Fetterman camp takes aim at a Dem super PAC

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Oct 14, 2022 View in browser   By Caitlin Oprysko With Daniel Lippman FETTERMAN CAMP ACCUSES DEM GROUP OF GRIFTING: Last weekend, Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman's campaign issued a warning to donors about a purported scam. And for once, it wasn't Fetterman's Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz , at whom they were leveling the charge, your host reports. — On Twitter and over email, Fetterman's campaign manager Brendan McPhillips laid into what he called a "scam PAC" that was "using John's name and likeness for their own fundraising." — "These people are only pretending that the money they raise goes to John and our campaign. In reality, they are tricking thousands of donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars," McPhillips wrote in a fundraising email. "Not only is this wrong, it also puts us at a major disadvantage." The object of McPhillips' ire was an ad backing his candidate launched earlier that week by the Democratic Coalition, a progressive super PAC whose spending practices have ruffled feathers in Democratic circles before . — McPhillips' missive on Twitter was cheered by several progressive operatives who have previously accused the group of soliciting money from impassioned liberals only to spend it on its own operations. To which McPhillips replied: "Fuck around and find out, grifters." — But it's a charge the group rejects, saying that the super PAC has been transparent with donors, and is only looking to help elect Democrats. The super PAC, which is run by progressive consultant and fundraiser Scott Dworkin, has collected $350,000 this cycle, FEC filings show — the vast majority of which has come from small-dollar donors giving less than $200. — The committee has reported no independent expenditures either supporting or opposing federal candidates this cycle, compared with the $73,000 it dropped in the lead up to the 2020 election and Georgia Senate runoffs. — The roughly $20,000 the super PAC spent on Facebook ads through August amounts to just 6 percent of its total disbursements. The group has dropped another $900 on the platform in the past 30 days, according to Facebook's ad library, but those ads only began to mention specific candidates and target users in Pennsylvania and Ohio beginning in this month. By contrast, more than half of the super PAC's $330,000 in disbursements has flowed to the committee's employees or firms run by them, filings show. — Dworkin argued that the nature of the Democratic Coalition's work doesn't translate well into FEC's reporting requirements. "Because we are active on social networks on a daily basis, it requires relentless activity from our team, and so most of our expenses are labor related," he said. Moreover, he added, "generating organic activity for candidates doesn't meet the reporting requirement of buying a paid advertisement because it is based on earned social media reach." — "Our group's modest fundraising has done nothing but help Democratic campaigns and causes," he said. "Our group's messaging has driven billions of impressions over the years and we have built a massive megaphone to help amplify our allies, which we will continue to utilize for years to come." Happy Friday and welcome to PI, where we're nursing a half giant-sized hole in our heart today. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com . And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko .   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today .     DGA NABS 4 FROM DLA PIPER: Mac Bernstein, John Merrigan, Jessica Woolley and Stephanie Jebeyli have all left DLA Piper to join Dentons Global Advisors , which continues to expand its government relations offerings that launched earlier this year. Merrigan, who co-chaired DLA Piper's federal law and policy group, and Bernstein, who was a partner in the practice group, had been with DLA Piper for two decades. Both will be partners as DGA. Woolley will be an associate partner and Jebeyli is joining as a director. CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: "When the president of the Brookings Institution stepped down last summer amid a federal probe into whether he had illegally lobbied on behalf of Qatar, the news elicited a certain schadenfreude among think-tankers to the right of the august Washington research outfit." — "But now, three months after the Qatar controversy rocked Brookings, the uproar has sparked a new wave of Congressional scrutiny and proposed legislation — driven largely but not exclusively by conservatives — that could ultimately complicate life at the same right-leaning institutions where people giggled at John Allen's dramatic fall from grace," POLITICO Magazine's Michael Schaffer writes. — "For all the joy that conservative pols have taken at Brookings' latest turn in the barrel, conversations with people around the industry reveal an irony: Any potential new wave of government-mandated disclosure rules, especially those that go beyond foreign money, would actually represent a bigger cultural change at right-wing organizations, some of which historically have tended to see donations as a form of free speech." SOME RAGRETS : Democrats wishing for one last cash infusion from crypto exec-turned-megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried before the midterms shouldn't get their hopes up for an eleventh-hour spending spree, the FTX chief executive told our Sam Sutton . — "I did say it, but I don't think anyone believed it: I think primaries are more important," Bankman-Fried said. "I'm not saying I'm not going to do anything ever in a general, but I don't think that message [about being focused on primaries] really, viscerally resonated." And what about Bankman-Fried's proposition earlier this year that he could pour up to $1 billion into races between 2022 and 2024? "I mean, that was a dumb quote on my part," he stated. — "My guess is that I'm not going to spend a huge amount of money on general elections because, in general, I think that's just not where the most important levers are. I think my messaging was sort of sloppy and inconsistent in some cases — which was all part of a coherent whole — but was not always sort of phrased with what the snappiest sound bites would be in mind." — The comments drew the ire of the progressive group Indivisible. "Billionaires and PACs spent mountains of cash in the 2022 Democratic primaries, smashing historic records for primary spending," Leah Greenberg the group's co-executive director, said in a statement, accusing well-heeled donors of trying "to kneecap as many progressives as possible in a time of growing progressive power in Congress" while claiming to be "investing in winning Democratic majorities." Now, Greenberg argued, "Democrats are fighting for their lives in the general -- and all that 'Democratic majority' money is gone." TECH HEAVYWEIGHTS IN HOT WATER ACROSS THE POND: Three members