| | | | |  | | By Hailey Fuchs and Brendan Bordelon | With Daniel Lippman PROGRAMMING NOTE: POLITICO Influence will not publish Monday, Presidents Day, but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. SCOTUS INFLUENCE OPERATION: As Google awaits a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could dramatically upend portions of its business model, a group of prominent online content creators and a nonprofit for authors have rushed to its defense. In January, a number of prominent internet influencers and the nonprofit Authors Alliance filed an amicus brief defending the tech giant in Gonzalez v. Google. The case, which is slated for oral arguments on Tuesday, could weaken — or even upend — the company’s treasured liability protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. And those same protections, the creators wrote, are vital to them too. Left unmentioned in the brief was that the parties behind it had direct financial ties to Google. The group that funded the brief, a nonprofit advocate for startups called Engine, is funded in part by Google. And at least one of the content creators who signed on to the amicus brief has said that employees from YouTube, a Google subsidiary, invited them to sign onto the brief. In addition, the firm representing the creators and Authors Alliance — Keker, Van Nest & Peters — represents Google in other litigation. Google spokespeople did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Authors Alliance referred comment to one of its lawyers, Ben Berkowitz, who maintained that neither the group nor the creators were paid to sign onto the brief. Berkowitz also said that neither Alphabet, nor Google, nor its subsidiaries authored the brief or contributed funding. “Our firm’s representation of Google in unrelated litigation is public knowledge, and not a conflict,” he stated. “We represented Authors Alliance and a diverse group of individual content creators to express their views to the Supreme Court about the important role Section 230 plays in protecting and promoting diverse and independent content.” But for Big Tech critics, the intertwining of interests behind the amicus brief is another illustration of how those companies have used their resources to tilt the scales of power. Beyond the millions Google spends on lobbying each quarter and the trade associations that make its case to policymakers on the Hill, the company has pointed its operatives to another target: the Supreme Court. You can read the rest of the story here, which we published today, here. Happy Friday, and welcome to PI. My name is Hailey Fuchs, and I cover money and influence for POLITICO. I’m filling in for Caitlin today, but she’ll be back on Tuesday. Make sure to send me all your tips and movie recommendations for the long weekend: hfuchs@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter @Hailey_Fuchs.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | REPUBLICAN POLITICAL OPERATIVE SENTENCED: Former Sen. Rand Paul adviser Jessie R. Benton was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for his part in an illegal campaign contribution scheme. — Benton was convicted in November 2022 for his role in the transfer of money from a Russian national to the Trump 2016 campaign. He had been pardoned by Trump for other crimes that he had been convicted of before the former president left office. PBMS UNDER FIRE: “The drumbeat of calls to enact reforms to pharmaceutical middlemen is growing louder after years of largely unsuccessful attempts by lawmakers to make sweeping changes to how the industry operates — and advocates hope that conditions are ripe this year for action,” my colleague Megan R. Wilson reports. — “Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill pledge to rein in so-called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, which design and manage the formularies that determine which medicines and treatments health plans will cover. Two bipartisan bills putting the spotlight on PBMs have been reintroduced, and more are expected.” — “A number of other factors — including Democrats’ drug pricing victory last year and increased pressure from states and federal regulators — have paved the way for movement on PBM measures, said lobbyists for providers, community pharmacists, drugmakers and congressional staffers.” — ”Critics — both inside and outside Congress — said the industry has become too consolidated and opaque, hurting patients and independent pharmacies in the name of profit.” A PODCAST FOR LOBBYISTS: Big Whig Podcasts has a new show among its offerings that seems to have a potential audience on K Street: “80-Proof Politics.” It's hosted by Bill Shute, executive director of the LBJ School of Public Affairs’ Washington Center. Shute has spent much of his career in government relations, including many years as the Vice Chancellor for Federal Relations at the University of Texas System. — “80-Proof Politics distills the art of advocacy in our nation’s Capitol and explore[s] how policy proposals are created, debated, and decimated by the tens of thousands of people and organizations working behind the scenes,” per Big Whig’s description of the show. APPLE GROWS LOBBYING TEAM: Apple has contracted Shara Aranoff, a lobbyist at Covington & Burling and former U.S. International Trade Commission chair, according to the Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom. — “Apple is boosting its lobbying might as President Biden nears a decision next week on whether to block a potential Apple Watch ban,” Evers-Hillstrom writes. — “The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled in December that Apple infringed on medical device company AliveCor’s wearable electrocardiogram patents. The commission’s ruling could result in an import ban on popular Apple Watch models, unless the Biden administration steps in.”
