TOP LANKFORD STAFFERS HANG A SHINGLE: Two longtime aides to Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) are planting a flag downtown ahead of their former boss’ potential ascension into party leadership. — Michelle Altman, who recently stepped down as Lankford’s chief of staff after a dozen years in his office, and Aly Beley, who worked for Lankford for a decade, most recently as communications director, have launched Audax Strategies, which will offer strategic communications and policy and political consulting services. — Audax means “courageous” in Latin, which Beley told PI is “a value that’s inherently important to both of us” as part of their new venture. “Our mission is to courageously help clients create strong, authentic relationships and drive solutions through clear, concise, and compelling messaging to achieve policy goals,” she said. She and Altman are not immediately planning on registering to lobby, but Beley didn’t rule it out based on client need in the future. — Their firm’s launch comes during a big year for Lankford. The Oklahoman was the lead Republican negotiator for the bipartisan effort to pass an immigration bill earlier this year, an undertaking that fell apart after Donald Trump came out in opposition. Lankford also announced a bid in the spring for vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference, the No. 5 spot in the GOP leadership ranks. ANNALS OF SCAM PACS: “Kamala Harris’s team is warning donors not to fall prey to ‘financial scams’ from groups sending email and text messages that suggest they’re raising money for the vice president,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein writes. — “Those messages came rapidly last week as a constellation of seemingly innocuous political action committees tried to take advantage of the swell of donor enthusiasm around Harris. That fundraising push agitated some Democrats, who believe that these groups are being run by unscrupulous operatives rushing to grab grassroots funds meant for the presidential campaign. Even more remarkable is that one of the officers at these PACs also runs a firm helping the Harris campaign raise money, effectively working multiple sides of the same donor pool.” — “Many of the groups sending texts in the wake of Harris’s emergence as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee have leaned on the data list acquisition firm PACtion, text and call platforms provided by Scale to Win, and consulting services through the shop Bluefoot Political, LLC. These entities receive more money from the PACs than the candidate committees themselves,” an issue that has increasingly plagued politicians on both the left and right in recent years — if not necessarily violating the law. — PACtion, in particular, “is a big player in D.C., with clients that include hundreds of Democratic campaigns and dozens of members of Congress. It also has done work for the Biden ticket, having earned more than $1 million for list acquisition from the campaign’s joint fundraising committee just this cycle.” Ryan Morgan, the firm’s founder, defended his work. HOW WE GOT HERE: Our Ruth Reader reports that “an alliance of little-known advocacy groups has convinced five states to pass laws to protect kids online and is now making inroads in Washington.” — “The nonpartisan coalition has done it by delivering parents’ and kids’ stories about bullying and exploitative content on Facebook, TikTok and other platforms. By focusing on the harms to kids’ health, these organizations have helped enact laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland and New York meant to regulate social media for minors.” — “Even though the laws are facing legal challenges from a well-resourced tech sector, these advocates have now managed to kick a famously do-little Congress into bipartisan motion: The Senate is expected to pass the Kids Online Safety Act on Tuesday, a bill that would make companies responsible for the ill effects of design features that recommend content and encourage engagement.” — “Ironically, the tech companies have long pleaded with Congress to step in to avoid the policy patchwork the industry is facing on other fronts, including online privacy and artificial intelligence. But now that the issue has gained traction in Washington, the coalition of advocacy groups — Common Sense Media, ParentsTogether, Fairplay, and the Tech Oversight Project, among others — is driving the conversation.” FIRST IN PI — BLOOMGREN REJOINS DCI: Megan Bloomgren is rejoining DCI Group as a partner. Bloomgren was a partner at the firm from 2011 to 2016, and spent the past seven years as senior vice president of communications at the American Petroleum Institute. Before that, she did a stint in the Interior Department during the Trump administration and worked for the Chamber’s Global Energy Institute. EXTENDING AN OLIVE BRANCH: Harris advisers “have approached top crypto companies to ‘reset’ relations between her Democratic party and a sector that has come out as an important backer of Donald Trump,” the Financial Times’ George Hammond, James Fontanella-Khan and James Politi report. — “Members of the vice-president’s team have contacted people close to crypto companies about meeting in recent days, said four people with knowledge of the matter. Those include leading exchange Coinbase, stablecoin company Circle and blockchain payments group Ripple Labs, two of the people said.” — “Harris’s overture to crypto companies comes as Trump enjoys strong levels of support from the sector,” which is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into this year’s elections. “The former president — once a vocal crypto sceptic — has thrown his weight behind the industry” and delivered the keynote address at an industry conference over the weekend. — “People advising the Harris campaign on business matters said the decision to reconnect with the crypto industry had little to do with attracting new electoral contributions. They said the objective was instead to build a constructive relationship that would ultimately set a smart regulatory framework that would help the growth of the entire asset class.” | 
