With Josh Gerstein and Daniel Lippman WHICH BIDEN DONORS SCORED INVITES TO THE STATE DINNER: Joe Biden feted French President Emmanuel Macron last night for the first state dinner of his presidency, a glitzy affair whose attendees ranged from lawmakers and members of the administration to business leaders, celebrities and other cultural luminaries, according to a list provided by the White House. — As with any high-profile political gathering, the guest list also included a number of prolific Biden donors. PI counted more than a dozen bundlers — meaning they raised at least six figures — for Biden's 2020 campaign. — Among them were Roger Altman, the co-founder of the investment banking firm Evercore. Altman gave the maximum $5,600 to Biden directly in 2020, and FEC records show he kicked in $200,000 toward the pro-Biden super PAC Unite the Country. He cut a $185,000 check for another pro-Biden super PAC, and gave $91,000 to a joint fundraising committee between the Biden campaign and DNC. — Blair Effron, who co-founded the investing banking advisory firm Centerview Partners, also scored an invite. Effron contributed more than $140,000 to one of Biden's joint fundraising committees, along with $50,000 to Unite the Country. Filmmaker Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn , who together gave nearly $1.5 million to one of Biden's joint fundraising committees and hundreds of thousands more to other Democratic super PACs in 2020, were on hand as well. — Stewart Bainum, the chairman of Choice Hotels International, was also in attendance. Bainum was among the top donors to Unite the Country, to which he gave $2 million. He donated another six figures to the Biden Victory Fund and of course maxed out to Biden personally. — The White House also invited Alexander Soros, the son of the liberal rainmaker George Soros and a prolific Democratic donor in his own right; fellow megadonor Laurene Powell-Jobs; Microsoft President and Biden bundler Brad Smith; former Microsoft President and Biden bundler Jon Shirley and his wife, Kimberly; The Aladdin Project's Leah Pisar; Disney's Dana Walden; Laura Shell; Joe Kiani of Masimo Corp.; real estate developer Jeff Worthe; Nicole Avant; and Bank of America's Anne Finucane. — A couple of K Street types also made the cut. Ken Jarin, a Biden bundler and head of Ballard Spahr's lobbying practice, was invited, as was former Rep. Filemon Vela, who now lobbies at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Happy Friday and welcome to PI. If you're feeling generous this holiday season, share a tip or two (or three): coprysko@politico.com . And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko .
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FIRST IN PI — BENNETT, MA SETTLE UP: GOP lobbyist Barry Bennett and former colleague Ying Ma have settled a nearly four-year-long court fight over $300,000 in allegedly unpaid referral fees related to Ma's effort to drum up clients in Asia at the outset of the Trump administration, Josh Gerstein reports. — Lawyers for Bennett and Ma announced the agreement during a brief hearing Thursday morning in state court in Rockville, Md. "We'd like to ask it be confidential, if that's possible," Ma's lawyer Albert Moseley II said, requesting a few days to draft the language. — Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Fogleman said there were ways to keep the terms under wraps, but he told the parties he wanted the civil suit definitively resolved Thursday. "This case has been delayed and delayed and delayed," the judge said. "I don't want it coming back." — Bennett, who attended the hearing Thursday, was declared in default for not responding to earlier orders from the court. His former attorney variously attributed the lack of response to illness, unreceived court papers, fears that Ma was passing on information about Bennett to the FBI and concerns that POLITICO was reporting on public filings in the case shortly after they were submitted. — But the court ruled the defiance was so severe that Bennett could not put on evidence to counter Ma's claims. Bennett served as campaign manager and Ma served as deputy communications director for Dr. Ben Carson during his 2016 presidential campaign. — After the election, Bennett teamed up briefly with Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to launch Avenue Strategies, which attracted scores of well-heeled international clients and others with business before the Trump administration. — Ma claimed in her suit that she secured meetings for Bennett's firm with the Chinese internet-sales giant Alibaba Group and the Embassy of Vietnam. "The only agreement we ever had was a referral one for business that never materialized," Bennett told POLITICO last year. — Ma also alleged in her suit that Bennett had been "implicated" in a federal investigation. