| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by The American Hospital Association | With Daniel Lippman LOBBYING BY CHINA-LINKED COMPANIES REBOUNDS: A handful of Chinese companies targeted by lawmakers earlier this year ramped up their lobbying last quarter after several were dumped by firms after being threatened with a blacklist. — Drone manufacturer DJI Technologies spent $380,000 on federal lobbying in the second quarter of this year, up from $310,000 in the first quarter of 2024. Avoq and the Vogel Group both dropped the company in February, but it subsequently hired Sidley Austin, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur and Liberty Government Affairs. — The drone maker’s outlays this year are still down from the $400,000 it spent in each quarter of 2023 and its quarterly record of $420,000 spent in the final months of 2020, when DJI was placed on a Commerce Department entity list. The company faced a new legislative threat this summer, with the House including language in its version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would block DJI drones from accessing FCC infrastructure. — The Chinese biotech firms WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics also hiked their lobbying expenditures amid a push in Congress to block them and several other companies from doing business with the federal government. WuXi Bio, which registered its first in-house lobbyists this summer, reported dropping $125,000 on lobbying in Q2 — a more than 200 percent increase from the $40,000 WuXi Bio had been paying FGS Global each quarter. — WuXi AppTec’s lobbying spending also bounced back last quarter after taking a dip at the beginning of this year. WuXi AppTec dropped $210,000 from April through June, up from $70,000 in Q1, according to lobbying disclosures. In the fourth quarter of 2023, when the company first registered to lobby, WuXi AppTec spent $100,000. — Another Chinese biotech firm targeted in the BIOSECURE Act, Complete Genomics, decreased its lobbying spending last quarter — to $330,000 from $350,000 in the previous quarter. A fourth company named in the bill, BGI, was dropped by Steptoe — its only lobbying firm on retainer — in February, and has yet to hire another, according to disclosures. — Amid a fight for its life last quarter, TikTok parent company ByteDance reported spending more than $3.3 million — its second-highest quarterly lobbying total, marking a 25 percent increase from the first quarter and a nearly 60 percent increase from the same period last year. The social media app told Bloomberg that part of the increase last quarter was due to employee stock vesting, which is considered a salary increase in the eyes of LDA reporting. — And Shein, the fast fashion giant looking to distance itself from its Chinese roots and allay lawmaker concerns about a number of other issues, reported a record high in Q2 as well. The company dropped a little over $1 million last quarter, up from $970,000 at the beginning of 2024. The surge coincides with a hiring spree from Shein that added five new outside firms to its lineup since February, and means that the company has spent slightly less on lobbying in the first half of this year than in all of 2023. TGIF and welcome to PI. The House may be gone until September, but we’re still pumping out newsletters over here, so keep your lobbying tips coming: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from The American Hospital Association: America’s hospitals and health systems are ready for you, 24/7. This week, about 1 in 100 of us will visit the emergency room. And by the end of this year, more than 130 million of us will have made this visit. You may not know when you’ll need us, but in America’s hospitals and health systems, we’re always ready — because emergencies don’t wait for business hours. This is the hospital story. | | | FIRST IN PI — FAMILY TIES: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is being considered as a Democratic vice presidential pick, has strongly criticized e-cigarettes over the last few years, adding regulations against vaping and equating vaping companies to “predatory lenders,” “opioid manufacturers” and “gun manufacturers,” Daniel reports. — But in a little-known family connection, his own cousin Nicholas Pritzker has profited off the surge of vaping, serving as a board member of e-cigarette company Juul. He has been Juul’s second-largest shareholder for more than a decade. In 2022, Nicholas Pritzker reportedly helped bail out the company and avoid bankruptcy amid thousands of lawsuits against Juul that alleged it had marketed its products to young people. — Earlier this summer, Nicholas Pritzker affirmed in court testimony that he was “committed to the business’ rapid growth trajectory and capacity expansion pursuits” and acknowledged that he had taken part in more than 20 meetings or calls to secure a big investment by Altria into the company. After that investment, he and his family then partly cashed out, making $1.8 billion on the investment. — The investment in Juul is not the first time that Nicholas Pritzker and his family have made money in the nicotine industry. He and his family previously controlled the former top smokeless tobacco company Conwood, before selling it to Reynolds American for $3.5 billion in 2006. — Meanwhile, Nicholas Pritzker’s cousin, the Illinois governor, has said he is “so proud” of what he’s done to address the rise of vaping among young people, including raising the age requirement to buy nicotine products from 18 to 21 and banning e-cigarettes in indoor public spaces. — Christina Amestoy, a spokesperson for JB Pritzker’s campaign, said that he had not profited off of the investment and is not invested in Juul but declined to answer if the governor had spoken to his cousin about the investment stake. “I don’t even know who my first cousin once removed is, never mind why I would be responsible for what they do,” she added in a statement. Nicholas Pritzker didn’t respond to a request for comment. — Juul said in a statement that it’s made “far-reaching efforts to combat underage use, which have contributed to a more than 95 percent decline in the rate of underage use of Juul products according to the latest government data.” FARA FRIDAY: Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who was charged in May with acting as a foreign agent of Azerbaijan, “may not have been the only one doing Azerbaijan’s bidding in Washington without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” Nick Cleveland-Stout writes for The American Prospect. — Last year, he writes, “facing allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing due to their blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan needed credibility under international law to build support. In August of 2023, they zeroed in on their man in leading international legal expert Rodney Dixon, a barrister at Temple Garden Chambers.” — “Dixon promoted the report in the media, including doing a TV interview with the BBC and giving an advance copy to CNN. The Friedlander Group, a lobbying firm representing Azerbaijan, coordinated meetings between Dixon and more than 50 government officials on Capitol Hill the very same week that Azerbaijan kicked off its military offensive. In the meetings, Dixon promoted his report refuting the allegation of genocide,” while reportedly declining to mention that he’d been commissioned by Azerbaijani government. — Cleveland-Stout notes that in DOJ’s era of more aggressive FARA enforcement, one such FARA prosecution — involving the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, former White House counsel Greg Craig and a report the firm prepared on behalf of Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice — bears a “striking” resemblance to Dixon’s case. (While Craig was acquitted of FARA violations, Skadden reached a $4.7 million settlement with DOJ and registered under FARA retroactively.)
