| | | | | |  | | By Theodoric Meyer | Presented by Facebook | With Daniel Lippman MERCURY DROPS TURKEY UNDER PRESSURE: "The lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs has cut ties with the Turkish government following a pressure campaign by Armenian-American activists incensed by Turkey's support for Azerbaijan in ongoing hostilities with Armenia. The firm's decision to scrap its $1 million contract with Turkey is a victory for Armenia in a conflict that's playing out in Washington as well as the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh along Armenia's border with Azerbaijan." — "In the weeks since long-running tensions between the countries flared on Sept. 27, Armenian-American activists have worked to deprive Azerbaijan and Turkey of what Aram Hamparian , the executive director of Armenian National Committee of America, described as some of their most potent weapons: their Washington lobbyists. 'A lot of people have bought a lot of summer homes and fishing boats and put their grandkids through college by lying about Armenia and covering up for Azerbaijan,' he said." Activists pressured Mercury "by holding protests outside its offices in Washington and Los Angeles and urging Mercury's clients to cut ties with the firm if it kept representing Turkey." — The campaign "recalls the push to convince Washington lobbying firms representing Saudi Arabia's government to cut ties with the kingdom in 2018 after Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Washington Post, where Khashoggi had been a contributing opinion writer, threatened to bar two lobbyists from writing columns for the paper unless their firms stopped working for Saudi Arabia. The pressure ultimately led five lobbying firms to sever ties with the kingdom." — Turkey also retains Capitol Counsel and Greenberg Traurig, while Azerbaijan relies on BGR Group, according to disclosure filings. Armenia, meanwhile, hired former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Alston & Bird last month for help in Washington. "Hamparian said he planned to ramp up pressure on BGR Group now that Mercury has capitulated. But BGR might be a tougher target: The firm said in a statement that it 'intends to continue its representation of Azerbaijan.'" Good afternoon, and welcome to PI. Days until Election Day: 8. Lobbying tips: tmeyer@politico.com. Transition tips: tmeyer@politico.com. You can also follow me on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer. | | | | A message from Facebook: A vote counted is a voice heard
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Explore the Voting Information Center now | | | UNION-TRIBUNE HIRES A LOBBYIST: The San Diego Union-Tribune has hired the Smith-Free Group to help it qualify for pension provisions designed to help other privately held mid-sized newspapers that aren't part of big chains. The SECURE Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in December, allowed such newspapers to stretch out catchup contributions to their pension funds over a longer period of time. The Seattle Times, The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis, The Tampa Bay Times and other newspapers were able to take advantage of the provisions in the law — but the Union-Tribune was not, Jeff Light, the paper's publisher, wrote in an email to PI. — While the Union-Tribune was privately owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong, who had bought The Los Angeles Times and the Union-Tribune in 2018, when the SECURE ACT passed, the law assessed newspapers' eligibility for pension relief based on their ownership on Dec. 31, 2017, when the Union-Tribune was owned by Tribune Publishing (known at the time by the unfortunate moniker Tronc). "Our company, which meets all the community newspaper criteria, was publicly held as part of Tribune Publishing from May of 2015 to June of 2018, when it was returned to private ownership," Light wrote. "So, we miss the date by six months. We are the only paper that meets all the criteria — and the intent — of the bill to be left out in the cold." — Jon Deuser, Bob Hickmott, Trevor Kolego and Chris Scribner of the Smith-Free Group will lobby on a fix, according to a disclosure filing. "As the publisher of the Union-Tribune, I view the situation as fundamentally unfair and extremely unfortunate," Light wrote. "We were inadvertently written out of the bill by the application of an arbitrary date that excluded only our company. I am glad our peers have won much needed relief. In San Diego, we are left facing an extremely difficult financial situation, in the midst of a pandemic, because of a bill that excluded only us." HOW TO LOBBY TRUMP DIRECTLY — AND GET RESULTS WITHIN HOURS: "On a Friday evening in late September, President Trump huddled with high-dollar donors, lobbyists and corporate executives in a private room at the hotel he owns in Washington, where attendees took turns pitching the president on their pet issues," The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey, Rosalind Helderman and David Fahrenthold report. "Trump was there to raise big money for his reelection effort. The price of admission: as much as $100,000 per person to get in the door." — "For his guests, it was a chance to make the most of what has emerged as a signature feature of Trump's Washington: the ability of wealthy donors to directly lobby the president. One talked to him about solar panels; another about business loans, according to two people who participated and, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private interactions. At least one guest was told by Trump to follow up with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, conveniently seated nearby." — "One attendee's plea on behalf of an obscure railway project in Alaska in need of federal approval appeared to get immediate results. Just after midnight, mere hours after the campaign fundraiser, Trump tweeted that it was his 'honor to inform you that I will be issuing a Presidential Permit for the A2A Cross-Border rail.' 'Congratulations to the people of Alaska & Canada!' he added, noting that the state's congressional delegation was supportive of the move. The presidential permit was officially issued three days later." — Former Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who's now a vice chairman of Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corp. , the company trying to build the railway, attended the fundraiser and said he was surprised by the tweet. "'I can't tell you how or why the White House made the decision when they did,' he said. 