| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by Philip Morris International | With Daniel Lippman BARRACK TRIAL GETS ITS FIRST HIGH-PROFILE WITNESS: Former President Donald Trump's first secretary of State took the stand today in the foreign agent trial of longtime Trump friend Tom Barrack, testifying that he was unaware that the billionaire real estate investor was relaying nonpublic information about the Trump administration's discussions to officials from a foreign government or that he was otherwise involved in Trump's foreign policy deliberations, your host reports. — Rex Tillerson , who served as the Trump administration's top diplomat for a little over a year from 2017 to 2018, is the first member of Trump's administration to testify in Barrack's trial, which began last month in federal court in Brooklyn. — Defense attorneys for Barrack have sought to argue that officials within the U.S. government, and potentially the president himself, were aware that their client was backchanneling with the Emiratis, and during the trial they have asserted that Barrack was under the direction or control of no one but himself. — But aside from a meeting with Barrack in his capacity as the chair of Trump's inaugural committee, and from one or two conversations during which Barrack expressed interest in a potential ambassadorship in the administration, Tillerson testified that he was unaware that Barrack was privy to what he said was "sensitive" internal discussions, including those about how the administration might respond to a 2017 blockade of Qatar launched by its regional rivals. — Barrack defense attorney Randall Jackson spent much of his cross-examination homing in on Tillerson's long tenure as the chief executive of ExxonMobil. Jackson highlighted the similarities between Tillerson's activities while in the private sector and what prosecutors have painted as nefarious behavior by Barrack, such as meeting with top officials from va rious foreign governments. — During that line of questioning, Tillerson revealed that he had looked into whether or not he needed to register as a foreign agent during his time as Exxon. "I had my attorneys and lawyers look at the law," Tillerson said, explaining that he "wanted to be sure if we needed to register, we registered." Ultimately his attorneys decided it wasn't necessary, Tillerson said. — And while Tillerson acknowledged that in many foreign countries it would be difficult to conduct business without engaging with top government officials — some of whom might hold significant business roles in addition to roles within that government's national security apparatus — prosecutors sought to draw key distinctions between how Tillerson and Barrack conducted themselves in the private sector. Good evening and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from Philip Morris International: Philip Morris International is fully committed to leaving cigarettes behind. We've invested over $9 billion developing smoke-free innovations that are scientifically substantiated to be better than continued smoking. We have the ability to end smoking in America, but a new approach is needed. Learn how. | | | FIRST IN PI — CREDIT UNIONS PREP MIDTERM AD BLITZ: The Credit Union National Association and its PAC are rolling out a seven-figure ad blitz backing more than half a dozen vulnerable lawmakers as November's elections draw closer. — The trade group will drop $2.5 million on digital ads and mailers backing Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), one of the chamber's most endangered incumbents, as well as Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), Elaine Luria (D-Va.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.), most of whom are in tight races, per POLITICO's election forecast. — The group and its PAC previously dropped $433,000 on ads during the primaries backing Katie Britt, who secured the GOP nomination for Senate in Alabama, and Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), who was defeated by a Trump-backed challenger. — Credit unions aren't the only trade group spending big to support friendly lawmakers in the final weeks of the midterms. The National Association of Realtors shelled out more than $3 million through its super PAC at the end of last month on direct mail and digital ads supporting California GOP Reps. Mike Garcia, Young Kim and Valadao and digital ads supporting Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), according to FEC filings. — The Realtors' super PAC spent an additional $630,000 on digital ads backing California Assemblymember Adam Gray, a Democrat running in the newly created 13th District, and the trade group's PAC dropped $182,000 on digital ads in another four races, backing Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.). SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CHALLENGE TO TECH LEGAL SHIELD: "The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case that threatens tech companies' broad immunity to lawsuits over content hosted on their platforms," POLITICO's Rebecca Kern reports. — "The case marks the first time the highest court will weigh in on Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that protects platforms from being sued over most third-party content on their sites. The court will decide in the case of Gonzalez v. Google LLC whether those protections are too far-reaching when it comes to recommendations of terrorist videos from Google's YouTube." — "The decision follows split federal appeals court rulings on the constitutionality of state social media laws — which could also be heard by the Supreme Court this term. In the Gonzalez case, the court could rule that platforms would not be allowed to use computer algorithms to recommend content to users — something the platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook rely on to generate ad revenue and increase user engagement."
