Iraq adds another firm

From: POLITICO Influence - Friday Feb 16,2024 12:08 am

Feb 15, 2024

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With Daniel Lippman

FIRST IN PI — IRAQ ADDS ANOTHER FIRM: The Iraqi Embassy has brought on a third new lobbying firm this year, as tension flares between Baghdad and Washington over escalating violence and tit-for-tat attacks between Iran-backed militias and U.S. troops in the region.

— Valcour, a lobbying firm formed by former Trump State Department and White House official Matt Mowers, has signed a yearlong contract with the embassy to provide strategic consulting services like policy advice and outreach to U.S. and state officials with regard to the countries’ relationship, according to documents soon to be filed with the Justice Department shared first with PI. Along with Mowers, former Rep. John Tanner and Lisa Cotter Colangelo of Bridgeway Advocacy will work on the account, which includes a $45,000 monthly retainer.

— As PI reported last week, the embassy hired Squire Patton Boggs earlier this month for similar work and retained Michigan attorney Michael Sarafa to help Iraq forge ties to Iraqi-American communities in Michigan and Illinois, the Iraqi-American business community and the members of Congress who represent those communities, DOJ filings show.

— The hires come amid talks between Iraq and a U.S.-led coalition to begin reducing the footprint of the coalition, which seeks to counter the Islamic State. Negotiations on the troop drawdown kicked off in January but were hampered by a U.S. retaliatory strike in Baghdad last week that killed the commander of an Iran-backed militia, ramping up political pressure on Iraqi leaders.

Happy Thursday, and welcome to PI. Send K Street tips and gossip: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l:

Raise the pilot retirement age? Raise chaos for air travelers. Congress is considering an arbitrary change to current law that would raise the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 to address a pilot shortage that isn’t real. It’s an ill-conceived solution to a fake problem that will lead to real consequences. With more and more people flying, now is the wrong time to complicate air travel. Learn more.

MORE NEW BUSINESS: The gig company coalition Flex Association has hired Monument Advocacy following a shakeup with the group’s previous outside firm. Kate Mills, who leads Monument’s mobility practice, Larry Duncan and firm founder Stewart Verdery started lobbying for the coalition at the beginning of the year on issues related to app-based companies, according to disclosure filings.

— The coalition, whose members include DoorDash, Gopuff, Grubhub, HopSkipDrive, Instacart, Lyft, Shipt and Uber, launched in 2022 to present a united front for the industry as the Biden administration pushed to make it harder for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors — a key part of gig companies’ business models.

— The Labor Department’s final rule on the issue was released in January, and elicited a relatively muted response from the Flex Association, its members and other tech-backed groups.

— Monument has also signed Whole Foods to lobby on food and sustainability issues and the farm bill, the first time Whole Foods has registered lobbyists since 2010. Ag lobbyist T.A. Hawks and former USDA official Lilia McFarland Horder are working on the account for Monument, which also represents Whole Foods parent company Amazon.

— Toymaker Mattel has outside lobbyists on its roster for the first time in a while as well. More than a dozen lobbyists at Mehlman Consulting are working on U.S. trade policy, supply chain policies and U.S.-China policy for the Barbie and Hot Wheels maker, disclosures show. Mattel parted ways with Williams and Jensen in 2021, and before that hadn’t lobbied in Washington in over a decade.

— Satellite cable provider Dish Network and the PBM coalition Transparency-Rx have tapped new lobbying help. Transparency-Rx, which represents pharmaceutical middlemen in favor of new transparency requirements for the industry, has hired former Joe Biden Senate aide Chris Putala of PutalaStrategies, while Dish retained former Nike lobbyist Jesse McCollum of Tidal Basin Advisors to lobby on broadband, wireless infrastructure, competition and spectrum policy.

JUUL’S INFLUENCE PLAYBOOK: “A new trove of internal emails and other documents from the e-cigarette maker Juul reveals the company’s extensive behind-the-scenes efforts to promote its interests in Washington — a rare insight into the otherwise opaque methods corporations use to influence the government,” per STAT News’ Nicholas Florko.

— “It’s well documented that Juul spent significant sums on registered lobbyists and political donations back in 2018 and 2019, when the head of the Food and Drug Administration declared youth vaping an epidemic, Congress held two days of hearings investigating Juul’s marketing to kids, and cities, states, and the federal government were threatening to ban the flavored vapes that made Juul so popular in the first place.”

— “The trove of documents, which was released as part of a legal settlement with the state of North Carolina, shows that Juul tried everything from orchestrating untraceable political donations to paying think tanks for favorable research, in an effort to revamp its image and prevent both Congress and the FDA from taking action that could cost the company financially.”

LOBBYING RAMPING UP ON 340B REFORMS: “Lobbying around one of the nation’s most controversial drug discount programs swelled in 2023. This year could be even bigger now that a comprehensive proposal is in motion,” our Megan Wilson reports.

— “Six bipartisan senators unveiled a discussion draft earlier this month to reform the 340B program, which requires drugmakers to sell outpatient drugs at discounted prices to hospitals, clinics and community health centers that serve lower-income populations.”

— “Reining in the program, which some in Congress hope to do, could cost hospitals — and save drugmakers — billions of dollars, underscoring the stakes in the coming fight. Even before the latest Senate draft, advocacy around the drug discount program was intensifying: There were more companies, hospitals and groups lobbying in 2023 than in recent years, as lawmakers in both chambers requested information from industry and mulled increased transparency measures.”

— “An association representing hospitals participating in the program, 340B Health, spent a record amount on lobbying last year to defend the industry,” while “drugmakers and others pushing to reform the drug discount program are already airing ads accusing hospitals of abusing the program and not providing enough charity care. … [M]ore insurers jumped into the debate, too, according to lobbying disclosures.”

