| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | | Presented by |  | | | With Daniel Lippman RETURN OF A FAMILIAR FACE: Gordon Sondland, the former diplomat who became a key witness in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment over frozen Ukraine aid, is now working his contacts in Washington to ensure financial support for the country’s war with Russia keeps flowing, your host reported yesterday. — Sondland, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the European Union before getting wrapped up in the impeachment probe, registered last week as a foreign agent of Ukraine and the EU, according to DOJ filings. — The former hotelier said in an interview that the registration stemmed from an abundance of caution because of the Justice Department’s more aggressive enforcement of FARA in recent years, and that his advocacy was on a volunteer basis. — “I’ve not been hired by Ukraine. I’m not being paid by Ukraine,” he told PI. “There’s no money involved. I’m simply helping Ukraine advocate for their interests with people I know in Congress and elsewhere.” — Sondland said he’s also working with EU and European Central Bank officials on the issue, and simply wanted “to be in a position to argue forcefully that we need to support Ukraine, and I don’t want to be accused of a FARA violation when I do it.” — Sondland’s registration was first spotted by The Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross. It pits him, once more, against the ex-president he once served. Trump has signaled opposition to U.S. aid to Ukraine and suggested that if aid is sent, it should be as a loan. — Sondland wouldn’t disclose who he’s been talking to as part of the effort to secure more funds. His work comes as attempts to approve a fresh tranche of military assistance for Ukraine have languished for months amid Republican opposition, but Sondland expressed optimism about getting more aid over the finish line. — Despite his high-profile fissure with the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Sondland said he hadn’t experienced any pushback over his role in Trump’s impeachment as part of his present-day conversations. “I still believe very strongly in Ukraine’s right to its sovereignty and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing,” he said, adding that he didn’t see any inconsistencies between his involvement in the impeachment and his activity now. Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send K Street tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. FIRST IN PI — ANTI-MONOPOLY GROUP URGES REJECTION OF CREDIT CARD MERGER: Anti-corporate monopoly coalition Small Business Rising is urging federal regulators to block Capital One’s proposed deal to acquire Discover Financial Services. Capital One has argued that its purchase of Discover, the fourth-largest credit card network, will increase competition in the payments space, which is dominated by Visa and Mastercard. — But the merger announced last month poses “significant risks of decreasing market competition and increasing costs for small business merchants,” the coalition argued in a new letter to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg and DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter. — The coalition has been a vocal proponent of Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall’s (R-Kan.) bill aimed at forcing more competition in the credit card industry and lowering the swipe fees merchants pay to process card transactions. —“Swipe fees are often small businesses’ highest expense after payroll,” the coalition — which includes the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the Independent Restaurant Coalition, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the National Grocers Association and more — told regulators. Members of those trade groups are already struggling to keep up with the growing dominance of e-commerce platforms like Amazon, they added, in addition to “drowning in ever-increasing swipe fees in today’s largely cashless retail world.” — On the legislative front, Eleanor Mueller reports that a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on swipe fees set for April 9 has been postponed — one day after Visa and Mastercard agreed to temporarily cap swipe fees in a settlement with retailers and days after Durbin said CEOs from Visa, Mastercard, United Airlines and American Airlines had declined his invitations to testify at the hearing.
| | A message from Sallie Mae®: Many financial aid offer letters fail to include the full cost of college, making it difficult for families to determine how much they’ll need to pay for higher education. Implementing a standard format would help more families make more informed, confident decisions about how to finance their higher education. Learn how Sallie Mae is helping families responsibly plan and pay for higher education. | | | HITTING THE SMALL (MEDIUM?) SCREEN: CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports that “TikTok has launched a $2.1 million advertising campaign with a clear message for senators in tough reelection fights this year: Block the House bill that could effectively ban the app in the United States.” — “The company has reserved television ad space in the battleground states of Nevada, Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to previously unreported data from AdImpact. … Other states that will see the new TikTok ads include New York, Massachusetts and Minnesota, according to the ad buy data.” — “A spokesman for TikTok said the ads are a way to show how the federal government could hurt small businesses if the bill passes the Senate.” The platform “said the buy will be larger than the $2.1 million AdImpact originally tracked, and that a majority of the investment will focus on national, as well as local, television advertisements,” which all comes on top of TikTok’s efforts to mobilize its users into lobbying against the bill, swamping congressional offices with phone calls from users. SBF GETS 25: “A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison for his leading role in one of the biggest financial scandals in American history, capping the stunning fall of the former cryptocurrency magnate and one-time Washington megadonor,” our Declan Harty reports. — “Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York handed down the sentence almost five months after a jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty of orchestrating a massive fraud centered on his crypto empire. Bankman-Fried faced a maximum of 110 years in prison.” — “Just two years ago, Bankman-Fried was the biggest name in crypto and an up-and-comer in campaign-finance circles, raising millions from Silicon Valley investors and speaking of one day owning Goldman Sachs. In Washington, he pushed to sway crypto regulatory debates and donated lavishly to political campaigns in both the 2020 and 2022 elections. Now, his prison term is a reminder of the stakes in prosecutors’ ongoing crackdown on the crypto market.” ICYMI — SPORTSBOOKS FORM A TRADE ASSOCIATION: “Seven of the nation’s largest gaming companies are joining forces to create a trade group to promote responsible gaming, and for the first time ever, will share information about problem gamblers,” per CNBC’s Contessa Brewer and Jessica Golden. — “The seven operators — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Penn Entertainment, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Hard Rock Digital and bet365 — will form the Responsible Online Gaming Association, or ROGA, the group announced Wednesday. The members account for more than 85% of the legal online betting market in the United States. Collectively they have pledged more than $20 million to fund ROGA.” — “The new consortium comes as sports betting, both online and in retail outlets, has seen dramatic growth across the nation since 2018. … But as gambling has become more mainstream — and as advertising for sportsbooks spans television, streaming and social feeds — so, too, have headlines involving betting scandals and sports,” and regulatory crackdowns overseas and in some states has sparked “a concerted effort in the United States for the gambling industry to police itself and ward off harsher regulatory frameworks.” — Several members of the new trade group have been increasingly pouring money into influence efforts at the federal level. FanDuel spent $200,000 on federal lobbying in 2023, more than six times the amount it dropped a year earlier. — DraftKings’ $420,000 spent on lobbying last year was tied for its second-highest ever, and up from $360,000 in 2022. Seminole Hard Rock Digital, a partnership between Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming, has paid Ballard Partners $540,000 since retaining Ballard as its first federal lobbying firm in 2021. — Meanwhile the gambling industry’s marquee trade group, the American Gaming Association, also increased its lobbying expenditures to more than $1.8 million last year, up 4 percent from the year prior.
| | | | A message from Sallie Mae®:   | | | | | — Carah Ong Whaley has joined Issue One as director of election protection. She was most recently with the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Issue One also added Jesper Sullivan den Bergh as legislative manager. — Spencer Chase is joining the Corn Refiners Association and the Plant Based Products Council as senior director of communications. He previously was managing editor at Agri-Pulse. — Russ Kelley and John Steitz are being promoted to co-chairs of the government affairs practice at FTI Consulting. — Alex Blair has joined Corcoran Street Group as a policy director. Blair was a senior associate at Vogel Group and is a VH Strategies alum. — Firehouse Strategies has hired Casey Flanigan as a project director and Maddy Knaak as a special assistant. Flanigan was most recently an account executive at Edelman and Knaak was most recently an intern on Capitol Hill. — Ross Morales Rocketto will leave his role as co-executive director of Run for Something by the end of the year. Co-executive director Amanda Litman will move into a new role as president of the organization. — Dana Balter is now comms director at Inseparable. She previously was director of strategic communications at Citizen Action NY. — Jeffrey Talbert is now a partner in the environmental practice at Arnold & Porter. He previously was chair of the environmental law group at Preti Flaherty and is a former DOJ trial attorney. Ben Piper has also joined Arnold & Porter as counsel in the environmental practice.
| | SENATE PATH TO VICTORY 2024 (Rep. Jim Banks, Sam Brown for Nevada, Hovde for Wisconsin, Friends of Dave McCormick, Rogers for Senate, Tim Sheehy for Montana, Big Sky Opportunity PAC, Commonsense, Conservative Values PAC, NRSC) Senate Victory MI & PA (Sen. Bob Casey, Rep. Elissa Slotkin)
| | Americans for Parental Rights (Super PAC) Duty Honor Victory PAC (Leadership PAC: Pat Harrigan) Economic Freedom PAC (Super PAC) The Franklin Network (Super PAC) People's Party Elect (PAC) Speak Free or Die PAC (Super PAC)
| | A message from Sallie Mae®: Students and families rely on financial aid offer letters to compare college costs and make informed financial decisions about higher education. However, there is currently no standard format for offer letters, making it difficult to understand the true cost of college. A standardized financial aid offer letter that outlines the complete cost of college can help students and families make informed decisions and avoid overborrowing. Learn how. | | | | | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Hearx USa, Inc. Brown & Weinraub Advisors, LLC: Onyx Development Group LLC Holland & Knight LLP: Ekaterra Tea Mso USa, LLC Dba Lipton Teas & Infusions Kit Bond Strategies: Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority Lone Star Consulting (Fka Ls Consulting, LLC): Mexia Economic Development Corporation Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Indiana Economic Development Corporation Ohio River South, Inc.: Rowen Foundation O'Keeffe Shahmoradi Strategies, LLC: Spire Energy Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Dba Taft Advisors LLC Fka (Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP): Hope Enterprise Corporation The Mcmanus Group: Vivex Biologics Washington2 Advocates: Pacific Marine & Supply Company
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Beverly Marshall: Nuclear Energy Institute Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP: Meta Platforms Inc Formerly Reported As Facebook Invariant LLC: Gel Blaster Invariant LLC: Workrise Technologies Inc Milne, Wiener & Shofe Global Strategies (Fka M & W Government Affairs, LLC): C6 Strategies, LLC On Behalf Of Reveal Technology, Inc. Starry, Inc.: Starry, Inc. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
