With Daniel Lippman WHAT ANITA DUNN'S FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES TELL US: SKDK founding partner Anita Dunn is finally in the White House long-term, which means that more than a year and a half after her initial stint with the administration and her brief return to the Democratic consulting powerhouse, we get to see who Dunn's corporate consulting clients have been. — Dunn's financial disclosures, first reported by CNBC's Brian Schwartz, reveal that the senior Biden adviser has consulted for several major corporations with business before the government, even though the firm has long emphasized that it neither lobbies the federal government nor represents clients on matters before the government. In the past two years, Dunn advised AT&T, Lyft, Pfizer, Micron, Intra-Cellular Therapies, Salesforce and Reddit, the disclosures show. — Dunn also did consulting work for the renewables trade group American Clean Power Association, Melinda French Gates' investment outlet Pivotal Ventures, the Center for American Progress' advocacy arm and the Ford Foundation , in addition to political campaigns like President Joe Biden's. — Though a White House spokesperson told CNBC that Dunn would divest from her and her husband Bob Bauer's investment portfolio, which experts told CNBC is worth anywhere from $16.8 million to $48.2 million, ethics experts argued it would be difficult for Dunn to sufficiently recuse herself to avoid any conflicts of interest and still be able to provide value to the administration. — "It seems like an episode of Veep more than it seems like reality," said Jeff Hauser of the Revolving Door Project, which has raised alarms about Dunn's previous lack of public disclosures during her last tour in the White House, when Dunn was paid just under the salary threshold that would have triggered public disclosure requirements and her official status as a temporary government employee. — "Our fears were validated in that regard," Hauser told PI of learning Dunn's corporate clients now. He pointed to her work for Pfizer as particularly concerning. "We're confused how you could possibly serve in the White House with just a Pfizer relationship given … Pfizer's ubiquity across the top issues for the administration — let alone the others," he said. — "The top issue across the Biden administration … has been the pandemic," he noted. Pfizer is also one of a stream of drug companies that objected to drug pricing measures heading to Biden's desk, and has also opposed efforts to waive IP protections for Covid vaccines to make them more easily accessible across the globe. Pfizer did not respond to a request for comment about Dunn's work for the drugmaker. — Hauser argued that not only is Dunn likely "too senior at a cross-cutting job" to feasibly recuse herself in a meaningful way from "all matters involving SKDK and her past clients," as the White House told CNBC. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from PI about what steps it is taking to mitigate conflict of interest concerns regarding Dunn. — Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, said that Dunn and her husband's extensive investment portfolio raised another set of conflicts. "The economy is the number one issue for Biden," he said. "I can't believe that [Dunn]'s not getting involved with the economy. And look at this bill that just went through that has all these different pieces that you know, it's bad for the drug industry, it's good for the car industry," he added, referring to the reconciliation bill. — He also pointed to the semiconductors bill Biden signed into law this week, which Dunn touted in an interview on MSNBC yesterday. "I can't believe she hasn't been involved in that stuff," he said. — Apart from recusal issues, Dunn's cycling in and out of the Biden administration also means that her marketability as an in-the-know power player "is constantly being renewed," Hauser contended. "People, when she's in the private sector, not only value her for her past, but they also are looking at somebody who might be in power again in the future. So she's a double threat in that regard." Good afternoon and welcome to PI. It may be recess, but we're still around — let us know what's going on out there: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. CITIES TURN TO K STREET TO LAND HEALTH RESEARCH HQ: "The Biden administration's multibillion-dollar innovative science research agency may be a ways away from coming together, but that hasn't stopped some organizations from enlisting K Street to help get ARPA-H's headquarters located in their home states" POLITICO's Megan Wilson reports. — "A growing list of states and cities — including California, Cleveland, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Missouri, Chicago, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina — have private interests, state and local governments, and members of Congress touting their respective top-notch qualifications through letters, calls and press releases." — "Congressional delegations have written to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra for the last several months to plead their case. Becerra has housed the new agency under the National Institutes of Health, but its leader reports to him." — "Lobbyists and executives said they've also been in touch with others at HHS, NIH and the White House's science office, though the outreach has been scattershot because it's unclear who will make the final decision, how it will be decided — or if the agency will even be located outside the D.C. area." — "The flurry of activity shows how valuable states and localities think the agency could be for economic development and a showing of their prestige to the nation. Although some lobbyists and government officials aren't convinced of how much of a boon it'll be, the fierce battle to host ARPA-H this early on in the process foreshadows how competitive it could become." BLACKROCK GROWS ITS RANKS IN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: "Another BlackRock Inc. executive is joining the Biden administration, adding to the close ties between the Wall Street heavyweight and the seat of power in Washington," Bloomberg's Sridhar Natarajan and Eric Martin report. — "Eric Van Nostrand, a BlackRock managing director who was head of research for sustainable investments and multi-asset strategies, is exiting to join the Treasury Department. He will be a senior adviser on economic issues tied to Russia and Ukraine and will report to Ben Harris , assistant Secretary of Treasury for economic policy, a person familiar with the matter said. He starts on Monday." — "Larry Fink's $8.5 trillion investing giant has been gaining clout in Washington as the Biden administration has stocked its ranks with ex-BlackRock executives. That means the company is now seen as one of Wall Street's key conduits to the power center in Washington -- a tag that was more closely associated with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. through prior administrations." — Two BlackRock execs have been with the Biden administration since its inception: Brian Deese, the head of the National Economic Council, was previously head of sustainability at BlackRock. A few years before being tapped as deputy Treasury secretary, Adewale Adeyemo was a senior adviser at the firm and served as Fink's interim chief of staff. — " Mike Pyle, BlackRock's former chief investment strategist, joined the administration to serve as Kamala Harris's chief economic adviser and is now a key player on Russia sanctions. All three had previously worked in the Obama administration, like Van Nostrand, before moving to BlackRock and then returning to Washington," Bloomberg reports. BANKS OPPOSE ANTI-REDLINING PROPOSAL: "Banks are pressing their regulators to dial back a proposal to overhaul anti-redlining rules, arguing that it would be hard to comply with and could limit credit access to some of those who need it most," per POLITICO's Victoria Guida. — "The long-awaited proposal, which would be the first reform of the landmark Community Reinvestment Act since the 1990s, would expand the scope of areas where banks face community lending requirements." — "'This requirement could have significant implications for banks that operate in areas that are not densely populated,' the American Bankers Association told the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC in a comment letter." — "The Bank Policy Institute, which represents large lenders, contended that mandating CRA-qualified loans based on where they have a certain threshold of loans 'would be inconsistent with the agencies' statutory authority.' BPI said the stringency of the retail lending test makes the proposal 'vulnerable to a challenge that it is arbitrary and capricious.'" — "The proposal comes as agencies try to modernize CRA to account for the fact that a lot of financial services are provided outside of traditional bank branches, and some institutions operate entirely online."
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment