K Street echoes calls to lower the political temperature

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Jul 15, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by 

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With Daniel Lippman

CALLING FOR COOLER HEADS: Washington’s top lobbying organizations over the weekend moved quickly to condemn Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, echoing political leaders’ calls to ratchet down the political temperature as the general election (formally) kicks off.

— “Violence should never be the answer and must be clearly condemned, along with those who would foment it,” National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement released less than two hours after the attack.

— Timmons, who was also one of the first downtown leaders to give a blistering rebuke of the Jan. 6 insurrection, called for the country to “commit ourselves to the peaceful expression of our ideas and our politics and to the protection of our democracy” while offering prayers for Trump and the families of other bystanders injured in the shooting, which killed rally goer Corey Comperatore and injured two others.

— The country’s two top business lobbies also denounced the shooting Saturday. “There is no place in our democracy for acts of violence,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce asserted in a statement, adding that “now, more than ever, we must unite as a country and uphold the democratic values that define us as a nation.”

— “We mourn the loss of innocent life and are relieved that President Trump is safe,” The Business Roundtable, which hosted Trump last month, said in a statement. “We call on all Americans to reject political violence and to commit to resolving political differences peacefully.”

Stephen Ubl, the CEO at the drug lobby PhRMA, called the attack “horrifying” in a post on X on Sunday and expressed gratitude to law enforcement for acting quickly. “Violence is never an appropriate way to resolve our political differences,” he wrote.

Mehlman Consulting’s Bruce Mehlman prefaced his weekly slide deck Sunday on the veepstakes with a note clarifying that he had put the post together “prior to yesterday’s tragic & frightening events in Pennsylvania.” He added: “Praying for all those impacted and for our nation. Political violence has no place in our country.”

— Firms on K Street with close ties to Trump also reacted in horror to the news. Ballard Partners, whose founder Brian Ballard is a longtime ally of the former president, wrote in a post on X that Saturday’s “heinous” attack was “a sad day for our country.” Trump’s “heroic courage under fire will be remembered forever and should make all Americans proud,” the post continued. GOP fundraiser and lobbyist Jeff Miller shared a GoFundMe page for the victims of the shooting on LinkedIn, urging his followers to “help with what you can!” The fundraiser had raised more than $4.3 million as of this afternoon.

— Democratic lobbyists chimed in to criticize the attack as well. “Political violence is un-American,” Oscar Ramirez, a co-founder of Fulcrum Public Affairs, wrote online Saturday night. “Praying for President Trump and any bystanders killed or hurt today.”

Happy Monday and welcome to PI. A reminder that while your host won’t be on the ground in Milwaukee this week, PI still wants to hear all the tea from the convention. Send your best RNC event tips, happy hour gossip, spotteds and anything else you can think of: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.

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SPEAKING OF MILWAUKEE: “Cryptocurrency, once relegated to the fringes of American politics, is set to make its debut as an issue at a major party convention this week in Milwaukee,” our Jasper Goodman reports, with representatives from several top crypto firms planning to take their case to GOP power brokers at the RNC this week amid the industry’s aggressive push to shape the 2024 elections in its favor.

— “Representatives from Coinbase and Ripple, as well as the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, are planning to attend. The firms, which are the leading backers of a super PAC group that has raised more than $160 million to elect pro-crypto candidates, also plan to send delegations to the Democratic National Convention in August.”

— “‘This election year, crypto has become a political issue,’ said Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, who plans to represent the firm at the RNC alongside CEO Brad Garlinghouse. … Alderoty said the firm's goals at the RNC include advocating for crypto legislation with policymakers and simply ensuring that the industry is noticed as having a presence.”

— At the RNC, industry execs “will be preaching to the choir” all the way on up to the top of the ticket, Jasper writes — but that wasn’t always the case, and the Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey has some of the backstory of how Trump’s conversion came to be.

— “The about-face comes after an aggressive campaign by wealthy cryptocurrency executives, who have lavished Trump’s campaign with donations, spent money at Mar-a-Lago to hold events, promised to hold fundraisers for his 2024 campaign and lobbied him with sharp criticisms of President Biden and his administration.”

