| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | With help from Daniel Lippman FIRST IN PI: Nonprofit groups with ties to conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo paid CRC Advisors, the for-profit consultancy Leo runs, almost $35 million in 2023, according to an analysis of tax filings shared with PI by liberal watchdog group Accountable.US. — The vast majority of that sum came from The 85 Fund, which paid CRC Advisors nearly $25 million in 2023, according to the filings. The Concord Fund, another nonprofit run by allies to Leo, paid his consultancy a little over $6 million in the fiscal year from 2022-23. — A half-dozen other conservative advocacy groups that received a total of $16.2 million from The 85 Fund or Concord Fund during that time paid CRC Advisors almost $4 million. That includes the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List and an affiliated nonprofit, which received $8.8 million in grants from the Concord Fund and paid CRC Advisors more than $976,000 for consulting services and advertising. — SBA said in a statement that the group “has had a working relationship with CRC Advisors long before Leonard Leo joined them as chairman, and we continue to retain CRC for a full range of public affairs services because they are the best in the business.” Leo became chair of CRC in 2020. — Heritage Action for America, the advocacy arm of the conservative think tank, took in more than $1.6 million from The 85 Fund and the Concord Fund from 2022-23, filings show, and paid CRC $240,000 for marketing and advertising. Heritage Action didn’t respond to a request for comment. — The payments in 2023 came amid a probe of Leo’s nonprofit network by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb. The inquiry stemmed from dueling IRS complaints from liberal and conservative watchdogs in response to POLITICO’s reporting about the lavish lifestyle Leo and several of his allies embarked upon around the same time Leo was tapped as an unpaid adviser on judicial nominations to then-President Donald Trump. — Schwalb last year cleared Arabella Advisors, the consulting firm that oversees a wide swath of liberal nonprofit groups, of engaging in any inappropriate business conduct, according to a lawyer representing several of those nonprofits. — “CRC Advisors is a full-services public affairs firm of over 100 best-in-class professionals that provides unsurpassed impact, and its fees and services are based on a rigorous compliance system using outside experts to ensure we charge fair market value,” a spokesperson for the firm told PI, adding that “the nonprofit clients we work for have independent boards, and pay less for more than Left nonprofits pay our progressive rivals,” an apparent reference to Arabella Advisors. — Since 2012, The 85 Fund, Concord Fund and the Federalist Society, the conservative legal hub where Leo is co-chair, together have paid CRC Advisors over $133 million, Accountable.US’ research found. Those payments skyrocketed after Leo took over as CRC’s chair — the three organizations paid CRC $31 million from 2012-2019, compared with $102 million since 2020. — “Leonard Leo’s operation is a political self-enrichment scheme — using nonprofits to funnel millions into his own pockets while propping up his influence,” Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone said in a statement, alleging that “this isn’t charity or advocacy; it’s a calculated abuse of power that shows just how broken the system is when it comes to dark money.” Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | TOMORROW: Join POLITICO's Playbook team for The First 100 Days event at Union Station. Get a front row seat to lively conversations on the issues driving the agenda with the stakeholders at the helm of the transition. Hear from Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and more! Register here. | | | | | UNDER THE HOOD: Financial disclosures and ethics agreements filed by Trump’s Cabinet picks have begun to trickle out, including those of Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth earlier today. — In addition to his more than $4 million salary at Fox News, Hegseth disclosed raking in almost $1 million for speeches to conservative advocacy and religious groups over the past two years — including a $150,000 honorarium for a speech to the conservative legislative and business network the American Legislative Exchange Council in 2023 and $25,000 for a speech to the National Rifle Association last year. — Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Trump’s pick to lead EPA, “made millions of dollars in recent years from consulting, speaking fees, and paid op-eds,” including “tens of thousands of dollars to write about environmental and climate change-related topics,” per Business Insider’s Bryan Metzger. He also “made a total of $775,000 in salary income and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from his main firm, Zeldin Consulting.” FIRST IN PI — NARRATIVE ADDS 5: Geoff Holtzman has left Stand Together, the Koch-backed group where he served as communications director, to join Narrative Strategies as a senior director. Holtzman, who also led strategic communications for Stand Together’s health care portfolio, will help Narrative continue to grow its own health portfolio. — The firm also announced the addition of Hariana Sethi as a business development associate while former interns Henry Lynam, Albert Sanchez and Davis Robinson joined full-time as strategic communications associates. ON THE AIRWAVES: Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity is planning to unleash a $20 million ad blitz aimed at pressing Congress to get renewal of expiring tax cuts to Trump’s desk, the group announced today. — The group, which has clashed with Trump repeatedly, including in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, is embracing him once again. “AFP was proud to work alongside President Trump and leaders in Congress to support the landmark TCJA, the most pro-growth tax reform in American history,” AFP President and CEO Emily Seidel said in a statement. “Renewing the TCJA must be a top priority so we can ensure this historic achievement continues to fuel decades of economic prosperity — and AFP is fully committed to mobilizing millions of people to ensure it gets done.” — The campaign, dubbed “Protect Prosperity,” will blanket all 50 states with ads, op-eds, TV