With John Hendel, Caitlin Oprysko FIRST IN PI — 500K TO DEREGULATE 5G: Mike Rogers, the Republican running for Senate in Michigan, several years ago received more than a half million dollars from two dark money groups that were in favor of a deregulatory policy on 5G that he advocated in press hits and op-eds, Daniel reports. — In 2020, the former representative was announced as the chair of 5G Action Now, a group that was urging the Federal Communications Commission to move faster on approving fifth-generation wireless technology. He warned that China was going to be the leader in 5G unless government agencies removed barriers to 5G implementation. Rogers was paid $225,000 by the coalition in 2020, according to a 990 form from the organization seen by POLITICO. — 5G Action Now described itself as a “501(c)4 advocacy organization that works to educate members of Congress and the American people” about the issue but did not disclose its donors. Rogers declined to tell the Washington Post back in 2020 who was funding the effort but said he expected the group to release more details soon. — Rogers wrote several op-eds about 5G policy during his time as chair of the coalition, although one he did for DefenseOne in 2020 didn’t disclose his connection with the group. When Rogers was asked by NextTV if “wireless ISPs, ISPs, satellite companies” backed the group, he said: “Yeah, you can assume people who are interested in clearing the space responsibly” wanted to inform the public about 5G. — While the group never released its donors, Intelsat, a global satellite provider, was a primary backer of the group, a person directly familiar with the matter told PI. 5G Action Now was pushing for an outcome that Intelsat had a direct financial stake in, allowing a quick sale of its C-band spectrum for 5G. In 2020, Rogers also defended Intelsat’s financial status when asked how its bankruptcy affected the terms of any spectrum sale. — Intelsat spokesperson Steve Lott said that because he and most of the executive leadership team are relatively new to the company, he didn’t have any insight into the company’s former connection to 5G Action Now. “But generally speaking, Intelsat has long committed to educating the industry and developing guidelines for the use of 5G in frequencies allocated for C-band Fixed Satellite Services.” — Rogers’ campaign has touted his work for the group during this campaign in pushback to claims made by his opponent Elissa Slotkin in an ad that accused him of “helping Chinese tech companies” and “giving them access to the U.S.” — He was also paid $380,000 by another dark-money group called Keeping America Safe, according to the organization’s 2021 and 2022 990s seen by POLITICO. The 501(c4) group called itself a “coalition of local and state public safety organizations, businesses, and concerned citizens across the nation” that wanted to encourage innovation and investment in wireless networks as well as provide spectrum to wireless providers to make sure that consumers and public safety officials had access to “high-speed, next-generation wireless services.” — Rogers and his wife also launched a group called Leadership to Ensure the American Dream, which described its top activity as “strategic media placements” and was used by Rogers to message-test his political principles. The group, which didn’t disclose its donors, received more than a million dollars in donations in 2021 and 2022, according to its 990. Rogers didn’t end up running for president. — “It’s not a surprise that in the private sector, Mike Rogers advocated for American companies and opposed China’s efforts to become a dominant world super power, and he’ll continue to do so in the Senate,” Rogers spokesperson Chris Gustafson said in a statement to PI. “Meanwhile, Slotkin signed an NDA helping a Chinese Communist Party-backed corporation buy Michigan farmland and kill auto jobs. We’re quite comfortable with that contrast.” — Rogers previously said in 2012 that “we ought to get back to full disclosure” when asked about nonprofits funding advertising in the presidential race. “You have no idea where the money is coming from. None. I think that’s wrong.” John Hendel contributed to this report. Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. I’m Dana Nickel, and I’m super excited to be filling in for Caitlin today. Feel free to send tips, gossip and fall activity recommendations my way: dnickel@politico.com. Tomorrow, Hailey Fuchs will helm PI, so please send any lobbying tips her way as well: hfuchs@politico.com. TRANSITION TEAM: The Kamala Harris campaign chose Covington & Burling — a firm that works as a lobbyist for a variety of American corporations and foreign clients to influence the federal government — to help set up a possible transition team, reports Sludge’s Donald Shaw. — “While it works on Harris transition preparations, Covington & Burling is also employed as a lobbyist for 38 other interests that include companies, trade associations, individuals and nonprofits.” — “Its highest-paying lobbying client this year has been Qualcomm, the semiconductor manufacturer that is fighting the government’s plans to restrict its sales to China. Its second largest client is a giant drug industry group the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), for which it’s pushing the government on intellectual property issues, and a range of bills and laws including the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains measures meant to reduce drug prices.” — Covington & Burling were previously hired by Harris’ campaign to help vet vice