AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY LOBBYIST MOVES TO BCBS: Illy Jaffer will be joining the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association next week to serve as its managing director of federal government relations. She comes from serving in the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network's lobby shop. — Jaffer's resume also includes doing advance work for the Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns. On Capitol Hill, she previously worked as deputy chief of staff to Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas). NEWS FACEBOOK AD NERDS CAN USE: "Get ready for Facebook versus the researchers: Round 2," POLITICO's Mark Scott writes. "With just over four months to go before midterm elections, academics at New York University are gearing up for another battle with Facebook over how to track digital ads after their first attempt got them banned from the company's ad database after the 2020 presidential election." — "On Wednesday, the NYU researchers launched a searchable database of Facebook digital political ads they've managed to pull together despite the ban, putting them right back in the company's crosshairs." — "Meta, Facebook's parent company, stripped Edelson and two NYU colleagues of their access to its own database of political ads just weeks before Joe Biden's presidential victory two years ago. The company accused them of breaking its terms of service on privacy by creating a browser extension that enabled users to provide the researchers with granular information on the types of ads appearing in their news feed. Meta also threatened to sue the researchers, who argued their work didn't violate the company's policies." — "The conflict highlights how little has been resolved over how online political ads should be tracked and how outside groups can be allowed to keep tabs on digital advertising spend that is estimated to hit $1.3 billion during the midterm election cycle. That's playing out in the build-up to November's election — an early warning sign ahead of the flood of digital campaigning already starting ahead of the 2024 presidential election." FLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY TURNS FROSTY: "Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) is taking a pause from his usual campaign stance as a 'happy warrior,'" POLITICO's Gary Fineout reports, a pivot that includes a new mailer taking aim at Democratic rival Nikki Fried's past occupation as a lobbyist in the state, calling her a "Republican lobbyist for big tobacco and insurance companies." — Before becoming the state's agriculture commissioner in 2018, Fried "was a lobbyist and primarily represented companies involved in the state's burgeoning medical marijuana industry," Gary notes, a resume item that has already caused controversy for the gubernatorial hopeful. She "also represented other companies at one point, including a Florida tobacco company and insurance trade groups." EV STARTUPS PROTEST TAX CREDITS IN RECONCILIATION BILL: "Electric-vehicle startup Rivian Automotive Inc. is warning that planned revisions to the EV tax credit would put the young car maker at a disadvantage to more-established competitors," The Wall Street Journal's Sean McLain reports. — "If it passes in its current form, the new legislation would extend the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs but add new restrictions that Rivian said would make most of its vehicles ineligible for the incentive program. Rivian, in a statement, said the legislation as currently drafted would pull the rug out from consumers considering a switch to EVs. The California-based startup is calling for a longer transition to the new incentive program." — "The company, in particular, takes issue with a planned cap that would make any electric trucks, SUVs and vans selling for more than $80,000 ineligible for the federal subsidy. It also opposes the proposed income restrictions. Buyers with household incomes of $150,000 or higher—$300,000 for married couples—wouldn't qualify for the credit on new EV purchases." — "'The whole point of an incentive is to mainstream a new technology,' said Jim Chen , Rivian's vice president of public policy. 'With any technology you start with a higher price point.'" While some Rivian models start below $80,000, "'it doesn't take much to push our vehicles over the cap,' Mr. Chen said. Most of Rivian's vehicles sell for above $80,000, he said." — "Rival EV startup Fisker Inc. also criticized the new qualifying requirements, saying they would stifle widespread EV adoption and unfairly favor a few companies." ILLEGAL LOBBYING CHARGES UNLIKELY FOR GIULIANI: "As Rudolph W. Giuliani comes under intensifying scrutiny for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, another legal threat is quietly fading : the criminal inquiry into his ties to Ukraine during the presidential campaign," The New York Times' William K. Rashbaum and Ben Protess report. — "The investigation, conducted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the F.B.I., has examined whether Mr. Giuliani illegally lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian officials who helped him impugn Joseph R. Biden Jr., then expected to be the Democratic presidential nominee." But nearly three years later, that probe "is unlikely to result in charges, two people with knowledge of the matter said." — "While prosecutors had enough evidence last year to persuade a judge to order the seizure of Mr. Giuliani's electronic devices, they did not uncover a smoking gun in the records, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a federal investigation. The prosecutors have not closed the investigation, and if new evidence were to emerge, they could still pursue Mr. Giuliani."
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