News: Could we see more FARA registrations by LIV's consultants?

Friday, June 2, 2023

Could we see more FARA registrations by LIV's consultants?

Jun 02, 2023

With Daniel Lippman

FARA FRIDAY: The first FARA registration explicitly on behalf of the Saudi-funded golf league LIV will soon be terminated, but experts on the statute say it almost certainly won’t be the last, and they also predict that the backlash Gitcho Goodwin faced following its retroactive registration likely won’t scare off others who might now be feeling more hesitant to do so.

— “I would be highly surprised” if Gitcho Goodwin was “the last LIV vendor to register” under FARA, said Matthew Sanderson, an attorney at Caplin & Drysdale who advises clients on the law. At the very least, he said, Gitcho Goodwin’s registration, which the firm said was filed “out of an abundance of caution,” is sure to trigger a review within the Justice Department of other entities working for the upstart league.

— LIV, which did not respond to a request for comment, has previously rejected accusations that it is serving as a propaganda arm of the Saudi government, contending that the league is a foreign business venture not necessarily subject to FARA.

— At the very least, the throng of other well-connected Washington firms working for LIV can likely expect letters of inquiry from DOJ to determine whether they have any obligation to register, said Sanderson. “The natural question is, if one vendor who is doing highly similar work chose to register, why have the others not?” Before Gitcho Goodwin, HHQ Ventures’ registration under the more opaque Lobbying Disclosure Act made it the only registered firm in town.

— Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock’s Josh Rosenstein speculated that it’s unlikely Gitcho Goodwin registered in the first place without some initial outreach from DOJ, calling it “generally rare” for a firm to do so retroactively on its own. Gitcho did not respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.

— “The compliance burdens under FARA are really heavy,” Rosenstein said, so while some registrants couch their filings with statements of doing so “out of an abundance of caution,” “prophylactic registration where the law plainly does not apply is really unusual,” he said.

— Either way, Gitcho Goodwin “was essentially put in a box” by LIV’s litigation with the rival PGA Tour, which is cited in Gitcho Goodwin’s FARA filing, Sanderson told PI, and Rosenstein noted that less formal suggestions of an entity’s qualification as a “foreign principal” in the eyes of FARA have resulted in registrations.

— The firm’s conclusion that it would rather be safe than sorry and register “doesn't provide one a lot of wiggle room — if any — to be able to say that a FARA exemption applies,” said Sanderson. Paired with DOJ’s crackdown on FARA enforcement, he added, their move to register “was understandable.”

— DOJ’s stiffer policing of foreign influence campaigns also makes it unlikely that, while Gitcho Goodwin was fired as a consultant to entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign after POLITICO reported on the firm’s foreign agent registration, fear of professional backlash could have a chilling effect on FARA registrations.

— Whether Gitcho’s decision to register was prompted by DOJ or not, Rosenstein argued, noting that now there’s either a greater understanding of the statute, or “it demonstrates the DOJ is monitoring the news."

— Compared to the not-so-distant past, the stakes of choosing not to register are “a lot higher,” said Sanderson, who added that on a positive note, Gitcho Goodwin has “likely taken any legal liability off the table and the reputational risk is likely to pass rather quickly.”

TGIF and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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DOJ PROBES POLITICAL FUNDRAISING GROUPS: “Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing at least 10 political nonprofit groups — including five recently profiled in The New York Times — seeking to determine if the groups defrauded donors, according to two recent subpoenas,” the Times’ David Fahrenthold, William K. Rashbaum and Tiff Fehr report.

— “The subpoenas, both signed by the same Manhattan-based federal prosecutor, sought recordings of the fund-raising calls made by two separate networks of political nonprofits that together have raised tens of millions of dollars.”

— “One of the two recent subpoenas was signed May 15, according to a copy obtained by The Times. It sought recordings of fund-raising calls from five nonprofits that The Times had profiled a day earlier.” The so-called 527 nonprofits, which the Times reported raised $89 million since 2014, are under investigation for alleged wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, according to the subpoena.

— The second subpoena targeted five PACs — Standing by Veterans PAC, Americans for the Cure of Breast Cancer PAC, Traditional American Values PAC, the Association for Emergency Responders and Firefighters PAC and the U.S. Veterans Assistance Foundation PAC — for possible money laundering in addition to wire fraud.

— The five PACs all “shared the same treasurer: a Wisconsin activist named Robert Piaro,” who in 2019 was the subject of a Center for Public Integrity report that found some groups he ran had never given to political candidates. A 2020 Reuters report found that fundraisers for groups run by Piaro received more than 80 percent of the groups’ disbursements.

ITI ADDS SPACE SPINOFF: The tech trade group Information Technology Industry Council is branching into space, announcing that it will absorb the Space Enterprise Council, an industry group focused on space policy.

— Existing members of the council, which was founded in 2000 at NASA’s behest, include ABL Space Systems, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Collins Aerospace, Guidehouse, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Orion AST, SAIC, Swedish Space Corporation and Viasat.

— While space is a new policy frontier for ITI, the group’s president and CEO Jason Oxman argued in a statement that many of the key elements of space policy discussions require a command of tech issues like cybersecurity and public sector modernizations, while many satellite-based services are driven by data analytics and AI.

