PALESTINIANS LOOK FOR INROADS WITH TRUMP: As the U.S. prepares to inaugurate Donald Trump for the second time, The New York Times’ Adam Rasgon and Charles Homans report that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has embarked on an expansive campaign “to rehabilitate his once adversarial relationship with Mr. Trump as Palestinians reckon with an incoming president who expressed near unreserved backing for Israel in his first term.” — “As president, Mr. Trump advanced policies that infuriated the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy over parts of the West Bank under Israeli occupation. … Incensed, Mr. Abbas barred senior Palestinian officials from contact with people in the Trump administration. But Mr. Trump has publicly called for the war in Gaza to stop. Mr. Abbas appears to be reversing course, hoping to influence the president-elect’s views on the conflict and cease-fire talks.” LEFTY GROUPS GIRD FOR BATTLE: “Some of the largest donors to Kamala Harris and to progressive causes worry they could face investigations and retaliation from the Trump Administration next year — and are preparing for the possibility,” Semafor’s Ben Smith and Shelby Talcott report. — “At least one of the groups receiving LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman’s vast contributions has consulted lawyers about the possibility of an investigation, a person close to the group said. And leaders of progressive nonprofit organizations were brought together Thursday at the East 62nd Street mansion that houses the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation by that group’s leader, Elizabeth Alexander, and the president of the JPB Foundation, Deepak Bhargava.” — “Progressive leaders are split on the seriousness of the short-term legal threat. Some are skeptical that Trump would use the federal apparatus to attack Democratic donors and progressive nonprofits that veer toward electoral politics — in part because a move like that would also alarm Republican donors and non-profits. Others are closer to outright panic.” RELATED READ: “Congress is about to gift Trump sweeping powers to crush his political enemies,” by The Intercept’s Noah Hurowitz ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: The Daily Beast revised a previous report on the amount of money that the Trump campaign and pro-Trump PACs directed to campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita over the past two years. — Though the Beast’s Michael Isikoff initially reported LaCivita had personally received $22 million from the campaign, on Friday the outlet revised that number down to $19.2 million and noted that the story “has also been updated to make clear that payments were to LaCivita’s LLC not to LaCivita personally.” GSK DROPS BIO: “Pharmaceutical industry giant GSK plans to depart the biotechnology industry’s largest trade group, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization,” with a spokesperson telling Stat News’ John Wilkerson, Lizzy Lawrence, Rachel Cohrs Zhang and Sarah Owermohle that the company opted not to renew is membership during its annual evaluation. — “‘At this time, we believe there are other areas we can focus our resources,’ the spokesperson said. The company is maintaining its membership in the brand drug lobby PhRMA, and in state-based BIO affiliates, the spokesperson said.” — “GSK is the fifth biopharmaceutical company to depart BIO in roughly a year, including major pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and UCB. Those departures coincided with a drop in lobbying spending from the group and other challenges. The lobby laid off 30 employees, including several senior leaders, in a restructuring earlier this year. The lobby has had four CEOs over the past four years.” KNOWING HOWARD LUTNICK: “The financier Howard Lutnick has been given a high-profile assignment from President-elect Donald J. Trump, one that raises questions about the Wall Street executive’s dual role and what he might gain from it,” the Times’ Kate Kelly and Ken Vogel report. — “As co-chair of the transition team, Mr. Lutnick is in charge of identifying 4,000 new hires to fill the second Trump administration, including antitrust officials, securities lawyers and national security advisers who have global expertise.” — “But Mr. Lutnick has not stepped away from running financial firms that serve corporate clients, traders, cryptocurrency platforms and real estate ventures around the world — all of which are regulated by the same agencies whose appointees he is helping to find.” — “Given his sprawling business interests, it’s not known how Mr. Lutnick might keep from violating the transition’s own code of ethics,” which “say that individuals who work on the team must disqualify themselves from matters that may directly conflict with their own financial interests or those of an organization with which they do business.”
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