The revolving door between Microsoft and the Biden administration

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Jul 05, 2023 View in browser   By Daniel Lippman and Caitlin Oprysko MICROSOFT’S REVOLVING DOOR: At least 13 people who serve as senior or mid-level Biden administration officials previously worked or consulted for Microsoft, according to a PI analysis, illustrating how embedded the company is in official Washington, as it seeks to fend off antitrust enforcers and shape how artificial intelligence is regulated. — The list includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, senior adviser Anita Dunn, U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, along with officials in numerous other departments like Commerce, Veterans Affairs and the Pentagon. — Microsoft was a client of Blinken’s old consulting firm WestExec Advisors and Blinken provided advisory services to LinkedIn, a subsidiary of Microsoft, according to his financial disclosure form when he was nominated during the transition. Sullivan served on an advisory council for Microsoft from May 2017 to May 2020, “advising the company’s president on ‘key policy developments,’” earning $45,000 in income along with holding between $50,001 to $100,000 in stock in the company, according to a financial disclosure. — Thomas-Greenfield provided consulting services for Microsoft, reporting at least $5,000 in income from the company when she was at Albright Stonebridge Group as well as holding between $50,001 and $100,000 in company stock. None of the Biden officials or spokespeople for their departments provided a comment. — Haines also worked with Microsoft to provide advisory services to the company when she was helping WestExec from October 2017 to July 2020, making at least $5,000, according to her nominee report. (Her name was scrubbed from the firm’s website early on, according to The Intercept.) — Other officials who earned money from Microsoft include acting national cyber director Kemba Eneas Walden, who was an assistant general counsel for Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit; VA chief information officer Kurt DelBene, a former executive vice president at Microsoft; and Jonathan Kanter, the top antitrust official at the Justice Department, who did legal work for the company when he was a partner at Paul, Weiss. — Rounding out the list of current officials who have done work for Microsoft is Kathi Vidal, undersecretary of Commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, who was an outside lawyer for Microsoft; Uzra Zeya, undersecretary of State for civilian security, democracy and human rights, who worked for the company during her time at Albright Stonebridge; Steven Emme, chief of staff of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, who did outside legal work for the company at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Sam Walsh, general counsel at the Department of Energy, who did legal work for the company at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP; and Meredith Berger, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy installations and environment and a former senior manager for the Defending Democracy project at Microsoft. — On top of its former consultants and employees now in the government, Microsoft and its subsidiaries spent nearly $10.5 million on federal lobbying last year and retained more than two dozen outside lobbying firms (down to 20 now). A study in 2021 by Omdia found that its share of U.S. government office productivity software was around 85 percent. — “Microsoft has to be ecstatic to have close professional ties to so many key decisionmakers across the federal government,” said Jeff Hauser, director of the Revolving Door Project, when presented with PI’s findings. “It would be one thing if the government were hiring Microsoft computer engineers to solve complex technological challenges — it’s another thing for Microsoft to have preemptively developed financial relationships with a wide swathe of the Administration in waiting.” — “Like many multinational companies, a group of individuals from across the political spectrum offer ideas and advice on a variety of national policy issues,” Microsoft spokesperson Kate Frischmann told PI. Frischmann added that Albright Stonebridge and WestExec “advised on issues related to cyberspace and global efforts to better protect customers from cyberattacks.” Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI. What’d we miss over the holiday break? Shoot me a note: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.   JOIN 7/11 FOR A TALK ON THE FAA’S FUTURE: Congress is making moves to pass the FAA Reauthorization Act, laying the groundwork for the FAA’s long-term agenda to modernize the aviation sector to meet the challenges of today and innovate for tomorrow. Join POLITICO on July 11 to discuss what will make it into the final reauthorization bill and examine how reauthorization will reshape FAA’s priorities and authorities. REGISTER HERE.     A NEW WALL STREET FOE EMERGES: “Sen. J.D. Vance — the Trump-backing former venture capitalist — is trying to lead Republicans in a new cause,” POLITICO’s Eleanor Mueller reports: cracking down on big banks. — “Following a Senate campaign in which he pledged to prioritize rural America over titans of industry, the Ohio lawmaker is using a seat on the Banking Committee to flex his populist bona fides, teaming up with Democrats including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Dick Durbin of Illinois on bills that the industry’s biggest players despise — while championing legislation that protects smaller banks.” — “He's taking a lead role in advancing bipartisan proposals that would penalize bank executives when their companies fail, make it harder for giant lenders to get bigger by acquiring other banks and rein in credit card fees.” — “Along the way, he's had some success in recruiting fellow Republicans to the cause — creating fresh headaches for big bank lobbyists, who are gearing up to fight the Vance-backed policies.” — Moreover, Vance’s recent moves represent “the latest example of an emerging GOP shift as a new crop of Republican politicians challenge the party’s pro-business, free-market ideology … upending conservative politics and stirring tensions within the party about how it approaches the economy.” NEW BUSINESS: Here’s a roundup of new lobbying filings that caught PI’s eye over the holiday break. Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has hired James Barnette of Venable to lobby on issues related to social networks, according to a disclosure. Barnette, a former general counsel for the House Energy & Commerce Committee, previously lobbied for the social media giant at Steptoe & Johnson, another of the 23 outside firms on retainer for Meta. — Juul has also retained one of its former lobbyists. The e-cigarette maker last week brought on former Paul Ryan adviser Ted McCann of Article One Group to lobby on a range of issues related to how vapes are regulated, including cracking down on illicit imported counterfeits and tax and user fees. McCann was an in-house lobbyist for Juul from 2018 to 2019, when he launched Article One Group. — Former NTIA Administrator David Redl’s Salt Point Strategies has signed another major industry client, ​NCTA - The Internet & Television Association. Redl and three others will lobby on broadband and spectrum issues for the trade group, which represents the cable industry. — And Blue Star Strategies, the Democratic lobbying firm that was investigated for potential FARA violations stemming from its work for Ukrainian energy company Burisma, has registered to lobby domestically for different work on Ukraine issues. Karen Tramontano will advocate for continued U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and against authoritarian regimes in general on behalf of Humanity for Freedom, a new nonprofit founded by Aaron Kaufman, the co-director of a documentary about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. DECLINED INVITES: Next week’s Senate hearing on the blockbuster golf deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf won’t feature any representatives from LIV or the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that bankrolled the upstart golf league and will finance a new combined golf entity. — LIV CEO Greg Norman and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund and future chair of the new golf entity, declined lawmakers’ invitation to testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations due to scheduling conflicts, subcommittee Chair Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and ranking member Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) announced Monday. — PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who took a leave of absence to deal with medical issues shortly after the bombshell deal with LIV dropped, also won’t testify at the hearing. Instead, the panel will hear from PGA Tour COO Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne, per Blumenthal and Johnson. — But they indicated LIV and PIF won’t get off that easily in the subcommittee’s probe of the deal. “Both Governor al-Rumayyan and Mr. Norman have valuable information to share about the operations of the Public Investment Fund, the future of LIV Golf, and Saudi Arabia’s plans to invest in golf and other sports,” the senators said in a statement, adding that “we look forward to working with both witnesses to find a mutually agreeable date for them to appear in the very near future.” Jobs Report — Mark Miller has rejoined the Pacific Legal Foundation as senior attorney. He previously was chief of staff and general counsel for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. — Perham Gorji is now a partner with DLA Piper’s litigation practice. He previously was deputy chief counsel of litigation at the FDA. — Ashleigh Maciolek will be a policy associate for the Brennan Center for Justice. She previously was a research associate at the Center for American Progress. — Christian Borggreen is now head of EMEA public policy at Akamai Technologies. He was previously senior vice president and head of Europe for the Computer & Communications Industry Association. — Michael Macko, a former corporate counsel for Amazon, will be the first head of enforcement for the California Privacy Protection Agency. — Megan Paulsen is now executive assistant for government affairs at Americans for Prosperity. She most recently was director of operations for Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.). — Ben Goldey is now communications director for the House Agriculture Committee. He most recently did federal policy communications at Duke Energy and is a Trump Interior Department alum. — The Independent Women’s Forum has announced its summer 2023 visiting fellows: Mary Margaret Olohan, Caroline Downey, Cheryl Todd, Michele Steeb, Crystal Bayat, Lyndsey Fifield, Marion Mass and Elizabeth Grace Matthew. — Mark Meador and Brandon Kressin are launching Kressin Meador LLC, previously Kressin Law Group. Meador was previously deputy chief counsel for antitrust and competition policy for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).   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.     New Joint Fundraisers TEAM MONTERO (FRIENDS OF MARIA MONTERO, INC., BUILDING A COMPETITIVE KEYSTONE STATE (BACKS) PAC) Zinke Majority Fund (Rep. Ryan Zinke, NRCC) New PACs Americans for Fair Debt Relief (Super PAC) Americans for Victory in Ukraine (Super PAC) BUILDING A COMPETITIVE KEYSTONE STATE (BACKS) PAC (Leadership PAC: Maria Montero) Finish the Job PAC (Super PAC) Liberty PAC (Super PAC) The Peaceable PAC (Super PAC) PrimaryPivot (Super PAC) ROCKY MOUNTAIN PAC (Super PAC) Stop The Left (PAC) VisionarySF (Super PAC) We the People For the People (Super PAC) New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Gci Holdings LLC Article One Group, LLC: Juul Labs, Inc Dla Piper LLP (US): Samsung Electronics America, Inc. Harbinger Strategies, LLC: American Innovation: The Ai Project, Inc Hexcel Corporation: Hexcel Corporation Hither Creek Strategies, LLC: American Rheinmetall Vehicles, LLC Hither Creek Strategies, LLC: Epirus Inc Hither Creek Strategies, LLC: General Electric Company Hither Creek Strategies, LLC: Textron, Inc The Kpm Group Dc LLC: Mind Medicine Inc. The Vogel Group: Navancio LLC Venable LLP: Air Products And Chemicals Inc. Venable LLP: Fluor Corporation Venable LLP: Meta Platforms, Inc. (Formerly Facebook, Inc. And Various Subsidiaries Venable LLP: W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Wellington Advocacy: Ultra Information Solutions Ltd New Lobbying Terminations Albemarle Corporation: Albemarle Corporation American College Of Preventive Medicine: American College Of Preventive Medicine Ats Communications, Inc.: Palantir Technologies Forbes-Tate: Deloitte LLP Holland & Knight LLP: Capitol Bridge, LLC Holland & Knight LLP: Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. Horizon Government Affairs: H2O.Ai Mission Government Relations (Formerly Known As Muroff Law Firm, LLC): Quntessence Theatre Group Ruffalo And Associates, LLC: Vigilant Solutions The Royer Law Firm (Formerly Royer & Brooks): The Renco Group, Inc. The Royer Law Firm (Formerly Royer & Brooks): Trustco Bank Van Scoyoc Associates: Alliance For Plant Based Inclusion Van Scoyoc Associates: City Of Fort Payne, Alabama Van Scoyoc Associates: National Automated Merchandising Association Van Scoyoc Associates: North American Stainless Van Scoyoc Associates: Upfield US Inc.   Follow us

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