Dali owner lobbies up

Jun 05, 2024

Presented by Wells Fargo

With help from Megan R. Wilson and Daniel Lippman

DALI OWNER LOBBIES UP: Grace Ocean Private Limited, the owner of the container ship the Dali that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, killing six construction workers on the bridge and snarling access to the key East Coast port, has hired its first federal lobbyists.

— The Singapore-based shipping company retained Blank Rome Government Relations at the beginning of May to “monitor and report on legislation pertaining to the bridge accident at the Port of Baltimore,” according to a disclosure filing.

— Dave Jansen, who previously served as staff director for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, is working on the account along with C.J. Zane, a former chief of staff to the late Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska); Joan Bondareff; David Thompson; and Stephen Peranich, according to the filing.

— Blank Rome is also monitoring any “proposed changes to the Limitation on Liability Act of 1851,” a pre-Civil-War law Grace Ocean has invoked in federal court in an effort to cap the damages it could be forced to pay out for the crash. Grace Ocean, along with Synergy Marine, the Singaporean company that managed the Dali, has asked that their liability be limited to $43 million.

— That’s despite the cost of building a new bridge, estimated at close to $2 billion alone — to say nothing of potential compensation for the victims of the crash, the price tag of the recovery process and expenses associated with clearing the port, which is expected to fully reopen in the next few days.

— Advocates have sought changes to the Limitation on Liability Act in the wake of previous maritime accidents, with little success. The oil industry, shipping companies and business groups successfully lobbied against efforts to repeal the law in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, as The Lever reported.

— In a hearing last month on the Key Bridge collapse, Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) said that the maritime liability law on the books “really has to change,” and teased a bill to “deal with” the issue “so that the owners of these vessels would be held responsible for the cost of their mistakes.”

Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.

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ISRAEL’S BOT CAMPAIGN: The New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel reveals that “Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging, as it aimed to foster support for its actions in the war with Gaza, according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation.”

— “The covert campaign was commissioned by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, a government body that connects Jews around the world with the State of Israel, four Israeli officials said. The ministry allocated about $2 million to the operation and hired Stoic, a political marketing firm in Tel Aviv, to carry it out, according to the officials and the documents.”

— “The campaign began in October and remains active on the platform X. At its peak, it used hundreds of fake accounts that posed as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments. The accounts focused on U.S. lawmakers, particularly ones who are Black and Democrats,” using posts generated by ChatGPT and fake English-language news sites to urge continued military funding for Israel.

TRUMP TO ADDRESS BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE: “Former President Donald Trump will attend a private meeting with one of the most powerful business lobbying groups in Washington as he tries to craft an alliance with major corporate leaders,” CNBC’s Brian Schwartz and NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard write.

— “Joshua Bolten, the CEO of the Business Roundtable, confirmed in an email to members on Wednesday that Trump will be at the group’s plenary meeting in Washington on June 13. Though President Joe Biden was invited, he cannot attend due to overseas travel for a G7 meeting. The business group instead asked White House chief of staff Jeff Zients to come,” which Zients accepted. Biden previously addressed the group in March 2022.

— “The invite to members arrived almost a week after Trump was convicted in New York of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn star. Trump has continued to deny those charges. The meeting could draw all of the Business Roundtable’s members, which features over 200 CEOs. It could prove to be a pivotal moment for Trump, who has been trying to reel in business leaders to support and donate to his campaign for president, while touting the idea of tax cuts and implementing sweeping tariffs if he defeats Biden in November.”

— In a statement, BRT spokesperson Michael Steel said the group looks forward “to a discussion of policy issues with former President Trump next week and hope[s] that President Biden will be able to join us again in the future.”

WASHINGTON MAINSTAY TAKES ON STARRING ROLE IN MENENDEZ TRIAL: “On May 21, 2019, two FBI surveillance teams were sent to the Morton’s steakhouse a few blocks from the White House. They were not there looking for Sen. Bob Menendez, but then he showed up,” our Ry Rivard reports.

— “That evening, two FBI investigators, posing as a husband and wife, were inside the steakhouse eavesdropping on a trio of Egyptian men seated at a table, including one who was the subject of their investigation,” according to a prosecution witness who testified in Menendez’s corruption trial this week.

— “Then Menendez and his now-wife, Nadine, joined the men. And the senator — who infamously goes to Morton’s much of the time he’s in D.C. and charges meals to his political action committee — ended up in the middle of the steakhouse stake out.”

— “It’s unclear from testimony or other court documents if Menendez was even on the FBI’s radar before the dinner. But now a fragment of conversation from the dinner is a key piece of prosecutors’ evidence against him” and one of his co-defendants.

ACLU PREPS $25M ELECTION BLITZ: “The American Civil Liberties Union will spend more than $25 million on down-ballot races across the country in this year’s election, aiming to ‘go on offense’ on issues like abortion rights,” per NBC’s Adam Edelman.

— “Officials with the civil liberties group said the planned investment, shared first with NBC News, is its largest ever for an election cycle.” The group’s top targets include Wisconsin’s Senate race; state Supreme Court races in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and North Carolina; and state legislative races in Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin. They’re also eyeing state ballot measures to codify abortion rights and make redistricting reforms.

BUMP AT BCBSA: David Merritt has been promoted to senior vice president at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. He’s now overseeing all communications, lobbying and policy at the industry group, Megan has learned. Merritt has managed the group’s advocacy and policy work since joining in October 2022. Prior to that, he spent more than six years at AHIP, a trade group for insurers, as its executive vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives.