| | | — Tony Sayegh is now head of public affairs at Susquehanna International Group, per Axios’ Mike Allen. He most recently was senior managing director at Teneo and is a Trump Treasury and White House alum. — Carla Frank is leaving the White House where she was the deputy director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach and a special assistant to the president, for whom she worked for six years, Daniel Lippman reports. She will be doing some consulting work after her time in the administration. — Tevi Troy has launched 1600 Lessons, “an executive-coaching series that builds its lessons around presidential leadership,” our colleague Michael Schaffer reports. “Troy is a former official in the George W. Bush administration and the author of books on presidential pop culture (2013’s ‘What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted’), presidential disaster-management (2016’s ‘Shall We Wake the President?’), and presidential staff rivalries (2020’s ‘Fight House’) … He’s also a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center. … Priced in the five figures, the five-part workshop’s early clients have included Lockheed Martin and Eli Lilly.” — Tom Jawetz is now a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress’ immigration policy team. He previously was deputy general counsel in DHS’ Office of the General Counsel. — Kristy Balsanek is now a partner with DLA Piper’s regulatory and government affairs group, Playbook reports. She previously was general counsel, chief compliance officer and data privacy officer at Lidl US. — Kelsea Forward is now associate director of government affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. She was previously comms assistant at the American Farm Bureau Federation. — Kevin Kelly is now a partner at Atkum. He previously was COO for Van Scoyoc Associates. — Toby Tyler Douthat has been named executive director of Engage, the women's economic security nonprofit founded by Rachel Pearson. She most recently was deputy comms director for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), where she worked for more than six years. — Will Mitchell has been hired on the clean energy and energy efficiency legislative affairs team of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He most recently was senior adviser for Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.). — Patrick Uzcategui is now associate manager for government relations and issue management at Unilever. He was previously government relations associate at Sylvamo.
| | | Gillibrand Baldwin Victory Fund (Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Tammy Baldwin)
| | | Social Progress in Union with Economic Growth (Super PAC)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC: Breast Cancer Foundation Of The Ozarks Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC: Limited Liability Company Arctic LNG 2 Alston & Bird LLP: Commonwealth Care Alliance Passage Consulting Group LLC: Aircraft Owners And Pilots Association The Conafay Group, LLC: Cornerstone Government Affairs obo Texas Medical Center Passage Consulting Group LLC: USA Cares Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Hyperion Technologies Passage Consulting Group LLC: Climavision American Strategic Partners: Louisiana Department Of Wildlife And Fisheries Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Collegium Pharmaceutical Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Sparkcognition Government Systems, Inc. Harbinger Strategies, LLC: Investment Company Institute The Russell Group, Inc.: UPL NA, Inc. Roberti Global (Fka Roberti White, LLC): American Pharmacies, Inc. Holland & Knight LLP: Paragon Solutions (US), Inc. Jake Perry + Partners: PatientRightsAdvocate.Org Inc. Monument Advocacy: NextNav, LLC Federal Street Strategies, LLC: BlocPower Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: University Of Arkansas For Medical Sciences Crossroads Strategies, LLC: TES US Development LLC Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Michigan Health & Hospital Association Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Community Associations Institute OnMessage Public Strategies: National Association Of Broadcasters JGB & Associates, LLC: Cornerstone Government Affairs obo Community Associations Institute
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Tiber Creek Group: Spotify USA Inc. Jeffrey J. Kimbell And Associates: Medical Device Manufacturers Association ACG Advocacy: WeWork Management LLC Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP: Financial Services Forum
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