KOCHS TAKE ON TRUMP: “The political network financed largely by billionaire Charles Koch is launching a wave of digital ads targeting former President Donald Trump,” CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports, with the network arguing that a Trump victory in the Republican presidential primary would hand the White House back to President Joe Biden. — One of the spots from the Americans for Prosperity Action super PAC “has a voiceover saying, ‘The only way Biden wins is if we nominate Trump again.’ Another ad, called ‘No Thanks,’ says, ‘Trump can’t win’ and ‘we need new leadership.’” — Americans for Prosperity Action dropped nearly $70 million in last year’s midterms, and has already clocked more than $300,000 in independent expenditures opposing Trump and Biden. The new ad blitz will target “voters in the key early primary and caucus states Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada” and comes as the group said earlier this year it would oppose Trump in the GOP primary. — Bloom is also adding Brian Vanderbloemen to lead its federal lobbying efforts as vice president of government affairs and policy, working to shape implementation of the energy provisions in the infrastructure bill and Inflation Reduction Act. He most recently helped lead federal government affairs for the SAS Institute, and before that consulted for utilities like Duke Energy, Dominion and Southern Company. FLYING IN: The Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition began a three-day fly-in today to take its case for easing regulations on psychedelic drugs directly to lawmakers. As PI wrote last month, the coalition is one of several groups advocating for more research into the therapeutic use of drugs like psilocybin, the hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms, that has landed some powerful allies on K Street in recent years. — The coalition is looking to rally support for bipartisan legislation from Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the Senate and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) that would make it easier for the DEA to reschedule classes of substances designated as a breakthrough therapy like psychedelics to remove a key barrier for researchers and patients alike. As part of the fly-in, the coalition is also hosting a briefing with the co-chairs of the Congressional Neuroscience Caucus, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas). — The Insured Retirement Institute will kick off its fly-in tomorrow. The industry group’s board of directors, which includes senior executives from life insurers, broker-dealer firms and asset management companies, will discuss IRI’s 28-point retirement security blueprint with nearly 20 offices, including those of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) as well as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). GOODLATTE SIGNS CHAMBER LEGAL REFORM ARM: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, which lobbies for various kinds of tort reforms, has hired a top former GOP lawmaker to help its agenda on the Hill. Bob Goodlatte, a former chair of the House Judiciary Committee before deciding not to run for reelection in 2018, began working for the Institute for Legal Reform in April, according to a newly filed disclosure. Matthew Barblan, a former lobbyist for the Association of American Publishers, will work on the account as well. — Much of the institute’s advocacy as of late has revolved around instituting caps on how much attorneys can charge for Camp Lejeune health-related lawsuits. The ILR has also long pushed for disclosure requirements surrounding third-party litigation funding — which involves financing lawsuits, typically in exchange for a cut of any settlements or judgements — and lobbied aggressively for liability protections for businesses at the height of Covid. FIRST IN PI — HYDROGEN COMPANY’S D.C. FOOTPRINT BLOOMS: Bloom Energy, a California-based manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells, is beefing up its presence in the nation’s capital and global lobbying footprint. James Roth is joining Bloom as its senior vice president of global government affairs and policy to lead the company’s advocacy efforts in D.C. and overseas, where Bloom is looking to expand to new markets. He was most recently with Conservation International and before that led federal affairs for Starbucks and worked for former Sen. Evan Bayh. META IN THE MIDDLE: “The top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee denounced Meta for allegedly using its recommendation systems to promote the distribution and sale of child sexual abuse material in pedophile networks on Instagram,” our Rebecca Kern reports. — “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying he’s investigating the Wall Street Journal’s report last week that Instagram allegedly helped to connect groups of pedophile networks, according to a copy of a letter sent Monday that was obtained by POLITICO.” — “The letter comes as Congress and state legislatures advance a growing number of bills to set stronger guardrails for kids and teens’ safety and mental health on social media platforms. The White House is also urging Congress and the platforms to protect kids online as rates of depression among young adults doubled from 2011 to 2021.” — “The latest Meta scandal and Cruz’s letter puts the onus on Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to consider children’s online safety and privacy bills that advanced in a bipartisan fashion out of her panel last year but have not seen action this Congress.” — Separately, an aide for Cruz, who is already probing social media giants over their algorithms and alleged censorship, told POLITICO that the senator wants to haul Meta before the committee to testify on the WSJ report. SPOTTED at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck for a book party on Monday for former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s new book “You Report To Me,” per a tipster: Norm Brownstein, Jon Hrobsky, Luke Johnson, Jason Buckner, Kate Gonzales, Bella Wolitz and William McGrath of Brownstein, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Cole Rojewski of RBW Group, William Bourdeau of Harris Farms, Cameron Bishop of J.R. Simplot Company, Lesley Schaaff of Hess, Holly Hopkins of the American Petroleum Institute, Mike Olsen of Aker Solutions, Taylor Playforth of Rep. Garret Graves’ (R-La.) office, Blake Schindler of Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) office, Micah Chambers of Cramer’s office, John Tanner and Tripp Parks of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Rebecca Konolige and Rob MacGregor of the House Natural Resources Committee.
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