of the European parliament are calling for American tech giants and several of their advocacy groups to be barred from lobbying the EU , accusing the firms of engaging in deceptive shadow lobbying during negotiations over two landmark EU tech laws, POLITICO Europe's Clothilde Goujard reports. — The lawmakers "on Thursday submitted complaints against eight companies and lobbying groups to the EU's lobbying body, the EU transparency register, according to documents seen by POLITICO." — "The MEPs asked for an investigation into Google, Facebook's parent company Meta and Amazon, as well as large lobbying groups including tech trade association the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and advertisers' group IAB Europe . Three other lobbies representing small and medium-sized companies — SME Connect, Allied for Startups and Connected Commerce Council — are also targeted by the complaints." — "The politicians also want representatives of the eight organizations to be blocked from entering EU institutions to meet with policymakers, lawmakers and diplomats if the watchdog finds the allegations merited." ANNALS OF FLIP FLOPPING: "Democratic Sen. Cory Booker used to hate on super PACs, saying 'there should be no super PACs for anyone.' Now, less than a month away from the 2022 midterm election, he's raising money for a super PAC — one led by former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords," Insider's Hanna Kang reports. — "In a fundraising email this week, Booker asked his supporters to contribute to the Giffords PAC, founded by Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly — now a US senator representing Arizona — to elect supporters of gun control to public office." — "'The cost of gun violence is immeasurable,' he wrote in the email. 'Every gunshot wound and every mass shooting leaves an indelible mark on our nation's soul.' Alluding to the upcoming election in November, he added: 'Giffords is leading the fight on this issue, and if we can win a few more seats this November, greater change is possible.'" — "In the past, Booker hasn't been so keen on super PACs. When asked in 2019 by Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic whether a super PAC that is supporting his candidacy for president should be shut down, Booker responded , 'I believe there should be no super PACs for anyone ... I urge anyone and everyone not to have super PACs in this race.'" While Giffords PAC is a hybrid PAC, "Booker's fundraising message leads donors to a donation page where money raised will go to the super PAC side of the operation." Jobs Report — Charlene MacDonald will be chief government affairs officer at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. She most recently served as senior managing director and head of health care and life sciences at FTI Consulting. — Shaila Manyam has been promoted to be executive vice president and managing director for corporate and public affairs at BCW Global. — Jordan Brooks has been tapped to be chief of staff for second gentleman Doug Emhoff. She previously was executive director of the United State of Women and executive vice president of gender equity at Civic Nation, and is an Obama White House alum. — Reinsurance Group of America appointed Steve Simchak and Christopher Winship to serve as vice president and head of the company's Washington office and vice president of legislative and regulatory relations for Asia, respectively, Morning Money reports. — Jamie Wall is now vice president and head of the D.C. office of ExxonMobil. She most recently was executive vice president of advocacy at SIFMA, and is a Subject Matter and Honeywell alum. — The Mortgage Bankers Association has promoted Justin Wiseman to vice president and Managing Regulatory Counsel, Joel Kan to vice president and deputy chief economist and Heather Messam to vice president and controller. — Howard Ou is joining the Asian American Foundation as director of government relations. He most recently was associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, leading on AAPI, housing and agency portfolios for his team. — Michelle Singer is joining Workday to lead the U.S. public policy team.   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 .     New Joint Fundraisers SHAFFER VICTORY 2022 COMMITTEE (Friends of Jeremy Shaffer, Engineering the Future PAC, Great America Committee) New PACs Alaska March On (PAC) Committee For United America (Super PAC) POLITIVIST LPAC (Leadership PAC: Cori Bush) Median Ways PAC (PAC) New Lobbying Registrations Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Evoendo, Inc. Dc Legislative And Regulatory Services, Inc.: Agrospheres, Inc. Dinino Associates, LLC: Iridium Satellite LLC Efb Advocacy, LLC: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Holland & Knight LLP: Credo Semiconductor Inc. Prime Policy Group: Atabey Capital Management Prime Policy Group: Freeport Minerals Corporation Proventure Consultants LLC: United States Parachute Association Reliable Robotics Corporation: Reliable Robotics Corporation Resolution Public Affairs, LLC: Blackrock, Inc Squire Patton Boggs: American Chamber Of Commerce In Germany E.V. Squire Patton Boggs: Chase Corporation Summit Public Affairs: City Of Memphis, Tennessee Water Strategies, LLC: City Of Newport Water Strategies, LLC: Emrgy New Lobbying Terminations 1607 Strategies, LLC: United Wholesale Mortgage, LLC Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Coalition Of Professional Minor Hockey Leagues Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: US Physician Partners (Informal Coalition) Atlantic Strategies Group: Envistacom, LLC Atlantic Strategies Group: Logos Technologies, LLC Atlantic Strategies Group: Tactical Air Support, Inc. Bgr Government Affairs: Diem Networks US, Inc. Bgr Government Affairs: Purchasing Power, LLC Bockorny Group, Inc.: Center For Capital Markets Competitiveness (United States Chamber Of Commerce) Bramer Group LLC: United Development Group, LLC Chamber Hill Strategies: National Academy Of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc. Chamber Hill Strategies: Saghmos Therapeutics, Inc. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP: Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Locus Solutions, LLC Covington & Burling LLP: Charles River Laboratories David Turch & Assoc.: City Of Billings, Montana Fulcrum Public Affairs LLC: Association Of Young Americans Fulcrum Public Affairs LLC: Csl Behring Invariant LLC: Id.Me, Inc. Masiello, Martucci & Associates: Buffalo City Cemetery, Inc Monument Advocacy: The National Wildlife Federation Mullett Strategies LLC: Americans For Modern Transportation Nate: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association: Nate: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association Squire Patton Boggs: Bluon, Inc. (Formerly Bluon Energy LLC) Squire Patton Boggs: Momentive Performance Materials Water Strategies, LLC: Dig Deep Research, LLC   Follow us

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