WHY A TRUMP WIN SHOULD WORRY JARED: “Donald Trump and his allies have pledged to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act if the former president wins back the White House,” but E&E News’ Scott Waldman writes that his reelection “could prove costly for Trump’s son-in-law and former White House adviser Jared Kushner, whose investment fund has poured millions into American solar projects.”

— “Kushner’s investment fund, Affinity Partners, gambled on the growth of green energy by putting serious cash into the California solar finance company Mosaic. Its stake in Mosaic is ‘north of 10 percent,’ and Affinity holds a seat on the company’s board, according to a person who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the firm’s portfolio. Its total investment is worth more than $100 million, the person said.”

— “In contrast, Trump has railed for years against green energy,” and though he’s “been less vocal about solar power specifically, he has pledged to halt all spending under the IRA, the 2022 climate law behind the country’s clean energy boom.”

FLYING IN: The Health Industry Distributors Association in town this week, with 80 participants from across the medical supply chain slated to meet with more than 70 different offices on the Hill, including those of members of the House Transportation and Energy and Commerce committees.

— Advocates will lobby for legislation aimed at expediting medical and other critical supplies throughout the nation’s transportation system during declared emergencies, as well as for the reauthorization of the Pandemic All Hazards Preparedness Act.

SPOTTED at a reception hosted by First Five Years Fund and the Congressional Pre-K and Child Care Caucus focused on how tax reforms could help working families access child care, per a tipster: Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and Danny Davis (D-Ill.); Sarah Rittling of First Five Years Fund; Diana Rauner of Start Early; Kathryn Chakmak of the House Ways and Means Committee; Zach Deatherage of Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) office; Ashley Bykerk of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s office; Katelyn Gibert of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Business Voices; Michael Long of S-3 Group; and Taylor Lustig of PepsiCo.

Jobs Report

— Tom West is joining Capitol Tax Partners as a partner. He most recently was deputy assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department.

— Boston Consulting Group has named Nikolaus Lang as the new leader of their BCG Henderson Institute. He was previously global vice chair of BCG’s global advantage practice.

— Evan Ross is now director of media at the creative agency This January. He is an alum of Purple Strategies, FleishmanHillard and FP1 Strategies.

— Henry Haggard has joined WestExec Advisors as a senior adviser. He spent 25 years at the State Department, most recently as a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of counselor. He also recently was named a senior fellow at the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies at Rice University and a senior associate at CSDS, a think tank in Brussels.

— Type 1 diabetes advocacy group JDRF has relaunched as Breakthrough T1D in order to better convey its work for the broader type 1 diabetes community.

— Dustin Carmack is now director of public policy for the southern and southeastern U.S. at Meta. He previously was policy director and senior adviser for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, and is an ODNI and John Ratcliffe alum.

— J.T. Foley has been named executive director for the Coalition for Fantasy Sports. He previously was vice president of government relations at the Las Vegas Sands Corp.

— NJI has added Krissy Guthrie as a senior account director, Addison Bailey as a senior account manager and Courtney Chauncey as a project coordinator. It has promoted Carlos Velasco to operations manager and Beth Reiser to senior project director.

— Susan Zook is joining the Alliance of Licensed Medicare Insurance Agencies as executive director. Zook previously founded Mason Street Consulting.

— Paul Triolo has left the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he was a non-resident senior associate for the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics. He is a partner and senior vice president for China and technology policy lead at Dentons Global Advisors.

— Lincoln Virant joined Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid as a legislative assistant. He’s a recent graduate of George Washington University and interned for Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.).

— Annelle Sheline is rejoining the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft as a fellow in the Middle East program after resigning from her position in the State Department as a foreign affairs officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in protest of Biden’s Gaza policy in March.

A message from Wells Fargo:

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

DC Statehood Action (PAC)

REPRO Rising Virginia PAC (Hybrid PAC)

WinDEM (PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Blank Rome Government Relations: Blank Rome LLP (On Behalf Of Grace Ocean Private Limited)

Cgcn Group, LLC: The Business Roundtable, Inc.

Crowell & Moring LLP: The American Chamber Of Commerce In Japan

Crowell & Moring LLP: The American Chamber Of Commerce In Korea

Keystone Strategic Consulting, LLC: Aerium

Rbw Group, LLC: Strata Production Company

New Lobbying Terminations

Bluestone Strategies, LLC: Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (Pcma)

Grayrobinson Pa: Celtic Bank Corporation

Grayrobinson Pa: Consumer First Coalition

Grayrobinson Pa: Federal Home Loan Bank Of Atlanta

Grayrobinson Pa: National Association Of Industrial Bankers

Grayrobinson Pa: Nike, Inc.

Grayrobinson Pa: Ocwen Financial Corporation

Grayrobinson Pa: Paypal, Inc.

Grayrobinson Pa: Western Union Company

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Wells Fargo continues to look for ways to do what’s right for our customers. We’ve created a new Office of Consumer Practices, a consumer-focused advisory group dedicated to driving fairness and transparency in our products, services and business practices.

This group has improved procedures and customer communications to enhance focus on simplicity, clarity and transparency, helping customers make informed decisions. They also launched Treating Consumers Fairly Principles and integrated them into employee training, policies and procedures, and other materials across the company.

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