News: House Democrats introduce bill to rein in scam PACs

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

House Democrats introduce bill to rein in scam PACs

Jan 26, 2022

Presented by Sallie Mae®

With Daniel Lippman

MALINOWSKI, PORTER TAKE AIM AT SCAM PACS: Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) and Katie Porter (D-Calif.) have introduced legislation aimed at cracking down on so-called scam PACs, which steer donations from unwitting donors typically into the pockets of those running the fundraising operation rather than the candidates contributors think they're supporting.

— The Stopping Corrupt Actors from Making Political Action Committees — or SCAM PAC — Act would bar PACs from making payments to entities owned or controlled by an individual or an immediate family member of an individual who either has executive or managerial control over a PAC's operations; is authorized to raise or spend money for or on behalf of the PAC; or who is a paid or unpaid employee of the PAC that provides it with professional services aside from accounting or legal services relating to the PAC's campaign or fundraising strategy.

— The bill allows for an exemption if a PAC certifies that a majority of its funds disbursed went to their originally stated purpose and did not go toward administrative fees, fundraising costs and salaries of employees of the PAC, a common tactic of such operations.

— "Since my first days in Congress I have been fighting to reform our nation's campaign finance system," Malinowski said in a statement. "We have overwhelming evidence showing how SCAM PACs are defrauding the American people," he added, vowing that the bill will "finally put an end to one of the most egregious practices in political fundraising." Porter noted in a statement that the victims of scam PACs are often seniors, veterans or other vulnerable members of society "who thought they were participating in our democracy."

— Scam PACs have been prolific in recent years, and their rise has been so serious that it triggered a warning from the FBI last year. The FEC has also weighed options to fight scam PACs, and heard recommendations from a working group last spring that centered on ensuring donors are better informed about the political activities of the committee they're interested in donating to.

— At the same time, prosecutions for scam PAC operators have ramped up. In November, federal prosecutors charged the operator of numerous scam PACs with wire fraud and making fraudulent statements to the FEC. A few weeks later a federal judge sentenced the operator of another pair of scam PACs to nearly four years in prison after he bilked thousands of donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars during the pandemic.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips and wrong Supreme Court nominee predictions only: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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CRYPTO'S NEXT BIG FIGHT?: "Cryptocurrency proponents are blistering a House bill designed to bolster the United States' economic competitiveness with China, saying it could subject financial institutions to unchecked monitoring and oversight from the Treasury Department," per our Sam Sutton.

— "The competitiveness bill released by House Democrats Tuesday night, H.R. 4521, includes language that would grant the Treasury secretary more authority to freeze or monitor financial accounts used for cross-border illegal activity. The language authored by Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) is intended to address the use of digital assets in ransomware attacks, money laundering and other frauds. The Senate passed its version of the competitiveness bill, S. 1260, in a 68-32 vote last year," sans the provision rankling digital currency advocates.

— "The cryptocurrency think tank Coin Center on Wednesday claimed the bill would eliminate legal safeguards protecting financial institutions and consumers from federal overreach — including caps on how long accounts can be monitored or frozen. The bill also grants the Treasury secretary more latitude to identify 'transmittals of funds' — including digital assets — as a money laundering concern."

— "Coin Center director of research Peter Van Valkenburgh said in an interview that the bill would create a 'streamlined way to do Operation Choke Point,' referring to an Obama-era program to cut off fraudulent merchants from the financial system that's often cited by Republicans as an example of political meddling in banking. 'This shouldn't just be a crypto issue,' he said. 'This should be an issue for anyone who believes in free and fair access to financial services.'"

SINEMA DONORS PLOT REVOLT: "Democratic Party financiers are plotting to fund a 2024 primary challengeagainst Sen. Kyrsten Sinema as she fights key pieces of their party's agenda," CNBC's Brian Schwartz reports, including several who contributed to the Arizona Democrat's first Senate campaign in 2018, and who were among the signatories on a letter to Sinema about the filibuster last week.

— "Sinema's record has led at least one congressional colleague from her state to consider trying to unseat her. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has said he recently met with party donors, including those who once supported Sinema. In many cases, they assured him they would back him in a possible primary challenge against the Arizona senator."

— Even before last week's vote on altering the filibuster to pass a voting rights bill, "Democratic donors started to plan how they can contribute to a primary challenge against Sinema," Schwartz reports. "'I have given up really trying to understand Sinema's motivations for the way she votes. And at a certain point I don't care. I just know if there is an alternative I will back them. And I know other people feel that way,' a past Sinema donor who no longer backs her explained to CNBC."

BUSINESS COMMUNITY LOOKS TO AVOID ECONOMIC CROSSFIRE IN RUSSIA: As President Joe Biden has threatened to unleash "devastating" sanctions on Russia in the event of any invasion of Ukraine, "some big companies and business groups are pushing the White House and lawmakers to be cautious," Reuters' Andrea Shalal and Timothy Gardner report.

— The National Foreign Trade Council, which represents "Chevron, General Electric and other big U.S. corporations that do business in Russia is asking the White House to consider allowing companies to fulfill commitments and to weigh exempting products as it crafts any sanctions. At the same time, big energy companies are pushing Congress to limit their scope and time frame."

