Happy Friday and welcome to PI. If you only read one thing this weekend (after PI, of course) let it be our colleagues’ first-ever oral history of the war in Ukraine marking the first anniversary. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. TRUMP ALLIES SEEK TO ALIENATE FIRMS WITH JAN. 6 STAFFERS: “A conservative non-profit group allied with former President Donald Trump urged ‘Hill staffers and their colleagues’ to cut off meetings with any former Jan. 6 committee staffers who have since joined firms that lobby,” POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs and Kyle Cheney report. — “In a letter sent to hundreds of recipients on the Hill, the dark money group American Accountability Foundation listed the names of the former committee staffers and their titles — along with their new employers and links to their firms’ clients — all of whom they urged to blacklist.” — “AAF has put together a cheat-sheet below outlining their new firms and the firm’s clients so you can be sure you (and your staff) aren’t inadvertently taking a meeting with a company that hires staff that hates your boss,” the group’s president and founder Thomas Jones wrote, citing PI’s reporting on the white-shoe law firms snapping up congressional Jan. 6 investigators and lawyers. — While many of those staffers may not ever register to lobby, Jones argued that the affiliation was more than enough. “It is important to remember that even if one of these former J6 investigators is not listed as a lobbyist on this specific account, the billings brought in by the clients listed below benefit all staff at the J6 investigator’s new firm,” he wrote. — How successful the group’s play will be remains to be seen. But it “illustrates the intense desire that exists among some conservatives to exact political retribution for those staffers who helped unearth extraordinary evidence of Donald Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election.” FARA FRIDAY: Former Sens. Norm Coleman and Tom Daschle are working on a push to bring an exhibit highlighting alleged war crimes committed by Russia in its war with Ukraine to the halls of Congress, according to documents filed with the Justice Department days before conflict turned one year old. Ukrainian steel oligarch Victor Pinchuk’s philanthropy is behind the effort, which Coleman, a senior counsel at Hogan Lovells, is carrying out pro bono. — Pinchuk and his eponymous foundation are known entities on the world stage — with a major presence at both the Munich Security Conference over the weekend and the World Economic Forum’s annual confab in Davos — as well as the D.C. political scene. Pinchuk’s foundation has been a major donor to nonprofits run by both the Clinton family and former President Donald Trump, and former Clinton pollster Doug Schoen represented the oligarch for years. — And it was reportedly Pinchuk who bankrolled a 2012 report on the jailing of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko that landed former White House counsel Greg Craig and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in the crosshairs of special counsel Robert Mueller. — His latest agenda item in Washington involves transporting the Russia war crimes exhibit — which several U.S. lawmakers may have already seen on display at Davos, and which has also made stops in European Parliament and NATO headquarters — stateside, likely around the time of Congress’ Easter recess. “The purpose here is to … show the devastation, the inhumanity that's going on, that’s being perpetrated by the Russians in Ukraine,” Coleman said. He added: “I understand from those who have seen it, it's very moving — very, very moving.” — In an interview, Coleman said the relationship arose out of Hogan Lovells’ lobbying work for Pinchuk’s company Interpipe, which involved a successful effort to get President Joe Biden to lift steel tariffs in Ukraine after the war broke out. — According to Coleman, the project has already gotten the greenlight from his former colleague and Senate Rules Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) as well as Sen. Chris Coons. He’s also reached out to staff for Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to sign on as bipartisan backers. WATCH CLOSELY: “In upholding a federal agency’s ruling in a dispute between Apple and medical device company AliveCor, President Biden has also boosted the patent case of one of his 2020 campaign’s largest donors and fundraisers,” Sludge’s David Moore writes. — “The megadonor is Joe Kiani, founder and CEO of medical technology company Masimo, which like AliveCor is battling Apple over patents underlying sensor features of the Apple Watch. Kiani and his company have donated millions of dollars to pro-Biden super PACs and the Biden Inaugural Committee, as well as hosting in-person and online fundraisers for Biden as a presidential candidate.” — “In siding with AliveCor, President Biden is keeping alive the possibility of an Apple Watch import ban, which is precisely what Kiani’s company is seeking in a separate suit. … Tech industry observers at The Verge suggested that the case could result in hefty licensing fees from Apple for AliveCor and Masimo over the technologies. Bloomberg Law estimated that annual royalties of up to $300 million a year could be on the table for Masimo.” FINK MAKES OVERTURES TO GOP: “BlackRock’s billionaire CEO Larry Fink — who has weathered a barrage of accusations over ‘woke capitalism’ run amok at his $10 trillion firm — is making a fresh push to repair relationships with conservatives in Washington,” per New York Post’s Lydia Moynihan. — “The money-management kingpin has been ordering up BlackRock ads on Fox News, sending executives to DC to meet with GOP lawmakers, and is making plans to donate more money to Republicans in the next election cycle, according to sources close to the firm.” — “The shift comes as Fink has roused the ire of multiple state attorneys general and, more recently, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over so-called ESG investments that promote environmental, social and governance reforms.” — “GOP lawmakers have threatened to investigate whether or not the group’s ties to various climate groups and ESG objectives conflict with its fiduciary responsibilities. In response, BlackRock has been scrambling to meet with representatives from Senate Banking, House Judiciary and House Financial Services, sources said.” — A spokesperson for the hedge fund, though, insisted to the Post that “the company is focused on ‘educating’ people and pointed to a recently created web page, ‘BlackRock setting the record straight.’”
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