| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | | | DUAL U.S.-RUSSIAN CITIZEN CHARGED WITH ACTING AS ILLEGAL FOREIGN AGENT: Federal prosecutors unveiled illegal foreign agent charges on Wednesday against a woman with both U.S. and Russian citizenship who founded what authorities called a "Russian propaganda center" in New York. — According to an indictment, Elena Branson has worked on the Russian government's behalf since at least 2011 to promote Russian interests in the U.S. through an organization she started called the Russian Center New York and her leadership role with a group called the Russian Community Council of the USA. In a statement on its website dated Nov. 18, the latter organization announced it was suspending activities "after a year of active and nation-wide FBI measures directed at over 300 Russian community members" who reported that "federal agents appear to be searching for" FARA violations, which the group called "a form of pressure reminiscent of the Cold War era." — She allegedly organized meetings so that Russian officials could lobby American politicians and businesspeople, and received "tens of thousands of dollars in funding from" the Russian government while taking "direct orders from Russian officials concerning events and public messaging." She also allegedly corresponded with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, the indictment says, and though there is no indication Putin ever responded personally to her correspondence, she was photographed at an event in 2016 with his current press secretary. — Branson is charged with knowingly failing to register under FARA — the indictment references visits to FARA's eFile system from Branson's electronic devices during which a registration for the Russian Center was started but never submitted — as well as violating the foreign agent statute sometimes referred to as "espionage lite," conspiracy to commit visa fraud and lying to the FBI. — "As alleged, Branson engaged in a wide-ranging influence and lobbying scheme with funding and direction from the Russian government — all while deliberately leaving the American people in the dark," Matthew Olsen, the head of the Justice Department's National Security Division, said in a press release announcing the charges against Branson. — Prosecutors say Branson left New York for Russia about a month after FBI agents interviewed her, and executed search warrants that resulted in the seizure of 34 electronic devices, including 11 cellphones, and has not returned. They also say Branson sold her New York apartment last year. — The indictment also resurfaces a familiar face: In October, authorities say, Branson sat for an interview on state media outlet RT with Maria Butina , who pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of the Kremlin in 2018. In the interview, Branson told Butina that she had "left the United States for Moscow" after being interrogated by the FBI because she was "'scared' and thought the 'probability was very high' that she would be arrested" if she remained in the U.S. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Did you or a client score any major wins or suffer a blow in the spending bill? Get in touch: coprysko@politico.com . And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | A message from HCA Healthcare: For more than 50 years, HCA Healthcare has been caring for the communities where our colleagues live and serve. To further our commitment to these communities, the HCA Healthcare Foundation announced the Healthier Tomorrow Fund in 2021. This $80 million community impact fund focuses on addressing high-priority community needs and health equity through grants to nonprofit organizations. Read more on how we show up for our patients, communities and each other. | | | AID FOR RESTAURANTS, GYMS DOESN'T MAKE OMNIBUS: Congressional appropriators finally struck a deal Wednesday on a $1.5 trillion bundle of spending bills to fund the federal government through September, and released text for the 2,700-page package early this morning. But even before the text dropped, advocates who had lobbied hard for additional relief for the restaurant industry were blasting lawmakers for leaving more funding out of the package. — Sean Kennedy, the top lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association , accused lawmakers of "walking away from" the grant program known as the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, calling it "a gut punch to the 177,000 restaurants who now have some incredibly difficult decisions ahead of them." — "We are beyond disappointed that this massive government funding proposal ignores the needs of 177,300 neighborhood restaurants and bars impacted by the pandemic," Erika Polmar, the executive director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition , said in a statement, asserting that "thousands of neighborhood restaurants are going to close as a result of Congressional inaction." — The package also does not include funding for a relief program for the fitness or hospitality industries or aid for minor league sports leagues. Nor does it include the reinstatement of the Covid-era Employee Retention Tax Credit, as a broad coalition of business and trade associations have pushed for. SQUIRE, AKIN GUMP SHUTTER RUSSIAN OPERATIONS: Squire Patton Boggs and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld became the latest major law and lobbying firms to swear off Russian business. Squire, which had represented the now-sanctioned Gazprombank since 2014 — though its last reported lobbying activities on behalf of the bank came in 2017 — filed termination paperwork today. — "As circumstances surrounding the conflict in Ukraine continue to change rapidly, it has become clear that it is no longer tenable for us to continue our operations in Russia and we have therefore decided to wind down our Moscow office," said Angelo Kakolyris, a spokesperson for the firm. "Our closure will effectively conclude our relationship with a number of clients in adherence with our professional obligations." — In a statement to our Hailey Fuchs, Akin Gump, whose namesake Robert Strauss was the final U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union and the first ambassador to Russia, said it is "deeply saddened and shocked by the events in Ukraine and the tragic and senseless loss of life of so many innocent Ukrainians" and would be "suspending operations in Moscow pending further developments."