— The Biden administration and Congress need to "get the details right in case they must follow through on the threat of sanctions," Jake Colvin , the trade group's president, told Reuters on Monday. "Those details should include consideration of safe harbors or wind-down periods to enable companies to fulfill existing contracts and obligations, as well as carve-outs for lifesaving medicines and other humanitarian considerations consistent with longstanding U.S. policy," Colvin said.

— "Energy companies have also reached out directly to U.S. lawmakers to press for a 'cool down' or 'wind down' period so their assets are not seized if they are unable to fulfill business agreements in Russia, a congressional aide told Reuters. The American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. lobbying organization for oil and gas drillers, has discussed sanctions on Russia with congressional offices. 'Sanctions should be as targeted as possible in order to limit potential harm to the competitiveness of U.S. companies,' an API spokesperson said."

HOT JOB: D.C. Twitter on Tuesday night was abuzz with a job posting for a senior government affairs director at Lego (yes, that Lego), so in the service of public interest, PI inquired with the company about what the role would entail.

— Carolina Giuga, the toymaker's director of government and public affairs for the Americas, said that the job posting is to replace an outgoing employee. The company, which retains just one outside firm, Thompson Coburn, initially lobbied on product safety issues, Giuga told PI, which remains one of the focal areas for Lego. Lego also engages on digital safety issues, and lobbying disclosures for the last three months of 2021 show Lego's contracted lobbyists including a pair of education policy bills.

HOGAN HEADS BACK TO THE NFL: Cynthia Hogan, who was Apple 's top lobbyist for four years before joining Biden's vice presidential vetting team in 2020, is returning to the NFL as a senior adviser to Commissioner Roger Goodell.

— The league brought Hogan, who as an aide to Biden in the Senate helped craft the Violence Against Women Act, onto its lobbying team back in 2014 as it faced backlash over its handling of domestic violence cases, and is credited with helping to defuse furor with the NFL within Congress. According to an announcement, Hogan will "provide counsel to Commissioner Goodell and other executives on strategic league initiatives."

CORRECTION: Tuesday's Influence misstated Dallas Lawrence's title at Roku. He was senior director of platform communications. PI regrets the error.

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Jobs Report

— Josh Karetny has joined Graphite Health as the digital health company's first head of policy. He was most recently acting chief of staff for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

— Cassidy & Associates has added Devin Barrett, a longtime legislative staffer for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), as a vice president, and Zak Baig, who previously served as the managing director of the ClearPath Foundation, as a senior vice president.

— Brendan Belair is headed in-house to become chief strategy officer for the forensic sequencing provider Othram. He previously formed his own lobbying firm, Duddington Global Strategies, and was chief of staff to former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.).

— Ryan Shay has joined Faegre Drinker Consulting as a director. He was most recently legislative director for Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) and is an André Carson (D-Ind.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) alum.

— USTelecom | The Broadband Association has hired Emma Christman as senior director for media affairs and digital engagement. Christman was most recently director of external affairs and engagement at Glen Echo Group.

— Prosek Partners named Jim David head of its Washington office. He was most recently a partner at Hamilton Place Strategies.

— Katrina Bishop has been promoted to public affairs director at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. She previously was the group's public affairs manager. AEM has also brought on Colleen Kennedy as policy communications manager. She previously served as communications director to Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.).

— Lindsey Hornickel has joined the American Veterinary Medical Association as assistant director of government relations. She spent the last nine years in private clinical practice and with the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association.

— Chris Middendorf has joined Hogan Lovells' global regulatory practice as a director of regulatory affairs. He most recently spent more than two decades at FDA.

— Marc Lotter is now chief communications officer of America First Policy Institute, Playbook reports. He most recently was senior vice president for marketing, communications and education for the Florida Hospital Association, and is a Trump 2020 campaign and White House alum.

— Peter Freeman was promoted to partner in FS Vector's government relations practice, per Morning Money. Freeman previously served as deputy chief of staff to former Reps. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio).

— Sherice Torres is joining Circle as chief marketing officer. She most recently served as chief marketing officer of Novi, Meta's new cryptocurrency wallet.

JOIN FRIDAY TO HEAR FROM GOVERNORS ACROSS AMERICA : As we head into the third year of the pandemic, state governors are taking varying approaches to public health measures including vaccine and mask mandates. "The Fifty: America's Governors" is a series of live conversations featuring various governors on the unique challenges they face as they take the lead and command the national spotlight in historic ways. Learn what is working and what is not from the governors on the front lines, REGISTER HERE.

New Joint Fundraisers

Chavez-DeRemer Skarlatos Victory 2022 (Alek for Oregon, Lori Chavez-Deremer for Congress)
Laxalt Victory Committee (Laxalt for Senate, Nevada Republican Central Committee)

New PACs

Fair Elections Group (Super PAC)
Fight for Mississippi PAC (Super PAC)
GiveGreen United Action (Super PAC)

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New Lobbying Registrations

Affiliate Political Action Committee: Affiliate Political Action Committee
Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Ion Storage Systems, Inc.
Daly Consulting Group: Blackrock, Inc.
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Ata Action
Holland & Hart LLP: Rio Tinto Services Inc.
Invariant LLC: Federation Of American Hospitals
Lxr Group: Aarp Inc.
Lxr Group: Public Investors Advocate Bar Association
Shared Services Leadership Coalition: Shared Services Leadership Coalition

New Lobbying Terminations

American Sugarbeet Growers Association: American Sugarbeet Growers Association
Dawson & Associates, Inc.: The Mosaic Company

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