'All I can say is, we've had a long series of consultations on this.' He added: 'I don't think there was any quid pro quo.' A White House official said the project has state support, the permit had already gone through a review process and its approval was unrelated to the fundraiser." | | | | HAPPENING TUESDAY - A GEN Z RISING DISCUSSION: Did you know Gen Z now makes up 1/10th of the electorate? Join a virtual conversation with Mike Brodo, executive director of Gen Z GOP, and Chelsea Miller, co-founder of Freedom March NYC, and other Gen Z voters to find out how young voters are interacting with the political parties, technology and electoral process. Moderated by Laura Barrón-López and Rishika Dugyala, this virtual conversation explores the mindset of Gen Z voters, their policy priorities, and their impact on Election Day. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | HOW UBER, LYFT, DOORDASH ARE SELLING A BALLOT MEASURE: "Phone notifications flashing endorsements. Campaign fliers tucked into grocery deliveries. Takeout bags urging a 'yes' vote. Rideshare and delivery companies are not only spending record sums, but they are wielding their own platforms and using customer data to win on Proposition 22, a November ballot measure that would exempt some gig companies from a California law that classifies many freelance workers as full-time employees," POLITICO California's Katy Murphy reports. The tactics have proven controversial. — "'If you're Uber, you're using your monopoly power and your position in the sector to push advocacy that affects your bottom line,' said Dipayan Ghosh, a computer scientist who worked on privacy issues at Facebook and now directs the Digital Platforms & Democracy Project at Harvard's Kennedy School. 'I think that that's highly problematic.'" Companies such as Uber, Lyft and Doordash "'risk annoying their customers' by targeting them with messages when they're waiting for dinner or a ride home, said Bob Stern, the architect of California's campaign finance rules. But such actions do not violate state election law, as long as they're properly reported, he said." MEANWHILE, IN ALASKA: "Some of the biggest U.S. oil companies are pouring record amounts of money into defeating a ballot measure in Alaska that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue for state coffers by hiking taxes on oil output from one of the country's most prolific energy-producing regions," POLITICO's Kelsey Tamborrino reports. "Alaska Ballot Measure 1 would raise the tax on oil and gas produced in certain areas of Alaska's North Slope, ultimately pitting Big Oil — which argues the measure would kill any hope of restarting drilling in the state next year — against proponents who say the measure is needed to generate revenue for a state that anticipates getting nearly three quarters of its discretionary funds from oil sector taxes over the next 10 years." — OneAlaska , the opposition campaign, has raised more than $18 million, "according to state finance reports, with millions coming from oil majors ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP, as well as Hilcorp Energy, one the biggest privately held U.S. oil companies. … Meanwhile, the pro-ballot advocate Vote Yes for Alaska's Fair Share has garnered $1.3 million, according to the state data, with $1 million of that coming from its chair Robin Brena, an attorney who has a history fighting Big Oil." | | | |   | | | | | | — The Brunswick Group has hired Molly Millerwise Meiners as a partner. She's expected to handle crisis management and public affairs, including financial regulation and economic policy issues. She was previously the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation's chief communications officer. — Schmidt Futures, the philanthropic initiative started by Eric Schmidt, the former Google chief executive, and his wife, Wendy Schmidt, has hired Shannon Beckham to work on communications strategy. She was previously a communications adviser in the office of Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). | | | None | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: We're excited to launch a newsletter written for insiders that will track the appointments, the people, and the power centers of the next administration. Both Team Biden and Team Trump have been working behind the scenes for months vetting potential nominees and drafting policy agendas. Transition Playbook takes you inside those preparations, personnel decisions, and policy deliberations. 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Explore the Voting Information Center now | | | | | New Lobbying Registrations | | First Principles Strategies, LLC: Fidelis Gov't Relations on behalf of Exela Pharma Sciences
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation (USPA)
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Azura Vascular Care (AKA Fresenius) (USPA-United Specialists for Patient Access)
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (USPA-United Specialists for Patient Access))
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Lifeline Vascular Care (USPA-United Specialists for Patient Access)
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Macatawa Anesthesia, PC (USPA-United Specialists for Patient Access)
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Medtronic (USPA-United Specialists for Patient Access)
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Philips Image Guided Therapy (USPA-United Specialists for Patient Access)
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Vesper Medical, Inc. (CardioVascular Coalition)
McDermott+Consulting LLC: AIS Healthcare
McDermott+Consulting LLC: The Partnership to Advance Virtual Care (PAVC)
Meeks, Butera & Israel PLLC: Lockheed Martin Corporation
Meeks, Butera & Israel PLLC: Sierra Nevada Corporation
Meeks, Butera & Israel PLLC: United Launch Alliance
Meeks, Butera & Israel PLLC: VantageScore Solutions, LLC
Meeks, Butera & Israel PLLC: Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc.
Meeks, Butera & Israel PLLC: Virgin Orbit
Meeks, Butera & Israel PLLC: Visby Medical
Sidley Austin LLP: Inspur Group Co. Ltd. | | New Lobbying Terminations | | Avenue Strategies: Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc.
Jones Group International, LLC: AT&T Services, Inc.
Jones Group International, LLC: CTIA-The Wireless Association
Jones Group International, LLC: T-Mobile US, Inc.
Jones Group International, LLC: Verizon Communications Inc.
Liebman & Associates, Inc.: Circulus | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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