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE — JAN. 6 EDITION: "The House Jan. 6 committee has waged high-profile legal battles with Donald Trump and his closest allies as it tries to uncover every detail of what happened that day and determine what culpability the former president may have for the violent attack on the Capitol," The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey, Jacqueline Alemany and Tom Hamburger report. — "But it has also been focused on another part of its inquiry that panel members said is of equal importance to the success of the investigation — tracing every dollar that was raised and spent on false claims that the election was stolen." — "Committee members and aides said the goal of scrutinizing and documenting the money flow is twofold. The primary objective is to determine whether email solicitations spreading false claims of election fraud served as a powerful source of misinformation, prompting the need to make proposals for strengthening campaign finance laws. The committee will also consider if any laws were broken and refer those to the Justice Department, which would then decide whether to pursue any prosecutions." — In recent months, investigators "have increased their focus on the vast digital fundraising efforts around overturning the election, trying to pinpoint if the Trump campaign and allied Republicans were engaged in a coordinated effort to raise money on fraudulent and misleading appeals, according to people involved in the probe." GOP SENATORS SPLINTER OVER TAKING ON BIG BEEF: "After years of failed attempts, Washington lawmakers are closer than they've ever been to mandating more competition in the American beef industry — which is dominated by four big meatpackers that control how most cattle are bought and sold," POLITICO's Meredith Lee reports. — "But the politically powerful conglomerates and key farm lobby groups are making a last-ditch push to derail the bipartisan legislation by splitting Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee — sparking unusually bitter finger-pointing between GOP lawmakers and their staffs." — "In a rare personal rebuke, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, one of the bill's main proponents who has been trying for decades to pass similar reforms, even recently accused some GOP Agriculture Committee aides of 'working behind the scenes at the behest' of the big meatpackers to stall it." — "For the first time in years, a significant segment of Republicans also support efforts to promote more price transparency, giving the bill's backers a narrow window to get it passed and signed into law. But Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, the senior Republican on the Agriculture Committee, has raised concerns about unintended consequences of mandating how private companies make purchases, effectively slowing the measure's advance."
| | | |   | | | | | | — Daniel Bucheli is now communications director for Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.). He was previously communications director for the South Dakota Department of Public Health and before that was communications director and deputy chief of staff for former Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.). — Pamela Day, most recently chief of staff for Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), has joined ESP Advisors as a senior policy adviser. Christine Sur , most recently senior policy adviser for Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), is also working with ESP Advisors in an advisory capacity as a senior policy adviser. — Laurie McKay has joined the Kennedy Center as vice president of government relations and protocol. She most recently served as a director in the Government Law and Policy Group at Greenberg Traurig. — Jennifer Chronis has joined VMware as vice president for the public sector including federal, state and education. She was previously senior vice president for the public sector for Verizon and is an Amazon Web Services alum. — Kara Brooks has been promoted to be vice president for communications at SHRM. She most recently was director for corporate comms at the organization. — Cori Kramer has been named chief executive officer at Center Forward. Riley Kilburg will step into Kramer's role as executive director. — Rina Pal-Goetzen is joining the Semiconductor Industry Association as director of global policy. She most recently was general counsel of 3D printed microTEC. — Church Hutton has joined Mercury Systems as vice president of government affairs, per Morning Defense. Hutton was previously vice president of government affairs at drone maker Volansi and a staffer on SASC and Senate Appropriations. — Evan Swarztrauber is a new adviser on tech and telecom policy at the Lincoln Network, Morning Tech reports. Swarztrauber, a former adviser to former Republican FCC Chair Ajit Pai, will retain his position as a director at Clout Public Affairs.
| | | | DON'T MISS POLITICO'S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | Gillibrand Kelly Victory Fund (Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Kelly)
| | | BlueRock National Committee (PAC)
Common Good Fund (Super PAC)
Engineering America's Future (Super PAC)
PATRIOTS PAC LLC (PAC)
Stop Collectivism Or Totalitarianism Triumphs PAC (Leadership PAC: Scott Baugh)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | None.
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Active Policy Solutions, LLC: Kids Included Together
Capitol Core Group, Inc.: Ameresco, Inc.
Eb Consulting LLC: Friends Committee On National Legislation
Government Relations Group, LLC: Lerner And Rowe Business Claims
Government Relations Group, LLC: National Bio+Green Sciences LLC
Government Relations Group, LLC: Seavee Boats, Inc
Jn Strategic, Inc: American Continental Group Obo Septa
Meridian Hill Strategies Formerly Known As "Ernest C Baynard Iv": Tecore Networks
Mr. Ben Droz: Vote Hemp
Sullivan Reberger: Shimmick Contruction Company, Inc.
The Russell Group, Inc.: United Fresh Produce Association
The Sheridan Group: End Citizens United/Let America Vote Action Fund
Water Strategies, LLC: Bear Paw Development Corporation Of Northern Montana
Water Strategies, LLC: Candy Mountain
Water Strategies, LLC: Colorado River Water District
Water Strategies, LLC: Columbia Basin Development League
| | A message from HCA Healthcare: Creating healthier tomorrows — that's the idea behind the HCA Healthcare Foundation's Healthier Tomorrow Fund. Launched in 2021, this $80 million community impact fund improves more lives in more ways by addressing high-priority community needs and health equity through grants to nonprofit organizations.
For more than 50 years, HCA Healthcare has been caring for the communities where our colleagues live and serve, and this fund further expands our organization's philanthropy.
To date, the fund has provided $4.5 million to 13 organizations, including the American Heart Association, Girl Scouts of the USA, Volunteers of America, Central Texas Allied Health Institute and Educate Texas. The foundation plans to distribute up to $8 million this year.
For our patients, for our communities, for each other. You can count on HCA Healthcare to show up. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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