NARRATIVE CASHES IN ON PRIVATE EQUITY GUSHER: Strategic comms and public affairs shop Narrative Strategies has sold a stake in the firm to Clarion Capital Partners, the latest in a string of downtown firms to take advantage of a tidal wave of interest from private equity investors.

— The firm’s executive partners will hold a “significant ownership stake” in the company, for which co-founder and GOP strategist Ken Spain will serve as CEO. Around a half-dozen political and lobbying firms have cashed in on private equity partnerships as Washington’s perpetual dysfunction has sent demand for operatives who can help decode it through the roof.

— “As businesses face increased challenges to their reputations, the existing public relations firm model simply isn’t built to navigate competing interests and audiences,” Spain said in a statement, arguing that today’s clients “must balance the interests of politicians, regulators, activists, employees, and investors” and adding that the investment from Clarion “will accelerate our ability to navigate this new terrain successfully with additional capabilities, talent, and geographies.”

— Last spring, the private equity giant KKR bought a 30 percent stake in the powerhouse consultancy FGS Global, while the Democratic firm Precision Strategies sold a minority stake to Abry Partners. Other benefactors of the private equity gusher include Avoq (formerly known as Subject Matter); the conglomerate of firms including Public Opinion Strategies, GuidePost Strategies and Bullpen Strategy Group; Firehouse Strategies; and the merged firm known as Penta.

A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l:

Jobs Report

— Matt Simmons is joining CURA Strategies as senior vice president of public affairs. He previously was with Scipher Medicine and is a Millennium Health and National Coalition of Pharmaceutical Distributors alum.

— BGR Group and Nashville-based public affairs firm BHA Strategy have launched a strategic partnership, led by Blake Harris of BHA.

— Chintan Patel will be the next executive director of Indian American Impact. He most recently was vice president of political affairs at End Citizens United/Let America Vote.

— Juan Londoño is now senior policy analyst at Taxpayers Protection Alliance. He most recently was a policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, and is an American Action Forum alum.

— Sam Myers Jr. is launching Place Public Affairs. He most recently was managing director at Rational 360 and is a Biden, Obama and Clinton White House alum.

— Jess Szymanski is now director of strategic communications at Venture Global LNG. She most recently was deputy communications director for Never Back Down PAC and is an API, Dave McCormick and DOE alum.

— PLUS Communications has promoted Jamie Wren to COO and Tamara Smith to head of public affairs. They’ll continue serving as partners in the public affairs practice.

— Brian Potts and David Zoppo are now partners at Husch Blackwell Strategies in the energy and natural resources industry group. Both were previously partners at Perkins Coie, and Potts formerly chaired Perkins Coie’s nationwide energy industry group.

— Andy Oare, who was Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's director of digital media and a member of Biden's campaign and transition teams, has launched a new public affairs and marketing firm, BlueWing Impact.

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.

New Joint Fundraisers

Bowman-Tlaib Committee (Reps. Jamal Bowman, Rashida Tlaib)

LEAN FORWARD AMERICA FUND (Reps. Byron Donalds, Wesley Hunt, John James, Rich McCormick, Burgess Owens, Proven Conservatives PAC, Hellfire PAC, Mission First People Always PAC, Old Breed PAC, Dream Big PAC)

Ted Budd Majority Committee 2028 (Sen. Ted Budd, Building Up Democracy's Dream, NRSC, North Carolina Republican Party)

New PACs

AMERICA FIRST PARTY USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE ORG 2024 AFP NATL BALLOT ACCESS INTIATIVES ELEC (Super PAC)

AMERICAN FIRST PARTY USA NATIONAL CMTE ORG AFP CMTE OF STATE MILITAI & GIRL GUARD DEFENSE (Super PAC)

HOOSIERS FOR A SECURE BORDER (Super PAC)

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 11 Political Action Committee (Super PAC)

Local 18 Water and Power Defense League (IBEW) (Super PAC)

Mississippi Taxpayer Freedom PAC (Super PAC)

PresidentialPAC.com (Super PAC)

Residents for Strong, Ethical Leadership (Super PAC)

A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l:

A difference of two years can lead to decades of air travel complications. Arbitrarily extending the mandatory pilot retirement age from 65 to 67 to address a fake pilot shortage will upend union collective bargaining agreements, disrupt airline operations, increase ticket prices, create a cascading and costly training backlog for pilots and put the United States out of compliance with international standards. Learn why raising the pilot retirement age to 67 outweighs any potential benefits.

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Ctia-The Wireless Association

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Kabafusion

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Modern Intelligence Inc.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: The Hawaiʻi Pacific Foundation

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Verizon Communications Inc.

Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Sunrise Foods International Inc.

Desimone Consulting, LLC: City Of Chelan, Wa

Desimone Consulting, LLC: City Of Fife, Wa

Desimone Consulting, LLC: Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (Pnwa)

Hance Scarborough: Sendero Clovis LLC

Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP: Institute For The Study Of Global Antisemitism And Policy

Lone Star Consulting (Fka Ls Consulting, LLC): City Of Grand Prairie

Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: Mattel

Monument Advocacy: Flex Association

Monument Advocacy: Whole Foods Market, Inc.

Natural Resource Results LLC: Rivers Of Steel National Heritage Area

Putalastrategies: Gensco Nutrition LLC

Putalastrategies: Transparency-Rx

The Doerrer Group LLC: Space Coast Intelligent Solutions, Inc.

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.: T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.

Venture Government Strategies, LLC (Fka Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, LLC): Holganix, LLC

Venture Government Strategies, LLC (Fka Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, LLC): National Center For Missing And Exploited Children

Venture Government Strategies, LLC (Fka Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, LLC): Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. Obo The University Of Alabama System

Waxman Strategies: Sierra Club

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New Lobbying Terminations

None.