FIRST IN PI — STARTUP LOBBYING FIRM ADDS PENTAGON ALUM: Washington Office, the new government affairs firm focused on helping startups navigate the nation’s capital, has announced several new hires, including former Defense Innovation Board Executive Director Colleen Laughlin, who is coming on as a senior vice president and partner. Laughlin has worked for the Pentagon since 2006, most recently serving as an adviser on strategic competition, military tech and innovation. Startup founder and Navy veteran Luke Finney has joined the firm as an adviser, along with defense consultant Seth Lloyd and venture capitalist Ian Seltzer. WHAT SHEEHY’S COMPANY SPENDS ON LOBBYING: While Montana Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy tries to paint opponent Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) as a Washington insider, his old company Bridger Aerospace — which he is the largest shareholder of — is still lobbying Congress, Daniel reports. — Bridger Aerospace, an aerial firefighting and aerospace services company, was recently named in a lobbying disclosure, which shows that it had Collective Strategies and Communications and the firm’s Phil Hardy and Matt Gall on retainer to lobby on the House Interior Appropriations bill. Collective Strategies has worked since early 2023 for Bridger, which paid them $15,000 in the second quarter. Hardy in June 2023 also donated $3,300 to Sheehy’s campaign. — Bridger previously retained Crossroads Strategies, paying the firm $370,000 from 2021 to 2022 to lobby on aerial wildfire suppression and management, as well as implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law. — A trade association where Sheehy is still on the board of directors, the United Aerial Firefighters Association, also has a registered lobbyist on staff who in part educates “members and staff on the existence, priorities and challenges of the aerial firefighting industry.” Besides his work for Bridger, Hardy also previously lobbied for UAFA, an organization that Tester has also met with. — Sheehy is no longer the CEO of Bridger, but he has said he still occasionally flies for the company, tweeting that “fighting wildfires is the best job in the world.” As of early July, Sheehy owned 10.4 million shares of Bridger stock, which are worth more than $30 million. The company’s biggest customer is the federal government, which provides around 75 percent of Bridger’s revenue. — “While Jon Tester is in fact the number one recipient of lobbyist cash once again, even taking more lobbyist cash than any presidential candidate or member of congressional leadership from either party, it is sad that Politico would take public information and try to make it scandalous because Tester and the Democrats are hell bent on ruining a company that creates jobs for Montanans,” Sheehy spokesperson Katie Martin said in a statement. — Hardy said in a text message: “Aerial firefighting is one of the most difficult industries to operate in that is designated for small businesses alone to operate in. It is heavily regulated and subject to out of date rules and practices by federal agencies and several of these businesses fail or leave the market because of this.” TEVA BOLSTERS LOBBYING ROSTER: Teva Pharmaceuticals has retained Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, the second addition to the generic drugmaker’s stable of outside firms so far this year. Faegre Drinker’s Megan Herber, Elliot Vice and Bryan Allen began lobbying for Teva in May on a number of issues related to drug pricing and PBM reforms as well as exclusivity incentives and patent reform. — Last month, The Washington Post reported that the FTC has opened an investigation into Teva as part of a broader line of inquiry from the agency and congressional Democrats into whether drug companies make minor changes to their products in order to extend their patents and ward off potential competitors, allegations the industry has denied. — In addition to Faegre Drinker, Teva brought on Colas & Associates back in April to lobby on drug patent issues. Teva also retains Capitol Hill Consulting Group. ANOTHER STATE PROBES MUSK PAC: CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports that “the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office … is eyeing a political action committee created by billionaire Elon Musk following a complaint to the state election board over the PAC’s collection of personal data while failing to help users register to vote as promised.” — “The North Carolina Board of Elections later Monday told CNBC that it has opened an investigation of Musk’s America PAC,” which had been “asking website users in battleground states for personal data — such as ZIP code, full address and a phone number — under the pretext of helping them register to vote without doing so.” — “‘North Carolina law makes it a crime for someone to fail to submit a voter’s registration form if that person has told a voter that they would be submitting the voter’s registration form,’ the board’s spokesperson, Patrick Gannon, told CNBC.” SPEAKING OF THE REVOLVING DOOR: “Republican congressional staff have become lobbyists at higher rates than Democrats in recent years but the offices with the most revolving door action are mostly Democratic,” per LegiStorm’s Heavyn Lester. — “Over 7,200 revolving door lobbyists have served in GOP offices since 2002, exceeding the number of Democratic revolvers by over 1,000. GOP revolvers are currently exceeding Democratic revolvers in 2024, with Republican offices employing nearly 56% of staffers that made the move to K Street and 62% of incoming staffers who made the leap from K Street to the Hill.” — “Despite Republicans employing the most revolvers since 2002, only three GOP members are amongst the top ten revolving door congressional employers still in office: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).” — “Schumer claims the top spot for the most revolvers, 100, having employed nearly 34% more revolvers than the next highest senator, Collins, with 75 revolvers.”
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