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | FIRST IN PI — BOLTON JUMPS TO MINDSET: Mindset is bringing on Dwayne Bolton as a principal, hiring away one of the few Republican lobbyists at theGROUP D.C. , which saw business boom over the past two years thanks to its deep ties with Democratic leaders in Washington. — Before joining theGROUP last year, Bolton served in various roles at the Energy Department in the Trump administration, including as the agency's Hill liaison. Before that, he lobbied for Edison International and Caterpillar. The firm has also hired Alex Barcham as a director, Katelin Romano and Christian Depue as analysts, and Carol Dhanoolal as an executive assistant. MOVING ON: "Republican megadonor Peter Thiel is signaling to allies that he is largely done helping Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance, and wants his deep-pocketed political network to boost Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters as he trails Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in the polls," people familiar with the matter tell CNBC's Brian Schwartz. — "Thiel told guests at a recent Masters fundraising event that he believes Vance is on track to win his Senate race against Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, according to those who attended the gathering and overheard his comments. The GOP donor hosted the fundraiser at his $5 million home in Los Angeles." — "'Peter said, "That race [Ohio Senate] is done in my mind,"' according to one of the people familiar with Thiel's conversations with attendees. Vance and Ryan are vying for retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman's seat in Ohio, a swing state where Republicans have enjoyed increased success in recent years." — "At the Masters fundraising event, Thiel told attendees that Vance no longer needs the boost he required during the GOP primary because most polls show him leading Ryan, according to those familiar with Thiel's conversations. A RealClearPolitics polling average shows Vance leading Ryan by more than 1 percentage point. Ryan has raised over $21 million while Vance has brought in just over $3.6 million, according to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets." FIRST IN PI — SOLSBY JOINS IHRSA: Jeff Solsby is headed back downtown to join IHRSA—The Global Health & Fitness Association as the trade group's senior vice president of communications. He most recently served as a senior policy adviser to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and before that spent more than a decade in communications and public affairs with several different trade associations, including the National Restaurant Association and Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America. WHOOPS: An "unknown individual" stole nearly $37,000 from the Consumer Technology Association 's PAC in July, the committee said in an FEC filing first reported by Forbes' Zach Everson. According to the committee, someone "created, forged and cashed six fictitious" PAC checks for more than $25,000. Another $11,000 was siphoned from the PAC's bank account through ACH debit transactions, the committee said. — The committee said in its filing last month that its bank had returned about $24,000 so far, but a spokesperson for the trade group said it has since recouped all of the missing funds. "CTAPAC allows CTA a voice in the political process and empowers our advocacy efforts with support from our members," the spokesperson told PI. "As such, we take any CTAPAC concerns seriously. With no indication of any CTA employee involvement, we have appropriately addressed this situation with our financial institution and have fully recovered the funds." SPOTTED at an 11th anniversary party for S-3 Group at Salt Line on Thursday, per a PI tipster: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise , Reps. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), William Timmons (R-S.C.), Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Davis; Arjun Mody of the Senate GOP, Jeff Shockey of Raytheon, Devan Patel of American Unity Fund, Danielle Burr of McKinsey, Larry Ryder of Austal USA, Lindsay Ryan; David Marin of Viatris, Patrick Magnuson of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Brian Barnard of Uber, Sarah Rittling and Sarah Rubinfield of First Five Years Fund, Matt Meyer of Smith's office; Ben Napier, Francis Brooke and Brett Horton of Scalise's office, Kunal Parikh of Sen. Tim Scott's (R-S.C.) office, Margie Almanza of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Kate Renz of Pitney Bowes , Dan Nunez Cohen of Crypto.com, Adam Peterman of T-Mobile, Colin Supko of Exiger Federal Solutions, John Leganski of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy 's office, Jimmy Peacock of Hinson's office, Michael Taggart of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Katie Brown of Sen. Susan Collins' (R-Maine) office, Collin McCune of the House Financial Services Committee, Carl Szabo of NetChoice, Hollyn Schuemann of General Motors, Megan Hansen of Rocket Mortgage, Dana Brooks of Pet Food Institute, Albert Shen of the Asian American Action Fund and Sean Maxwell and Annika Olson of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. — And at a 10th anniversary party for Forbes Tate Parters on Thursday, per a tipster: Natalie Torrentinos and Elizabeth Brown of the Children's Hospital Association, Asher MacDonald of Gopuff, Matt Lathrop of Yum Brands, Dave Grimaldi of the Blockchain Association, Rob Hall of Entergy, Jason Malher of Oracle, John Lamy of Live Nation, Amy Isbell of Universal Music Group, Shannon Hines of Textron, Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.), Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), Jerry Carl (R-Ala.), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Mike Turner (R-Ohio), Steil and Smith; Josh Saltzman, Christine Burgeson, Shelley Rubino and Nick Calio of Airlines for America, Dan Turton of Tyson Foods, Rebecca Mandell of Organon, Keith Stern and Amy Soenksen of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, Sam Segall of Datavant, Francesca McCrary of Dell Technologies, Courtney Lee-Ashley of Novartis, Erin Polak of Grail, Rob Hoffman of Rep. Patrick McHenry's (R-N.C.) office, Bart Reising of Scalise's office, Macey Matthews of Rep. Jason Crow's (D-Colo.) office, Sarah Kaplan Feinmann of Rep. Lizzie Fletcher 's (D-Texas) office, Napier and McCune.
