ESG FOR ME, BUT NOT FOR THEE: “Republican lawmakers who railed against ‘woke capitalism’ in the 2022 midterm elections have taken tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from some of the same Wall Street money managers they have attacked for pushing what the GOP calls ‘far-left’ positions on environmental, social and corporate governance issues,” CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports. — “Conservative activists have been pressuring Republicans to wield their new power in the House to block corporations and executives that use their influence to promote ESG plans such as clean energy investments or corporate policies that support abortion rights or LGBTQ rights, among other issues.” — “Matt Schlapp, chairman of the influential Conservative Political Action Conference, called on Republican lawmakers in a September letter to agree not to meet with ‘corporate woke elitist(s)’ once they regained control of Congress. — "Republicans have vilified BlackRock, Vanguard Group and State Street for leading the push on Wall Street to promote clean energy and what GOP lawmakers often title ‘left-wing social priorities.’” — “Still, many Republican lawmakers received money from the very firms their party is criticizing. Ten of the 29 Republicans on the Financial Services Committee, including [Chair Patrick] McHenry, took in a combined $140,000 in campaign donations from those three investment firms during the 2022 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings.” — “McHenry and Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., who chairs the Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and was tapped to lead the ESG working group,” each took the maximum contribution of $10,000 from BlackRock’s PAC — “the third election cycle in a row that both lawmakers took donations from the firm’s PAC.” PI LEGAL CORNER: A D.C. judge has ruled that a countersuit in an intellectual property fight between Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and software company Xcential over bill-drafting software may move forward. The lobbying powerhouse sued Xcential last year to contest ownership of the software Xcential sought to patent. — Akin Gump alleges that in-house attorney Louis Agnello created the software, which Xcential denies, accusing Akin Gump of trying to take credit for its product after demoing its bill amendment capabilities to the firm in 2019. Xcential filed its countersuit weeks later, accusing the firm of some of the same violations that Akin Gump claimed, including breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, and arguing that the patent application it filed was specific to its existing bill-writing software. — In an order issued last week, Judge Juliet McKenna of the D.C. Superior Court ruled that most of Xcential’s counterclaims were “plausible” enough to proceed. She denied Akin Gump’s motion to dismiss Xcential’s claims of violating software licensing and confidentiality agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of implied contract. She granted a motion to dismiss Xcential’s claim of slander of title by Akin Gump. — A spokesperson for the firm told PI that “we believe Xcential’s claims are meritless, and we look forward to proving our case in court.” Grant Vergottini, a co-founder at Xcential, claimed victory in the ruling, saying in a statement: “I am pleased that the judge saw through Akin Gump’s blatant attempt to deny our firm the opportunity to show in a court of law why only Xcential could have invented our bill-drafting technology.” — McKenna is set to hear a separate motion by Akin Gump on Friday. The firm is also seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the U.S. Patent Office from moving forward with Xcential’s patent application. FIRST IN PI: When local broadcasters hit the Hill next week for the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual fly-in, they’ll be doing so with a broad mandate opposing legislation to grant performance royalties for plays on broadcast radio. Broadcaster associations in all 50 states and Puerto Rico have unanimously approved a resolution opposing those royalties, which broadcasters contend is a tax on small broadcasters. — The more than 500 local broadcasters coming to town next week will primarily urge their members of Congress to sponsor the Local Radio Freedom Act, a perennially introduced resolution affirming opposition to performance royalties for broadcast plays that typically attracts broad bipartisan support in each chamber. — The House version of the measure, which was reintroduced earlier this month, already has more than 100 sponsors. But this year’s fly-in comes on the heels of advancement in the last Congress for the recording industry’s push for radio royalties. As the legislative calendar wound down last year, the House Judiciary Committee approved the American Music Fairness Act, which would grant broadcast radio royalties, by voice vote, sending it to the House floor. — NAB contends it’s not intimidated by the royalties bill’s progress. “Broadcasters appreciate that time and again Congress has taken a stand for local radio stations and their listeners by opposing a new performance fee on radio,” NAB spokesperson Alex Siciliano told PI. “Next week, local broadcasters from across the country will have the chance to personally thank these broadcast champions, while continuing to advocate that policymakers oppose job-killing fees on local radio stations.” ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: “Former President Donald J. Trump, who throughout his business career had a reputation for not paying lawyers, spent roughly $10 million from his political action committee on his own legal fees last year,” The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reports. — “The money that went to Mr. Trump’s legal bills was part of more than $16 million that Mr. Trump’s PAC, Save America, spent for legal-related payments in 2021 and 2022, the filings show.” Some of that amount “appears to have been for lawyers representing witnesses in investigations related to Mr. Trump’s efforts to cling to power. But the majority of it — about $10 million — went to firms directly representing Mr. Trump in a string of investigations and lawsuits, including some related to his company, the filings showed.” — “The recent spending related to Mr. Trump is notable not just for the sheer volume … but also because Mr. Trump is now a declared candidate for president again.” It’s raising questions among campaign finance experts, who argue that “having [Trump’s] PAC continue to pay his legal bills now that he is a candidate would be seen as a contribution to him, and therefore be subject to legal limits.”
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