presidential picks before Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was selected. FLYING IN: The Blockchain Association hosted its first-ever fly-in on Wednesday focused on decentralized physical infrastructure networks — or DePIN — which combine physical infrastructure and blockchain technology with a cryptocurrency-based incentive structure to provide services like geospatial location monitoring and energy networks. — The group brought a dozen of its members to meet with 16 offices in the House and Senate — the majority of which were on the Democratic side and skewed toward those interested in non-financial use cases of blockchain technology, spokesperson Curtis Kincaid told PI. — The meetings were focused more on explaining the concept than making a specific policy ask, and Kincaid noted that the delegation’s lunch briefing was standing room only, drawing more than 60 Hill staffers. SURVEY SAYS: While the majority of Americans view the Republican Party as more pro-business than the Democratic Party, Republicans were found to be more distrustful across nine industry sectors, according to data from the 2024 Public Affairs Pulse survey, released Thursday morning. — The survey found that from health care to technology to manufacturing, Republicans were more skeptical than their Democratic counterparts. While 37 percent of Republicans found tech companies to be untrustworthy, only 27 percent of Democrats agreed. — “Given the pro-business reputation of the GOP, the first major surprise we find is that Republicans are more distrustful of major companies in all nine sectors,” the study indicated. — Americans have additionally remained “remarkably consistent” in how they view campaign funding methods. According to the survey, 63 percent of respondents found the most acceptable way to fund campaigns is for candidates to spend their own money. — PACs came in third place with 57 percent of support. The majority of both major parties support PACs — 61 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans. According to the survey, only 16 percent of Democrats and 18 percent of Republicans believe PACs should not be a source of campaign funding. FIRST IN PI — COURTOVICH ORDERED TO PAY UP: A U.S. district court has ordered lobbyist Jim Courtovich to pay disgruntled Saudi investors $4 million after he failed to follow through on a settlement in which he would have paid them $1.25 million by late July, Daniel reports. — Courtovich and an investment vehicle named Woodland Drive LLC, which is funded by the Al Gosaibi family, in early June signed a settlement over $4 million that Courtovich hadn’t paid back in an investment of theirs into his lobbying firm SGR LLC Government Relations and Lobbying. — Carl J. Nichols, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on Tuesday ordered that Courtovich pay $4 million to Woodland Drive and sign a deed to a Capitol Hill townhouse to give the company a registered stake in the house that he’s now trying to sell. — Courtovich told PI in August that the dispute would get wrapped up by early September and that “everyone’s getting paid.” He said in a brief interview on Thursday that he plans to pay $4 million directly to the Al Gosaibi family in three weeks and called it “a neighborhood dispute.” He added the proceeds from the eventual sale of the house will also go to the family, a member of which Courtovich noted he recently had lunch with. — “It has been almost 10 years since Jim borrowed millions of dollars from the company,” a Woodland Drive representative said in a statement to PI. “In that time he has lied, made excuses, and blamed everyone but himself for his own behavior. Woodland Drive intends to use all legal means to enforce the $4 million judgment against him until it is fully paid.” — The representative insisted that Courtovich has to pay the LLC, not the family. The representative also asserted that the individual, Saud Al-Gosaibi, that Courtovich had lunch with “has no connection” to Woodland Drive. SO LONG SOIREE: Washington health care leaders gathered to say goodbye to Shawn Bishop, the longtime chief health aide to Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden. Bishop, a well-known figure in Washington health care policy circles, is set to leave the committee in the coming weeks. She has helped draft legislation including the Affordable Care Act, drug pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. — Among the attendees were Liz Dervan and Arielle Woronoff from CMS, Christen Linke Young and Clare Pierce-Wrobel from the White House, Kripa Sreepada, Marielle Kress, Taylor Harvey, Eva DuGoff, Marisa Salemme, Allyson Horstman, Conor Sheehey, Jack Pitsor from Senate Finance Committee. Beth Vrabel and Matt Fuentes from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, Una Lee from House Energy and Commerce, Lizzy Letter from Senate Aging Committee, Erin Doty from Sen. Michael Bennet’s office, Alex Graf from HHS, Zain Rizvi and Marissa Barrera from Senate HELP Committee, Cybele Bjorklund from Johns Hopkins, Rachel Nuzum from the Commonwealth Fund, Tom Wharton from Inlet Strategies, David Schwartz from Carefirst BCBS, Marta Wosińska and Wendell Primus from Brookings, Tracy Spicer and Elizabeth Barnett from Avenue Solutions, Sarah Egge from SplitOak Strategies, Sarah Walter from Farragut Partners, Brett Baker from Nickles Group, Yvette Fontenot from Impact Policy Partners, Michaela Sims from Sims Strategies, Raghav Aggarwal from BGR, Peter Fise from TDY. Ashley Ridlon from Evolent Health and Chris Jennings.
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