| | | | A message from Philip Morris International:   | | | | | | — Stephen Klopp is joining Ballard Partners as a partner. He was previously deputy assistant Senate Sergeant at Arms. — Mike Lucier is now senior vice president at Height Capital Markets. He previously was deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) and is a Don Beyer and Jim Moran alum. — Pasquale "Pat" DiFrancesco is now a director at Advanced Advocacy. He most recently was corporate relations manager at the Mercatus Center. — Tim Swope has joined Johnson & Johnson director of pharmaceuticals for federal affairs. He was most recently assistant director and lead for public affairs at the federal and state level for the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association. — Shaw Drake is now senior policy counsel on border and immigration issues for the national branch of the ACLU. He most recently was staff attorney and policy counsel at ACLU of Texas. — Caitlin Groves is joining the Mortgage Bankers Association as director for communications and standards adoption, and Falen Taylor has been promoted to director of public affairs at the trade group. Groves previously was a senior account executive at Pinkston and Taylor was previously senior public affairs specialist. — Chasten Buttigieg is joining KNP Communications as a senior consultant. — Usman Rahim is joining Bank of America's public policy team as a senior vice president. He previously was a financial services policy analyst for BGR and is a Treasury and Thom Tillis alum. — Tilden Katz is joining Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies as a senior principal to launch the firm's Strategic Communications/Reputation Management Practice. He was most recently vice president for strategic communications and crisis communications at SmithBucklin. — Alex DeMots is now deputy to White House staff secretary and senior adviser Neera Tanden . He was most recently general counsel at the Center for American Progress. — Angelena Bradfield is now head of policy and government relations at the Financial Technology Association. She most recently was senior vice president for AML/BSA, sanctions and privacy at the Bank Policy Institute. — Kevin McColaugh is now director of government affairs at 6K Inc. He previously was deputy chief of staff for Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.
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| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Capitol Counsel LLC: Emergent Biosolutions
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen, & Loewy LLP: Inter-American Development Bank
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen, & Loewy LLP: International Monetary Fund
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen, & Loewy LLP: Pan-American Health Organization
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen, & Loewy LLP: The World Bank Group
Hair Of The Dog Outfitters, LLC: South Texas Gulf Shrimpers Emergency Association
Peraton Corp.: Peraton Corp.
Scipher Medicine: Scipher Medicine
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Insight Public Affairs, Inc.: Upcodes
Mg Housing Strategies LLC: Silver Street Development Corporation
Mr. John A. Devierno: Virgin Hyperloop Formerly Reported As Virgin Hyperloop One
Peterson Group (Fl): National Association Of Community Health Centers
Section Vii Strategies: Jinkosolar US
The Majority Group, LLC: Integrated Strategies Group On Behalf Of Assoc. Of Administrative Law Judges
The Majority Group, LLC: Perkinelmer (Fka Oxford Immuotech USa)
The Majority Group, LLC: Union Home Mortgage
The Petrizzo Group, Inc.: Ibio, Inc.
| | | | A message from Philip Morris International: Philip Morris International is fully committed to leaving cigarettes behind. We've invested over $9 billion developing smoke-free innovations that are scientifically substantiated to be better than continued smoking. Those in public health and policymaking have the power and responsibility to support the end of smoking, but a new approach is needed. Learn how. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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