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that the probe involved potential FARA violations. Bennett suggested to POLITICO last year that he was unsure whether he was under investigation by the feds. "I hear rumors all the time," he said last May. Reached by phone, Ma declined to comment. Bennett and his current attorney, John Monica, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. SHADOW 2024 GROUPS RAKE IN MILLIONS: Dark money nonprofits associated with potential 2024 presidential contenders quietly raised millions of dollars last year that could then be deployed to form the backbone of those Republicans' bid for the White House, POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs reports. — Stand for America Inc., former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley 's 501(c)4, took in around $8.6 million in 2021, according to its tax return. The money was used on digital content, direct mail campaigns and message development. — "As the politicians associated with them gear up to run, these groups can dole out millions on fundraising, email list cultivation, research, direct mail, and digital advertising. And they can do it all without having to reveal the source of their funds" — as was the case for former Vice President Mike Pence's group Advancing American Freedom, which raised around $7.7 million last year, including anonymous $2 million and $1 million contributions. — "The group affiliated with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R), Opportunity Matters Network , raised about $1 million in 2021, during which it gauged 'different target audiences' potential response' to policy initiatives, cultivated its email list, and developed advertising. … An America United — the group affiliated with outgoing Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan — raised about $2 million in 2021 and reported spending on research, 'supporter acquisition,' and 'audience building.'" — Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Champion American Values Fund, meanwhile, "reported just $126,000 raised between August 2021 and the end of that year. A CAV Fund official maintained that the group raised millions in 2022, but declined to provide a specific figure. … A nonprofit known as the America First Policy Institute, often described as Trump's 'White House in waiting,' reported revenue of around $14.2 million." BOEING SCRAMBLES FOR A REPRIEVE: "One of Boeing Co.'s biggest engineering challenges has morphed into a political problem — and the company is running out of time to get help from the current Congress ," per The Wall Street Journal's Andrew Tangel. — "The plane maker's executives and lobbyists are racing to persuade federal lawmakers to lift a Dec. 27 deadline set by Congress two years ago as part of a law aimed at making future airplanes safer. The law, enacted in the wake of two deadly crashes of Boeing's 737 MAX, requires new aircraft to feature modern cockpit-alerting systems to help pilots resolve emergencies." — "FAA approvals have taken much longer than expected," and "with the postelection legislative clock ticking, federal lawmakers and their staff have been considering proposals that would grant Boeing a reprieve, including one from a key Senate Democrat that would require some safety improvements, though short of changes the current law would require. Pilot groups are split on the issue, and relatives of MAX crash victims are lobbying against a reprieve for Boeing." ELON MUSK SETTLES ON THE RIGHT: "Before buying Twitter, the world's richest man was a political cipher — an entrepreneur tangling equally with Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau, pushing gun control while questioning Covid-19 rules. And Twitter, meanwhile, was a social-media platform increasingly policed for sensitivity by progressive-leaning top executives," our Rebecca Kern writes. "That world was so early-2022." — "Since taking the company private in October, Musk has abruptly re-invited numerous right-wingers to the platform, including Trump. He has mocked Democrats, backed Republicans ahead of the recent midterms, and — perhaps most notably — tweeted last weekend that he'd support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024." — "Though he still says he's after 'balance' in Washington, he's come down hard on the Republican side — and the party is now treating him as a convert. The informal alliance has already paid some early political dividends, when the GOP backed Musk in a spat with Apple, and with Republicans taking over the House next year, it could prove useful for a tech CEO who's constantly in the spotlight." SPOTTED at BGR Group's holiday party last night at the International Spy Museum, per a PI tipster: BGR's Sean Duffy, Steve Benjamin and David Urban; Sens. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.); Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Jerry Carl (R-Ala.), Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Billy Long (R-Mo.), Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.); Reps.-elect Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Jared Moskowitz (R-Fla.), Robert Menendez, Jr. (D-N.J.), Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) and Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.). — And a meet-and-greet for newly elected Republicans hosted by Reps.-elect Tom Kean Jr. (N.J.) and Max Miller (Ohio) at Forbes Tate Partners, per a tipster: Forbes Tate's Jeff Strunk, Frank Steinberg, Jeff Sadosky, Kristina Dunklin, Barrett Thornhill, Adrienne Schweer, Derrick White and Ryan Welch; Reps.-elect Eric Burlison (Mo.), Nick LaLota (N.Y.), Aaron Bean (Fla.), Rich McCormick (Ga.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Anthony D'Esposito (N.Y.), Russell Fry (S.C.), Monica De La Cruz (Texas), Keith Self (Texas), George Santos (N.Y.), Derrick Van Orden (Wis.), Zach Nunn (Iowa), Williams and more than 100 Forbes Tate clients and friends of the firm.
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