With help from Daniel Lippman AZERBAIJAN LOBBIES FOR ASSISTANCE CASH — The government of Azerbaijan is leaning on K Street to help it capture millions in U.S. government cash as a peace treaty with Armenia remains in limbo. — The decadeslong territorial and ethnic conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia flared in September when Azerbaijan attacked and reclaimed the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting roughly more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee and spurring concerns about impending genocide. — Lawmakers responded by trying to bolster a prohibition on U.S. foreign assistance to Azerbaijan through fiscal year 2025. Part of the lobbying effort is aimed at stopping that measure from moving forward in the House. — The Senate passed the legislation in November, and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said it was meant to “hold Azerbaijan accountable for these actions.” As the measure awaits action in the House, a lobbyist for the Azerbaijani government is urging policymakers stop it. — “This bill actively harms the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” writes Ezra Friedlander of the Friedlander Group in a communication recently disclosed to the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. It’s unclear when the correspondence took place. — Supporting the legislation “would give credit to a bill that levies multiple false accusations against Azerbaijan and aims to put the United States in a position to stoke further enmity between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Friedlander writes. The “legislation omits that Azerbaijan has been a key ally of the United States.” — The government of Azerbaijan paid the Friedlander Group more than $833,000 from last March through September, according to the most recent disclosures available. Friedlander did not return a request for comment. — Another effort, from BGR Group’s Mark Tavlarides, is aimed at securing $15 million in an upcoming appropriations bill to help with the elimination of landmines in conflict-torn areas of Azerbaijan. — In emails to undisclosed congressional staff, Tavlarides urged them to have their bosses sign a letter from Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) to House appropriators that requests the money be allocated in the State and Foreign Operations funding bill, attaching the letter and a link to sign it. — The emails, sent last week and disclosed to DOJ, emphasize how Azerbaijan has been a partner with the U.S. in several areas, including counter-narcotics and counterterrorism efforts abroad. The note emphasizes that Azerbaijan has been an ally to Israel, provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine following the Russian invasion in 2022, and expanded its energy exports to Europe to counter Russia’s leverage in the European oil and gas market. — BGR Group earned $240,000 from the government of Azerbaijan from last May through November, according to the most recent disclosures available. Tavlarides didn’t respond to a request for comment. — Although there are already prohibitions on providing certain types of foreign assistance to Azerbaijan, the White House had previously used its authority to waive the ban every year since 2002. The Biden administration has hesitated to do so again following the Nagorno-Karabakh attack. Happy post-WHCD weekend, and welcome to PI. I’m Megan Wilson, the influence reporter on POLITICO Pro’s health care team filling in for Caitlin today. Marcia Brown will be covering tomorrow’s edition and Hailey Fuchs is captaining the ship on Wednesday, so don’t forget to tip your reporters! We can be reached at: mwilson@politico.com, mbrown@politico.com, hfuchs@politico.com and coprysko@politico.com. FIRST IN PI: AMERICAN BEVERAGE TAPS COMMS VETERAN — Cait DeBaun is joining American Beverage as vice president and head of public affairs for the industry group, which represents members including Keurig Dr Pepper and The Coca‑Cola Company. — Most recently, she led strategic communications at the American Gaming Association and, before that, led communications for the Project: Time Off campaign run by the U.S. Travel Association. — Her resume also includes working at Ogilvy Public Relations, where she worked on national campaigns for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services. NO MORE SPLIT TICKETS — “As the Senate goes so will the presidential,” writes Nathan Daschle, president and COO of the Daschle Group, in a slide deck obtained by PI previewing scenarios for the 2024 presidential race. — That’s because voters are more likely to vote for candidates in one political party when casting ballots. In the 2020 elections, the number of “ticket splitters” willing to vote for congressional and presidential candidates in different parties reached a 100-year low. — Daschle notes, however, that there are some caveats to keep in mind — including that Democrats outperform Republicans in red or swing states where abortion policies are on the ballot. He lays out the potential path to 270 Electoral College votes for both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in the deck, which was sent to clients of the firm. SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL GALVANIZES INDUSTRY — “A new group plans to lobby lawmakers on extending an Inflation Reduction Act tax credit to boost the production of sustainable aviation fuel,” E&E News’ Emma Dumain reports. — “The SAF Coalition, made up of nearly 40 major airlines, airports, manufacturers