With help from Daniel Lippman CITI ADDS NEW U.S. LOBBYING CHIEF: Citi has hired finance veteran Rachel Goldberg to run the bank’s U.S. government affairs shop. Goldberg was most recently head of government relations and regulatory strategy for the Americas at the London Stock Exchange Group and before that worked for TransUnion, Guardian Life Insurance, Goldman Sachs and the House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee. — The bank has also added Rob Runyan to its government affairs team as head of third party public policy engagement, where he’ll lead engagement with organizations like think tanks and advocacy groups that work to shape public policy. Runyan was previously a policy communications director at Citi and is an Obama Treasury alum. MICROSATELLITE COMPANY LOBBIES UP: Satellite internet startup Astranis has brought on its first in-house lobbyist as the company continues to build up its presence in Washington. Justin Ham, a former lobbyist for student loan servicer Navient, registered to lobby for Astranis earlier this month on issues related to the National Defense Authorization Act, foreign relations and satellite issues, according to a disclosure filing. — The company, which specializes in launching small, low-cost satellites, has quickly ramped up its lobbying operations in recent years amid a booming commercial space technology and travel sector. Astranis has brought on seven new outside lobbying firms since the beginning of 2023 (one of which it has since parted ways with). — Astranis dropped $180,000 on federal lobbying in the first quarter of the year — more than it spent in 2019 and 2020 combined. In addition to Ham’s registration, Astranis retained former Rep. Jeff Denham and former Transportation Department official Jordan Cooper of Dentons in February, and former appropriations staffers Greg Lanker and B.G. Wright of Thorn Run Partners in April. — Astranis also retains Tower 19, Platinum Advisors, Alva Elliott Partners, Holland & Knight and ATS Communications, most of which started working for the startup last year. Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send tips, gossip, praise, complaints or whatever else strikes your fancy: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. CRYPTO’S MONEY DUMP: The crypto industry’s not done pouring money into its effort to send more crypto-friendly politicians to Washington, with venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz announcing a $25 million donation today to a network of industry-backed super PACs — the second check of its size in as many days. — “The investment firm has now plowed a total of $47 million into the effort, which has successfully boosted an array of crypto-friendly House and Senate candidates already this cycle,” our Jasper Goodman reports. “The announcement comes just one day after the crypto firm Ripple also dumped $25 million into the PAC group, doubling its previous contribution total.” The two contributions bring the PACs’ fundraising haul this cycle to $135 million. — The donations come a week after what was perhaps one of the digital asset sector’s most significant — if largely ceremonial — wins in Washington yet: the bipartisan House passage of legislation to create a regulatory regime tailored for crypto. — “‘As an industry, we need to keep up the momentum and show that the U.S. can lead in creating the next wave of blockchain innovation,’ Chris Dixon, who leads Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, said in a statement.” WHO’S GOT TRUMP’S EAR ON CRYPTO: Bloomberg’s Nancy Cook, Ted Mann and Edward Ludlow report that “Elon Musk and Donald Trump are discussing cryptocurrency policy as the former president increasingly highlights Bitcoin and other digital assets on the campaign trail as a way to reach new voters, according to a person familiar with the talks.” — “The communication between the billionaires has become more frequent in recent months as the campaign ramps up their reliance on Musk for insight about cryptocurrency. … Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a Trump ally who is also close with Musk, has helped broker the discussions between the men, according to two people familiar. Musk has some reservations about Trump but realized during the Republican primaries that the former president’s nomination was inevitable, one person said.” — Together with discussions over a potential advisory role for Musk in a second Trump administration and conversations with Trump allies about electric vehicles and space programs, “the moves are the latest demonstration of how Musk, a Washington player in his own right, who has weighed in on elections and whose companies boast federal contracts and have bristled at government regulations, is wielding his significant political influence.” SENDING IN THE CAVALRY: On the big-money fundraising front, our Alex Isenstadt reports that Trump has secured help from a major backer, with mega donor and casino magnate Miriam Adelson planning to bankroll a super PAC for the former president as Trump seeks to catch up with Biden’s fundraising advantage. — “Adelson is planning to play a major role in funding Preserve America, a pro-Trump super PAC founded during the former president’s 2020 reelection campaign. The group is now being reconstituted for the purpose of helping Trump’s 2024 bid, according to a person with direct knowledge of her plans who was granted anonymity to speak freely.” — “How much Adelson will donate to the super PAC is not clear, though the person familiar with her plans said the group was expecting to spend more than it did four years ago when Adelson and her late husband, Sheldon, donated $90 million to Preserve America. Their funds accounted for about 85 percent of what the organization raised in total.” FORBES TATE PROMOTES 6: Forbes Tate Partners has added three more of them and promoted three others across the firm. Tate Bennett, a former Trump White House and EPA aide; Stacey Rolland, a former Treasury tax aide and Nancy Pelosi alum; and Michael Williams, a former Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) staffer, have all been promoted from senior vice presidents to partners at the firm. — Forbes Tate also elevated Alekhya Tallapaka to a senior director of the firm’s public affairs team, Yaw Thompson to a director on the government relations team and Claire Vapnek to a senior analyst on the firm’s research and policy analysis team.
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