrutiny over its business dealings and influence efforts in the U.S. — As PI recapped yesterday, senators grilled a group of PIF’s consultants this week over their failure to comply with subpoenas for documents, citing the threat of imprisonment or financial penalties if they defied the fund’s overseas legal efforts to block certain disclosures. — “As with McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Teneo which thumbed their nose at Congress this week and sided with the Saudi government, we hope any company and any journalist that works with Joe Lockhart and his firm will take a long look in the mirror,” Terry Strada, the national chair of 9/11 Families United, told PI in a statement. — “A few years ago he called the Saudi Crown Prince one of ‘the most ruthless killers in the world’ and now he’s going on his payroll,” Strada continued. The Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross reported yesterday on Lockhart’s previous, unrestrained criticism of bin Salman for ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including Lockhart accusing former President Donald Trump and his family members of seeking to cover up the crown prince’s role in the killing. — Strada noted that 9/11 victims and their families are still “fighting the Saudi government in New York federal court to demand transparency for its role in the worst terrorist attack in American history. But instead of standing with their fellow Americans, another former spokesman for another former President is selling out and signing up to serve as the Saudi’s spin doctor,” she said, a reference to former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer’s PR work for PIF-funded LIV Golf. HIGH TIMES FOR BANK LOBBYISTS: “The number of big bank Washington lobbyists is the highest since the 2007-09 global financial crisis, driven by hiring among midsize lenders which are facing new rules and tougher oversight after last year’s turbulence,” Reuters’ Douglas Gillison reports. — “At the end of 2023, 486 federal lobbyists were working on behalf of banks with $50 billion or more in assets and seven trade groups, according to a Reuters analysis of data provided by OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan political transparency group. That was a 3.4% bump on 2022 when the industry’s lobbying ranks swelled to their highest level of any year since 2008, the data shows.” — “The headcount includes registered individual lobbyists working for the banks and for outside firms the banks and trade associations hire. Over the past six years, growth in the bank lobby’s ranks has been largely driven by lenders with more than $100 billion in assets who are not among the eight Wall Street giants, such as Capital One, TD Bank, and Truist.” — “The gains coincide with midsize lenders’ expanding list of policy concerns as President Joe Biden’s financial regulators have rolled out a raft of proposals cracking down on fair lending abuses, transaction fees, as well as capital hikes, which will dent profits.” GOP LAWMAKERS ASK FOR FARA PROBE OF NGO: “Three Republican lawmakers are requesting the U.S. Department of Justice open an investigation into the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-headquartered conflict resolution and advocacy group, to determine if it acted as an unregistered agent for the government of Iran,” per Semafor’s Jay Solomon. — “The representatives, in a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland this week, cited recent articles by Semafor that documented two research partnerships Crisis Group and two of its members entered into with Iran’s Foreign Ministry over the past decade, but which were not disclosed publicly. These arrangements were in place while Crisis Group was one of a number of NGOs seeking to shape U.S. policy on Iran going into the 2015 nuclear deal the Obama administration forged with Tehran, and after.” — “There is a clear pattern of behavior indicating that the Crisis Group is in fact not an independent organization, but a chief mouthpiece of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United States,” Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) wrote to Garland. — “Crisis Group’s spokesperson, Elissa Jobson, told Semafor Wednesday, in response to the letter, that the organization was in compliance with all U.S. laws, including FARA. ‘Crisis Group only acts to resolve conflict, not for or on any country’s behalf,’ she said. ‘Iran’s threats to our staff and accusations that we work for the US and Israeli governments have been ongoing for more than a decade and underscore our independence.’” — SPOTTED yesterday at the Information Technology Industry Council’s policy summit The Intersect, per a tipster: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), FCC’s Anna Gomez, the White House’s Harry Coker, Anne Neuberger and Stephen Benjamin, NTIA’s Alan Davidson, the Energy Department’s Helena Fu, NIST’s Laurie Locascio, Siemens USA’s Barbara Humpton, Salesforce AI’s Clara Shih, Amazon’s David Zapolsky, Accenture’s Andrew Levy, Cisco’s Waldo McMillian, Sage’s Tracy Owens, Qualcomm’s Nate Tibbits, NetApp’s Kristen Verderame, Mastercard’s Tucker Foote, Ericsson’s Barbara Baffer, Meta’s Brad Weltman, Cognizant’s Kasey O’Connor, Nielsen’s Joby Fortson and ITI’s Jason Oxman.
| | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: ROSES ARE RED. VIOLETS ARE BLUE. CREDIT CARDS PROTECT OUR DATA AND GIVE YOU REWARDS TOO! Small businesses LOVE their credit cards because they provide a safe and convenient option to make purchases and provide valuable rewards. Doubling down on failed card mandates would force small businesses to give up the benefits they love, all to pad the pockets of corporate mega-stores. Congress: Oppose the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill. Click HERE to learn more. | | | | | — Tami Jackson Buckner has been tapped to lead the federal government relations practice at Michael Best Strategies. She was previously a government and public affairs partner and chair of the corporate ESG practice at the firm. — Adams and Reese has added Marc Warren and Paul Alp as co-leaders of the firm’s new aviation and aerospace team. They both come from Jenner & Block, where Warren was co-chair of the aerospace and defense practice group and Alp was a partner. Warren is also an FAA alum. Alp is a Boeing alum. — Molly Roecker is joining LSG as a senior director in the communications practice. She previously served as producer for NBC News’ White House unit. — Beth Tritter is now a partner in FGS Global’s government affairs division. She most recently was director of the Covid-19 response team at USAID. — Nidhi Hegde will be interim executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project. She most recently was managing director. — Josh Paul is now a nonresident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now. He previously was a director at the State Department, from which he publicly resigned in protest over the U.S. handling of the Israel-Hamas war. — Kelsi Browning is launching Front Row Strategies, a political consulting and PR firm for Democratic/progressive candidates and causes. She most recently was at the Clyde Group, and is an Amy Klobuchar and Hillary Clinton campaign alum. — Saana Allie is now a senior manager at Outreach Strategists, expanding its operations into the federal government sector. She was previously a business development manager at BerlinRosen. — Juliane Gallina has been named the CIA’s deputy director for digital innovation. Gallina was the vice president of IBM’s federal key accounts.
| | | Fisch & Fin Fund (Reps. Michelle Fischbach, Brad Finstad, MNM PAC, Field of Dreams PAC) MN PA Victory Fund (Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Bob Casey, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Pennsylvania Democratic Party) Van Orden-Wilson Victory Fund (Reps. Derrick Van Orden, Joe Wilson)
| | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition:   | | | | | American College of Education, Inc. Political Action Committee (PAC) Americans for Contraception Victory Fund (Super PAC) AC to reestablish the PAC for Alaskan Independence (Super PAC) Patriots for Border Security (Super PAC) True Blue Action Fund (Super PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | | Alston & Bird LLP: National Brain Tumor Society Boundary Stone Partners: Verdagy Burrell International Group LLC: O’Brien Gentry & Scott LLC (On Behalf Of Tactical Lighting Systems Corbin Strategies LLC: Academy Of Nutrition & Dietetics Corbin Strategies LLC: Bobbie Baby, Inc. Corbin Strategies LLC: Feeding America Corbin Strategies LLC: Reset Tech Action Corbin Strategies LLC: Zipongo, Inc. Dba Foodsmart Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C.: Alliance For America’s Promise Integer, LLC: Ren Modern Fortis LLC: American Innovators Coalition Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC: Zip Co Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Dba Taft Advisors LLC Fka (Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP): City Of Gary Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Dba Taft Advisors LLC Fka (Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP): Sherwin Williams The Vogel Group: Colorectal Cancer Alliance Todd Strategy Group: Avs Bio Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: City Of Fountain Valley
| | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: CONGRESS: IT’S TIME TO DUMP THE DURBIN-MARSHALL CREDIT CARD BILL: Congress has a toxic relationship with card routing mandates. Despite over a decade of research showing that similar mandates for debit cards were a disaster for consumers, small businesses, and small financial institutions, corporate mega-stores are back and promising this time things will be “different.” But the truth is that the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill is a sweetheart giveaway to mega-corporations like Walmart and Target, while eliminating credit card rewards, weakening fraud protections, and reducing access to credit for low-income Americans. Congress: This Valentine’s Day, it’s time to break up with the Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill and protect the value and security of America’s payments system. Click HERE to learn more. | | | | | New Lobbying Terminations | | Conventum Group, LLC: Town Of Winter Park Hannegan Landau Poersch & Rosenbaum Advocacy, LLC: Nextera Energy, Inc. Modern Fortis LLC: Dive Equipment & Marketing Association Modern Fortis LLC: Pine Belt Cellular, Inc Peter Turza: Abf Freight Systems, Inc. Pioneer Public Affairs: Resurety, Inc. Venable LLP: Lidar Coalition (Informal Coalition) Von Batten-Montague-York: Embassy Of The Federal Republic Of Somalia Winning Strategies Washington: Cleanslate Centers Inc Winning Strategies Washington: Mid-Atlantic Center For The Arts Winning Strategies Washington: Velico Medical
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