and radio interviews and mailers warning that the expiration of the 2017 GOP tax bill “would mean higher taxes on hard working families and small businesses just when they’re starting to recover” from post-pandemic inflation. BACK IN THE SADDLE: Four years after Trump pardoned him “for crimes related to foreign lobbying, Paul Manafort is again seeking business from political interests abroad,” The New York Times’ Ken Vogel, Kim Barker, Constant Méheut and Michael Schwirtz report. — “Manafort, who led Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign for a few months, has assembled a team of consultants who helped run Mr. Trump’s 2024 effort and is looking to advise campaigns for opposition and far-right political factions in Latin America and Europe, according to documents and interviews.” — He’s “discussed working for a French billionaire supporting anti-immigration politicians including Marine Le Pen, as well as an ultraconservative Peruvian mayor seen as a possible presidential candidate. Mr. Manafort has even engaged with interests in Ukraine, the country where his work for Russia-aligned interests led to his downfall.” ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: Two months after Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump, the joint fundraising committee her campaign set up with the Democratic National Committee is still charging monthly recurring donors to the committee, Daniel reports — and some donors are not happy. — An operative who donated to the Harris JFC said the committee solicited no explicit approval to continue the donations after the election, though it sent emails saying, “Thank you for your generous monthly commitment,” and that the donations will continue “until you contact us.” — The ongoing debits constitute the latest dust-up over the ethics of online fundraising — particularly when it comes to signing up small-dollar donors for recurring credit-card contributions that get set on autopilot. BELLE OF THE BALL: Trump’s return to Washington this month is being marked by celebrations thrown by everyone from “the crypto bros, a far-right publishing house and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ acolytes,” our Megan Messerly and Dasha Burns write. — “More than three dozen balls and other similarly glitzy affairs have been scheduled in the days leading up to the inauguration. Many are replete with long lists of corporate sponsors and high-profile CEOs eager to demonstrate their fealty to the president-elect after keeping him at arm’s length during his first inauguration over fears his anti-immigrant rhetoric and scandals would sully their brands.” — “Some of the inaugural balls — long the playground of Washington’s establishment types — are being hosted by organizations that eight years ago were still at the fringes of the Republican Party, such as Turning Point Action, the group helmed by prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and the far-right publishing company Passage Publishing.” — Then you have companies like TikTok, which is sponsoring an event “honoring the most impactful influencers of the 2024 election” as its fate in the U.S. rests in the hands of the Supreme Court. The crypto industry, riding high on its success in electing industry-friendly lawmakers in November, is throwing the first-ever Inaugural Crypto Ball, while sponsors of the Hispanic Inaugural Ball hosted by Bienvenido US include corporate behemoths like Johnson & Johnson. — “Sponsorship of many of the soirees publicly reflects what corporations are privately acknowledging: They need Trump on their side if they want to get anything done in Washington over the next four years.”
| | — Zach Deatherage has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a policy adviser. Deatherage was most recently legislative director for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). — Alex Howard is now leading public affairs in D.C. for Washington Gas. He previously was assistant press secretary and spokesperson at DHS and is an AT&T, Bloomberg Industry Group, Hillary Clinton and Obama White House comms alum. — Kristin Whitman is joining the American Petroleum Institute as senior vice president of government relations. She was most recently vice president of external affairs for Albemarle Corporation and is a Shell, Ford Motors and Senate alum. — Thayer Roberts has been promoted to partner at Thorn Run Partners. She was previously a senior vice president. — Meghan Schmidtlein is now a principal on Husch Blackwell Strategies’ federal team. She previously was legislative director to former Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.). — Rachel Brandenburg is now Washington managing director and senior fellow at Israel Policy Forum. She is an Elissa Slotkin and Defense Department alum. — Michael Best Strategies is adding Alison Prange as COO and elevating Tory Sendek to head of federal government relations. Prange most recently was president and COO of the Milwaukee Republican National Convention host committee. — Brian Walsh is joining UnitedHealth Group as senior vice president for public affairs. Walsh was previously a partner at PLUS Communications and is a John Cornyn (R-Texas) alum. — Colin Brainard is joining Alpine Group as vice president, where he will take a lead role advising clients ahead of tax debates in 2025. He was previously director of federal government affairs at Walmart and is a former House GOP tax staffer. — Brian Hahn will become CFO for Avacta Therapeutics. He was previously CFO and senior vice president at GlycoMimetics. — Independent Community Bankers of America has promoted Rebecca Kruse to president of ICBA Payments, the trade group’s payments subsidiary. — Sara Murray is joining FTI Consulting’s cybersecurity practice as a managing director, working on investigations for corporate clients. She previously was a CNN correspondent. — King & Spalding has hired Nema Milaninia as a partner in its special matters and government investigations practice group. He was most recently special adviser to the U.S. ambassador-at-Large for global criminal justice and is an Alphabet alum. — Goodwill CEO Steve Preston has been named board chair of the National Retail Federation Foundation. — Ben Nuckels and Robbie Dodson started a new advertising and strategy firm for Democratic candidates, issue-focused organizations, unions and corporations called Nuckels Media Partners.