— Trump's “interest was piqued on cryptocurrency … when a group of donors came to Mar-a-Lago and said they would support his campaign and complained about Biden administration officials, including SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

CONSUMER BANKERS LAUNCH CFPB FACT CHECKER: The Consumer Bankers Association is taking its latest dig at the CFPB by launching a new website purporting to show that the agency is misrepresenting its own numbers to push ahead with what the finance industry says are rulemakings driven by ideology rather than data.

CFPBfactcheck.com repackages a series of blog posts from the Wall Street trade group highlighting policy examples where CBA says the CFPB has distorted data to support new financial restrictions. The site focuses in particular on proposed crackdowns on credit card late fees, overdraft and nonsufficient funds services and scam and fraud in electronic payments — all issues on which the banking industry has clashed with the Biden administration.

— “This has raised questions about whether their policy agenda is more focused on political wins than what is empirically best for the public,” the site says, describing CBA’s push as one to “reground the policy discussion around objective data.”

— In a statement, CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson argued that the CFPB “has an obligation to develop policy based on objective facts and data, not electoral politics” and that while the association supports CFPB’s mission, “these continued actions may harm the reputation and legitimacy of the Bureau for years to come.”

PREPPING FOR TRUMP: “Environmental leaders have spent years working to defeat Donald Trump’s bid to return to the White House. Another task has become increasingly urgent — preparing to thwart his policies if Trump, who on Saturday survived an assassination attempt, wins,” our Zack Colman reports.

— “The woes besetting President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign since his disastrous June 27 debate have heightened the stakes for green groups strategizing about how they would maneuver during a second Trump administration.”

— “Those efforts, already months in the planning, have included detailed examinations of conservatives’ policy roadmaps for Trump 2.0, as well as discussions of how recent Supreme Court decisions hobbling the executive branch could be used to protect climate actions from Trump's planned attempts to reverse them.”

— “Environmental leaders are also getting ready to enlist local and state officials and businesses benefiting from Biden’s historic climate investments to step up and lobby in their favor. In some cases, that would involve using corporate go-betweens to reach out to Republican lawmakers who typically clash with environmental groups.”

ICYMI OVER THE WEEKEND: “The country’s top organization for human-resources professionals is distancing itself from the ‘equity’ plank of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI,” per The Wall Street Journal’s Ray A. Smith and Lynn Cook.

— “SHRM, a lobbying and advocacy group with 340,000 members, announced this week that it wants employers to focus on inclusion and diversity efforts—in that order. The group, a powerful lobby in Washington, said that it’s moving away from equity language to ensure no group of workers appears to get preferential treatment.”

— “The announcement is the latest example of business leaders grappling with diversity measures during a time when those very efforts face fire from legal, political and employee groups,” but isn’t a total shocker: SHRM swapped the DEI abbreviation several years ago for IE&D, or inclusion, equity and diversity.

 

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Jobs report

Lisa Gilbert will become co-president of Public Citizen, alongside current President Robert Weissman. Gilbert was previously executive vice president.

Joe Carberry has joined Breakwater Strategy, as a partner. Carberry was previously managing director and head of corporate relations at Charles Schwab.

Mike Kuiken will join the Special Competitive Studies Project as an expert adviser. He is also a commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and previously was longtime national security adviser for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Drew Hudson is joining TechNet as general counsel and director of federal policy. He previously was legislative director for Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).

Eric Batch is now national advocacy vice president for outreach and partnerships at the American Heart Association. He previously led advocacy for Western states for the organization.

Gerald Moody is joining Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a white-collar defense and government investigations partner. He previously was assistant chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the DOJ's Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

— GOP strategists Jon Seaton, Ryan Price and Matt Kenney are launching a new campaign services and public affairs firm, Echo Canyon Consulting, in Phoenix, the District of Columbia and Dallas. Seaton most recently helped Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection, Price is leading the Republican National Convention’s caucus operations this year, and Kenney is a former Arizona GOP executive director.