THE TIDE ROLLS IN: “Alabama’s Nick Saban is among a contingent of coaches and administrators from the Southeastern Conference scheduled to meet with lawmakers in Washington next week to make a case for a federal assistance in regulating how college athletes can earn money off their fame,” The Associated Press’ Ralph Russo reports.

— SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey “will lead a group that is expected to include university presidents, athletic directors and lobbyists. ‘There’s a lot that goes on between our campuses and D.C. And so this is an opportunity to focus on athletics and some of the pressures that we’re facing. To communicate that, given the realities in college athletics, Congress is the place that can fix the issues we have,’ Sankey said.”

— The conference’s fly-in will include a reception Wednesday for lawmakers and staffers, with meetings with members within the SEC’s confines set for the next day. Saban’s deployment comes as “college sports leaders have been pleading for help from Congress to get a handle on name, image and likeness compensation since the NCAA in 2021 lifted its ban on athletes being paid endorsers,” and Saban, who has been an outspoken critic of the NIL status quo, is expected to be one of a number of coaches on hand, which Sankey said helps provide a frontline perspective.

IRBY LAUNCHES NEW FIRM: Marty Irby, who was forced out of the conservative grassroots group FreedomWorks last month over his past animal rights work, has launched a new lobbying and public affairs firm, Capitol South. Irby joined FreedomWorks in March as the group’s chief operating officer, shortly after the organization laid off nearly half of its staff.

— Within weeks, he became the target of a campaign dubbed #FreedomWoke that was spearheaded by the PR firm Berman and Co. and took aim at Irby’s advocacy for groups like the Humane Society and Animal Wellness Action. The campaign also painted Irby as too close with Democrats for the tea party group, despite his background in Republican politics.

— Irby resigned two weeks ago and told POLITICO he planned on opening his own lobbying shop. “Passion breeds influence and we've achieved tremendous results in the past because of that passion, our proximity to the U.S. House and Senate, and persistence in achieving results,” Irby said in a press release that includes statements from Carole Baskin (of “Tiger King” fame) and Irby’s former boss, former Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.).

Jobs Report

— Tim Berry has been named global head of corporate responsibility at JPMorgan Chase. He’s currently head of global government relations and chair of the Mid-Atlantic region.

— Cyngal has added Ehren Oates as polling director, Ryan Shucard as director of communications, Charles Russell as account strategist and Nicholas Valdiviez as sampling coordinator. Oates was previously at The Lukens Company, Shucard was previously at Liberty Blockchain, Russell was previously with Convergence Media and Valdiviez was previously at Georgia Victory.

— Jordan Wood is joining the public affairs practice at Monument Advocacy as a vice president. He previously was associate director of speechwriting for former Vice President Mike Pence and is a Deb Fischer alum.

— SMI’s Ken Wetzel will be the next executive director of the United States Advanced Ceramics Association.

— The Council on Foreign Relations has added Michael McMorrow as director of events and Emily Holtzman as assistant director of event management, and promoted Hannah Ojendyk to events manager. McMorrow most recently was a freelance senior producer and is an HBO alum and Holtzman was content manager at Marley Spoon.

— Mia Woodard recently joined the American Sustainable Business Network as vice president of policy and government affairs. She most recently was director of federal and external affairs at the Hub Project and is an alum of the Senate Aging Committee and former Rep. Al Wynn.

— Daniel Wolf has been promoted to legislative director at the American Council on Renewable Energy. He was previously policy manager.

— Jessica Nigro has been promoted to be head of corporate communications and external affairs at Lucid Motors.

— Benji Backer is stepping down as president of the American Conservation Coalition and will become executive chairman of its board of directors, per Morning Energy. Executive vice president Danielle Butcher Franz will become CEO, vice president of external affairs Christopher Barnard will become president, and vice president of grassroots strategy Stephen Perkins will become COO.

— Sara Moffat, who most recently was director of government relations at the Western Conservation Foundation, is now senior adviser at the Bureau of Land Management.

— Jacek Pruski is now deputy solicitor for general law at Interior. He previously was counsel at Protect Democracy.

— Kyle Hayes joined Foley & Lardner as a partner with a focus on renewable energy project development. He was previously special counsel for global projects at Baker Botts.

DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW.

New Joint Fundraisers

Senate Victory 2024 (Sens. Bob Casey, Maria Cantwell, Mazie Hirono, Amy Klobuchar, Jacky Rosen, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown)

New PACs

The American Carbon Alliance (PAC)
Battleground Freedom (Super PAC)
Regional Alliance for Small Business Executives (Federal) (Super PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Actum I, LLC: Small Business Construction And Engineering Coalition (Informal Coalition)
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Consumer Brands Association
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Emerson Electric Co.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Posco America
American Policy Ventures Action: American Policy Ventures Action
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Agilent Technologies
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Free File, Inc.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: The American Coalition For Taxpayer Rights
Capitol Hill Policy Group LLC: Lj Strategies LLC On Behalf Of Kansas State University
Chuck Penry And Associates: Tyson Foods
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Ponca Tribe Of Nebraska
Hbw Resources: Western States And Tribal Nations (Wstn)
Ked Strategies, LLC: Huntington Ingalls Incorporated
Ked Strategies, LLC: Kihomac
Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Jefferson Place, LLC
Nighthawk Biosciences, Inc.: Nighthawk Biosciences, Inc