| | AmeriLUV 2025 (Ameripac: The Fund for a Greater America, CA Luv PAC (California Leadership United For Victory PAC)) Mark Warner Action Fund (Sen. Mark Warner, Democratic Party of Virginia, Forward Together PAC)
| | Advanced Materials PAC of Honeywell International (PAC) Eyes on the Oval (Super PAC) OH SENATE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FUND 2026 (PAC) Retired Dems 2026 (Super PAC) Revelation2Revolution.org (Super PAC) Texas Student Action Committee (Hybrid PAC) Women Organized for Respect & Dignity (Hybrid PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Adams And Reese, LLP: Aasa, The School Superintendents Association Adams And Reese, LLP: Alabama Aerospace And Aviation High School Adams And Reese, LLP: Mobile County District Attorney’s Office Adams And Reese, LLP: Pattison’s Academy Apollo Government Relations: Davita, Inc Ballard Partners: California Avocado Commission Ballard Partners: Ilya Alekseevich Golubovich Ballard Partners: President And Fellows Of Harvard College Capitol 6 Advisors: Critical Response Group Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Block Inc. Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Lindahl Reed, Inc. Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Netgear, Inc. Hill East Group, LLC: Oic, L.P. Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Planet Labs Pbc Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Sierra Space J M Burkman & Associates: Tim Mcphee K&L Gates, LLP: Torc Robotics K&L Gates, LLP: Velocys Inc Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Vault Ccs44.01 Pittman Law Group: Bond Community Health Center, Inc. Red Maple Consulting, LLC: Strategies 360 (On Behalf Of University Corporation For Atmospheric Research) Strategic Marketing Innovations: Federal Laboratory LLC Tiber Creek Group: Columbia University
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Berliner Corcoran & Rowe: Solway Investment Group Gmbh Blount Strategic Initiatives: Cn Clark Company Capitol Counsel LLC: Advanced Medical Technology Association (Advamed) Capitol Counsel LLC: Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (Asca) Capitol Counsel LLC: Anbaric Development Partners, LLC Capitol Hill Policy Group LLC: American Chemistry Council Capitol Strategies US, LLC: Crossroads Strategies, LLC On Behalf Of Solv Energy, LLC Dc Advocacy, LLC: Tennessee Forestland, LLC Dentons US LLP: Buckhead Business Improvement District Dentons US LLP: Cport Credit Union Eugene Trisko: United Mine Workers Of America Guidepoststrategies, LLC: Elanco Animal Health Incorporated Hanka Advisor LLC: P3 Mobility On Behalf Of Nw 33 Innovation Corridor Council Of Governments Holland & Knight LLP: Alliance For Regenerative Medicine Holland & Knight LLP: Stellar Energy Americas, Inc. Lavender Consultants: The Livingston Group, LLC On Behalf Of Health Supply US Merchant Mcintyre & Associates, LLC: East Central Indiana Regional Planning District Oak Grove Strategies: Vulcan Materials Peter Damon Group LLC: Iranian American Community Of Virginia Rwc, Inc: Coin Center Schramm, Williams & Associates, Inc.: American Pistachio Growers (Formerly Known As Western Pistachio Association) Schramm, Williams & Associates, Inc.: Desert Grape Growers League Schramm, Williams & Associates, Inc.: Kern County Water Agency Smith Advocacy Group, LLC: Fbb Government Relations (Fkalindsay Hart LLP) Onbehalfof Alaska Chadux Network Squire Patton Boggs: Hillsborough County Squire Patton Boggs: West Coast University Stapleton & Associates, LLC: Wake Forest School Of Medicine, Institute For Regenerative Medicine Strategic Marketing Innovations: University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley Foundation Thegroup Dc, LLC: Everytown For Gun Safety Action Fund Thegroup Dc, LLC: National Rental Home Council Thegroup Dc, LLC: Vinyl Institute, Inc. Waggoner Engineering: Waggoner Engineering
| | | | POLITICO is helping kick off the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting with a Happy Hour on January 16th. Mingle with U.S. mayors, Washington insiders, and business executives over cocktails and light bites at the award-winning Cranes restaurant. RSVP here to join us! | | | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