and biofuel producers, is coming together at a critical moment for the industry: Airlines especially are eager to make good on ambitious emissions reduction pledges but say they will fall short on their goals without more support from Congress.” — “Alison Graab, executive director of the SAF Coalition who is a former top aide on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and now works as a senior vice president of the Alpine Group, said in a statement that ‘SAF will enhance domestic energy security, create new markets for American farmers, reduce aviation emissions and drive next-generation technology development.’” JIM BIDEN’S QATARI FUNDRAISING ALLEGATIONS — “New details about Jim Biden’s foreign fundraising efforts are spilling out in a Kentucky bankruptcy court, where recent testimony indicates that President Joe Biden’s brother partnered with Qatari government officials in his quest to find money for U.S. health care ventures,” writes POLITICO’s Ben Schreckinger. — “The sworn testimony by fund manager Michael Lewitt, a former business partner of Jim Biden’s, attests that two companies that facilitated the efforts were part-owned by ‘members of the Qatari government.’” — “One company named in the testimony partnered directly with Jim Biden in the multi-year fundraising efforts. The second company provided financial backing for a series of loans that a hospital chain paid Jim Biden to arrange, according to documents and testimony Lewitt submitted in the course of the federal bankruptcy proceedings.” — “If substantiated, the alleged arrangements would constitute some of the closest known financial links between a relative of President Joe Biden and a foreign government.” UKRAINE GROUPS LOBBY ‘TOGETHER’ — “As officials in Washington said $61 billion in desperately needed aid would begin flowing to Ukraine’s military, officials and activists in the Ukrainian capital credited an effort by a coalition of political and civil society actors — all united by the fear that Ukraine could be defeated in its existential battle against Russia,” the Washington Post’s David L. Stern reports from Kyiv. — “American, Ukrainian and European officials, Ukrainian Americans, Nobel laureates, academics, soldiers’ mothers, evangelical pastors and a host of others joined in a months-long lobbying campaign to overcome the obstruction of the bill by hard-right Republicans. It was not always coordinated but was laser-focused on getting the legislation through Congress.” — A Ukrainian-American human rights group called Razom helped coordinate the lobbying effort among nongovernmental organizations. “Razom, which means ‘together’ in Ukrainian, also organized meetings for members of Congress with American mothers whose sons have died fighting in Ukraine, Ukrainian children who were deported to Russia, and scores of others who could speak firsthand about the war.” — “Razom helped set up an exhibit in Johnson’s home district in Louisiana where visitors donned goggles to virtually tour destroyed sites in Ukraine. As part of a nationwide campaign, they also aired television and radio spots and bought billboard ads highlighting that Russian forces have destroyed hundreds of churches and tortured and killed Christian pastors.” — “One such billboard popped up across the street from the church [Speaker Mike] Johnson attends in his district. ‘We pushed on every lever,’ said Mykola Murskyj, director of advocacy at Razom.” KOCH GROUP LAUNCHES ANTI-‘BIDENOMICS’ VOTER CAMPAIGN — “Libre, part of the political network created by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, on Monday will unveil a seven-figure voter engagement effort and ad campaign targeting members of Congress who have supported what it calls President Biden’s ‘punitive economic policies,’” Jazmine Ulloa reports in the New York Times. — “The campaign, one of the most expansive undertaken by the group, will include digital ads, public events at Hispanic grocery stores and restaurants and a new Spanish language website criticizing ‘Bidenomics,’ a term that conservatives have adopted to attack Mr. Biden’s economic policies.” — “Despite a run of positive economic data, including strong job growth and record unemployment, the economy has been a stubborn weakness for President Biden and Democrats, particularly among Black and Latino voters.” — “Libre, which describes itself as a center-right organization, said its aim was to hold lawmakers accountable for supporting policies that the group believes have contributed to high inflation and rising costs for food, utilities and other living expenses. It is targeting more than 20 congressional Democrats in more than a dozen states, including key presidential battlegrounds like Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.” — “The group rolled out a similar effort with an anti-‘Bidenomics’ message last year, but organizers said this campaign would be much larger in scope.” FLYING IN: The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies will bring industry leaders to town this week for the trade group’s executive fly-in series. Participants are planning to meet Tuesday with members of the House Financial Services Committee including Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.); House Majority Whip Tom Emmer; and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to discuss data privacy, third-party litigation funding and reforming the Federal Insurance Office, among other issues facing insurers and consumers.
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