| | | | Pro Briefing: Kamala Harris and the World. What we expect on foreign policy and trade. Join POLITICO Pro for a deep-dive conversation with our specialist reporters about the vice president’s approach to foreign policy. Register Now. | | | | | NIL COLLECTIVES COME TO WASHINGTON: “The Collective Association, a trade group representing 42 NIL collectives (and counting), is planning to raise fees for many of its members early next year, with the hope of increasing its already-significant lobbying effort in Washington,” per Sportico’s Daniel Libit. — “TCA spent $80,000 on Congressional lobbying expenditures in the second quarter of 2024, according to disclosures recently filed with the House and Senate. That matches what the organization spent in Q1. By comparison, the Big Ten Conference spent $50,000 in the most recent quarter. Asked about his organization’s future influence-peddling plans, [TCA President Russell] White said: ‘I don’t think it goes down. We don’t foresee this as something that ends.’” CRYPTO WORKS TO COZY UP TO DEMS: “Chris Lehane, the leading Democratic strategist who worked for Bill Clinton and Al Gore before becoming one of the political world’s most influential players in tech, is joining the board of directors at Coinbase,” our Chris Cadelago reports, in a move “designed to bolster the bipartisan credentials of the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange as Republicans increasingly embrace the industry and its policy goals.” — “Lehane’s new role at Coinbase is part of a board expansion from seven members to 10, including chief executive Brian Armstrong, who holds a majority of the company’s voting shares. It comes as Republicans, led by former President Donald Trump, try to court cryptocurrency support and donations this weekend at the three-day Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Coinbase is not participating in the Trump fundraiser.” — “The GOP’s bear hug of crypto is putting pressure on Democrats, after years of clashes between the industry and Biden administration regulators. Some crypto players are hopeful for a reset with Vice President Kamala Harris.” — Lehane tells Chris “his board seat came from years of conversations with Coinbase’s leadership team about how to grow the brand’s trust while transitioning from a nonpartisan outfit to one that’s bipartisan.” FLYING IN: The National Retail Federation wrapped up a fly-in this week that drew more than 100 members of Congress from both parties and featured a half-dozen immersive exhibits highlighting the retail industry’s economic impact and priorities, including curbing organized retail crime, swipe fee reforms and a new trade strategy for China. — The summit featured companies like Affirm, Amazon, Auror, Dick’s, eBay, Google, JCPenney, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Target and Walmart — a lineup that retailers’ opponents in the swipe fee fight, the Electronic Payments Coalition, were quick to highlight today — and also recognized more than 40 other small retailers. — Greg Ahearn, the chief executive of the Toy Association, was also in town yesterday, to meet with lawmakers and the executive branch about issues like China, tariffs and curbing counterfeits. Ahearn huddled with Reps. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.) as well as the International Trade Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
| | | | A message from The American Hospital Association:   | | | | | — Laura Stevens Kent is joining DeBrunner & Associates as vice president of federal affairs. She was previously senior vice president of advocacy and external affairs at the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and is a Charlie Dent alum. — Mandy Rambharos is now CEO of Verra. She previously was vice president for global climate cooperation at the Environmental Defense Fund. — Jacquelyn McRae is now vice president of policy and external affairs at the National Pharmaceutical Council. She previously was director of policy and research at PhRMA. — Matt Williams has been promoted to vice president for U.S. government affairs at McKesson.
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| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Capitol Hill Consulting Group: Retech Systems, LLC Currentstrategic LLC: Rsbix Hogan Lovells US LLP: Diamond Sports Group, LLC Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Masimo Lsn Partners, LLC: Spearmint Renewable Development Company Nexxus Consulting, LLC: City Of Kingman O'Keeffe Shahmoradi Strategies, LLC: Bentley Systems Paysafe Payment Processing Solutions LLC: Paysafe Payment Processing Solutions LLC Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC: Redwood Trust, Inc. Rich Feuer Anderson: Mercury Technologies, Inc. The Daschle Group: Grindr, LLC Washington Global Advisors LLC: Alexander Manolev Washington Global Advisors LLC: Kiril Domuschiev And Georgi Domuschief Washington Global Advisors LLC: Pink Media Group
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Law Offices Of Frederick H. Graefe, Pllc: Children's Mercy Hospital Law Offices Of Frederick H. Graefe, Pllc: Service Now O'Keeffe Shahmoradi Strategies, LLC: Nextnav Tgb Strategies LLC: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Obo Bruno Independent Living Aids, Inc. Tgb Strategies LLC: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Obo Caredx, Inc. The Feighan Team: Responsible Business Lending Coalition The Mckeon Group, Inc.: Gap Labor, LLC
| | | | A message from The American Hospital Association: America’s hospitals and health systems are ready for you, 24/7. This week, about 1 in 100 of us will visit the emergency room. And by the end of this year, more than 130 million of us will have made this visit. You may not know when you’ll need us, but in America’s hospitals and health systems, we’re always ready — because emergencies don’t wait for business hours. This is the hospital story. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
