LIV hires Ben Quayle

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Aug 25, 2022 View in browser   By Caitlin Oprysko PROGRAMMING NOTE: Influence won't publish from Monday, Aug. 29, to Monday, Sept. 5. We'll be back in your inbox on Tuesday, Sept. 6. With Daniel Lippman LIV LOBBIES UP: LIV Golf , the controversial golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia, has registered to lobby for the first time, Hailey Fuchs reports. The golf tour hired Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures — the firm of former Rep. Benjamin Quayle (R-Ariz.) — earlier this month, according to a disclosure filed today. — The firm will lobby for LIV on "education and issues related to the game of professional golf in the United States and abroad" as well as "protecting the rights of professional golfers to play when and where they choose." Quayle and Rashid Hallaway, a former legislative assistant to former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), will work on the account. — "Although LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi's Public Investment Fund, the registration was not filed with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Instead, it was filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which requires more lenient disclosures around lobbying activities." INDEPENDENT RESTAURANT COALITION BROADENS ITS FOCUS: After blazing onto the advocacy scene at the beginning of the pandemic and becoming a key player in the successful lobbying effort to create an industry-tailored restaurant relief program, the Independent Restaurant Coalition is looking to harness its political power outside of federal aid programs. — The coalition has continued to push for another round of funding for the program — earlier this month they urged Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to push for the inclusion of more RRF money in the reconciliation bill. — But in an email sent to advocates on Wednesday, the coalition said it is monitoring several other legislative targets for the coming months — a shift from last summer, when a spokesperson told PI the coalition was singularly focused on restaurant relief. That singular initial focus contrasted with the restaurant industry's other main trade association in Washington, the National Restaurant Association , which has long lobbied on numerous issues in addition to relief measures for restaurants, and also counts large chains and franchises among its members, unlike the IRC. — The IRC said it is still engaged on a number of other Covid aid-related issues. But it's soliciting people with experience lobbying on the farm bill, which expires next year, and says it has heard from members on a range of different priorities for the bill including food security, conservation, waste reduction and sustainable ag practices, and improved conditions for food and ag workers. — The coalition also said it has been in touch with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is co-sponsoring legislation aimed at limiting the transaction fees credit card companies charge merchants, to "advocate for a fair process for independent restaurants to ensure these fees are equitable." — IRC also teased next month's White House conference on nutrition, hunger and health, and said it is monitoring fights over the fees delivery companies charge restaurants, though those battles have largely taken place at the state and local level and IRC doesn't expect that to change. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. What's going on out there? Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.    SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     TWITTER WHISTLEBLOWER TO HIT THE HILL: "Twitter's former chief security officer is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month following the public release of his allegations that the company repeatedly failed to protect its users' data," POLITICO's Rebecca Kern reports. — The panel "announced a hearing on Sept. 13 featuring the testimony of Peiter Zatko, whose whistleblower complaint made public on Tuesday alleges 'egregious' privacy and security violations at the company." — "The hearing is the first of likely numerous investigations expected by Congress in the coming months, as lawmakers probe the implications of the cybersecurity vulnerability claims Zatko — a renowned cybersecurity expert — made against his former employer." — "'Mr. Zatko's allegations of widespread security failures and foreign state actor interference at Twitter raise serious concerns. If these claims are accurate, they may show dangerous data privacy and security risks for Twitter users around the world,' Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a joint statement. Twitter has called the allegations 'riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies.'" — Meanwhile Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, "said he has concerns about how the security allegations could impact the November midterms." TWITTER LOBBYIST MOVES TO GOOGLE: As scrutiny of the platform ratchets up on the Hill, Twitter will be down one of its in-house lobbyists. Reggie McCrimmon, a public policy manager at the company for nearly three years, has joined Google as a government affairs and public policy manager for Google Play focused on content and safety. — McCrimmon, who's also a Congressional Black Caucus and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) alum, said in an interview that while his role will continue to consist of coalition building and looking for allies in Washington, a big part of the role will include working with product teams to relay intel, "helping them understand regulatory threats and the best way to make sure that we are putting our best foot forward." He added that he loved working at Twitter, but that he was eager to hone a different area of expertise. WHAT'S ON STEVE WYNN'S MIND?: RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel on Wednesday sought to juice some of the party's biggest donors amid worries about Republican fundraising in marquee Senate races, POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reports, a plea to which megadonor and casino magnate Steve Wynn responded with a curious inquiry: Whether there are any dark-money nonprofits that contributors could give to. — Such 501(c)4 groups, of course, are not required to disclose their donors, unlike traditional PACs. They also aren't allowed to operate primarily as a political organization. — According to a recording of the call obtained by Alex, Wynn, who in 2018 stepped down from his role as the RNC's finance chair amid sexual misconduct accusations the casino magnate has denied, argued that some donors "'are self-conscious for reasons that are personal to them, business people and folks like that' and would rather give anonymously." — Per Alex, "the billionaire also offered up some messaging advice. Republican candidates, he said, should run aggressive TV ads casting Democrats as advocates of tax policies that would hurt lower-wage earners and small businesses. 'Hard-hitting kind of spots with a man's voice, no soft pedal,' Wynn suggested, before giving a sample script: '"They're coming after you if you're a waiter, if you're a bartender, if you're anybody with a cash business … they're coming after you."'" PI LEGAL CORNER: The grant consulting and lobbying firm McAllister & Quinn has dropped a lawsuit against six of its former lobbyists accusing them of violating their contracts as well as trade secrets statutes when they left to join a rival lobbying firm earlier this year. — In the suit filed in February, McAllister & Quinn accused Jessica Venable, Scott Tominovich, Chris Fish, Joo Young Lee, Casey Newell and Jake Parduhn of secretly coordinating their departures from the firm and arranging to bring more than two dozen clients to Thorn Run Partners with them. McAllister & Quinn also accused their former staffers of improperly retaining reams of documents the firm said contained "confidential and trade secret information" relating to its specialization in grant consultancy. — Venable, Tominovich, Fish, Lee, Newell and Parduhn moved to have the case thrown out in March. But the two sides came to an agreement that McAllister & Quinn would drop the case upon certification that its former employees had permanently deleted the internal documents in their possession, which happened in July, according to court filings. SUMMER READING: The New York Times Magazine has an excerpt out today of David Enrich's upcoming book "Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump, and the Corruption of Justice" that explores how the law firm Jones Day , through its attorneys' penetration of the Trump administration, "is now taking advantage of a judicial revolution that it helped set in motion. The power of that revolution, which is spreading to courtrooms and statehouses around the country, is now on vivid display," Enrich writes, and the firm's "influence seems poised to grow."   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     Jobs Report — Stewart Alvarez has come out of retirement to rejoin the Travel Technology Association as its interim president and CEO. He most recently served as recently served as head of industry affairs for the Americas at Amadeus and was a founding member and former board chair at Travel Tech. — Abigail Robbins is now a federal relations specialist at Northeastern University. She was most recently senior associate for governmental affairs at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. — Craig Gordon is joining Mainspring Energy as senior vice president of government affairs. He previously was senior vice president of government affairs at Invenergy, and helped start the American Clean Power Association. — Ashley Johnson has joined the National Pork Producers Council as director of food policy. She comes to NPPC from Zoetis, where she was a technical service veterinarian for more than five years. — Adam Klauder has joined Squire Patton Boggs as a partner in the government investigations and white collar practice. He most recently was senior director in the global investigations and compliance practice at Guidehouse (formerly Navigant Consulting) and previously served as global head of sanctions investigations and global investigations adviser for HSBC Bank. — Caleb Orr is now a research fellow at Boyden Gray & Associates. He most recently was senior policy adviser and deputy staff director of the Senate Small Business Committee for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). — Scott Stanzel will be executive vice president and chief communications officer at Truist . He most recently was managing vice president for corporate communications at Capital One. New Joint Fundraisers Gillen Victory Fund (Gillen for Congress, New York State Democratic Committee) GREAT OPPORTUNITY PARTY (Sen. Tim Scott, Tomorrow Is Meaningful PAC) Hermeus Corporation PAC (PAC) HKR Victory Fund (Rep. Ro Khanna, Kendra Horn for Senate, Will Rollins for Congress) Houston Congressional Victory Fund (Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Al Green, Sylvia Garcia, Lizzie Fletcher, Putting People First PAC, Ready To Work PAC, Leading People Forward PAC) NOVEMBER VICTORY FUND (Sen. Tim Scott, Tomorrow Is Meaningful PAC) New PACs BridgeToBlue (Super PAC) Restaurant, Bar & Lounge Coalition (PAC) New Lobbying Registrations Haggerty Policy Solutions: California Life Sciences Holland & Knight LLP: University Of The District Of Columbia Foundation Oculus Strategies, LLC: Acorn Growth Companies, Lp Primacy Strategy Group: Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation The Cormac Group, LLC: American Physical Therapy Association The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Natural Ocean Well Co. New Lobbying Terminations Beacon Strategies: Permalite, Inc Beacon Strategies: Planet Fitness Corporate Office Beatrice Rivera: In Our Loving Arms Inc. Hodgkins And Associates: Maximus Hodgkins And Associates: Viz.Ai Michael Rothschild: The Central Park Independent Living Centers Michael Rothschild: The Shteynberg Lerner Pac   Follow us

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