Abby Campbell Singer is now vice president for government and institutional relations at Hitachi Energy North America. She previously was managing director and head of climate, infrastructure and transportation policy at Siemens USA.

Marissa Bostick is joining the Motion Picture Association as senior vice president and head of global litigation. She was most recently deputy director of the counterfeit crimes unit at Amazon and is a USDNY alum.

Stacy Papadopoulos has been named interim CEO of the Consumer Brands Association after current CEO David Chavern departs in August to become president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers. Papadopoulos is currently chief operating officer and general counsel at CBA.

 

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New Joint Fundraisers

Andy Kim Victory Fund (Rep. Andy Kim, In Our Hands, New Jersey Democratic State Committee)

NV MI Victory Fund (Sen. Jacky Rosen, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Nevada State Democratic Party, Michigan Democratic State Central Committee)

New PACs

Blue Ridge Mountain PAC (Super PAC)

The Citizens App (Super PAC)

National Interest PAC (Super PAC)

Our Democracy PAC (Super PAC)

Push The Envelope (Super PAC)

Republic PAC (Hybrid PAC)

VPOTUS (Super PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Blacksummit Capital LLC: Trace Group Hold PLC

Bracewell LLP: Cameco Corp.

Bracewell LLP: Global Laser Enrichment LLC

Chamber Of Progress: Chamber Of Progress

Cross Potomac Consulting LLC: Mass Virtual

Crowell & Moring LLP: Lonza Group Ag

Fti Government Affairs: Amber Semiconductor Inc.

Hormel Foods Corp.: Hormel Foods Corp.

Laura Wood Peterson Consulting Inc.: Meristem Crop Performance

Lne Group: Buoyfi

Peter Damon Group LLC: Iranian American Community Of Virginia

 

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New Lobbying Terminations

Baker & Hostetler LLP: Alcoa Corp.

Baker & Hostetler LLP: Florence Copper Inc.

Baker & Hostetler LLP: The Aluminum Association Inc.

Ben Barnes Group LP: Envigo Rms LLC

Ben Barnes Group LP: Integrity Maketing Group

Ben Barnes Group LP: Renco Corp./Blue Star Nbr

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP: Agilent Technologies

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP: Auterion Government Solutions Inc.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP: Billerud Americas Corp.

Hogan Lovells US LLP: Digital Diagnostics Inc (Fka: Idx Technologies Inc.)

Hogan Lovells US LLP: Fc Compassus LLC

Holland & Knight LLP: Immigration Voice

Holland & Knight LLP: National Association Of Manufacturers

Holland & Knight LLP: Western Regional Off Track Betting

Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson & Halloran PC: Bois Forte Band Of Chippewa Indians

Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson & Halloran PC: Fond Du Lac Band Of Chippewa

Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson & Halloran PC: Grand Portage Band Of Chippewa

Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson & Halloran PC: Miami Nation Enterprises

Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson & Halloran PC: Miami Tribe Of Oklahoma

Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson & Halloran PC: Minnesota Police And Peace Officers Association

Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson & Halloran PC: University Of Minnesota Morris

Lone Star Consulting: Jeff Davis County, Texas

Potomac Partners DC: Caloptima

Prime Policy Group: Accesslex Institute

Prime Policy Group: Caribbean Transmission Development Company (Fka Atabey Capital Management)

Prime Policy Group: Environmental Defense Fund Inc.

Revere Federal Strategies: Divergent Technologies Inc.

Revere Federal Strategies: Whisper Aero Inc.

Robertson, Monagle, & Eastaugh LLC (Fka Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh PC): Makah Indian Tribe

The Brewer Group LLC (Formally Powers Brewer LLC): The City Of Gonzales Louisiana

The Bridge Advisory Group: Everbridge

The Washington Tax & Public Policy Group: U.S. Travel Association

Thorsen French Advocacy LLC: New Venture Fund

Tiber Creek Group: Modivcare Solutions LLC

Tiber Creek Group: University Of Arizona Foundation

Versant Strategies LLC (Formerly Known As Wolff Strategies LLC.): River Valley School District

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