| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | With Daniel Lippman FARA FRIDAY: Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar today became the second sitting member of Congress hit with charges of illegally acting as a foreign agent — the latest indication that the Justice Department is plowing ahead with its intensified focus on foreign influence campaigns. DOJ alleges in an indictment unsealed this afternoon that the lawmaker and his wife Imelda took $600,000 in bribes in a yearslong scheme in exchange for taking actions benefiting the Azerbaijani government and a Mexican bank. — Cuellar, in a statement hours before the charges were unveiled, maintained the couple’s innocence and pledged that he will still seek reelection this fall, our colleagues Daniella Diaz and Nick Wu write. — The indictment comes weeks before Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is set to go on trial to fight a similar set of charges against the senator and his wife for allegedly accepting bribes, including gold bars, cash and luxury cars, in exchange for taking actions to benefit the Egyptian and Qatari governments. — The charge against a sitting lawmaker for violating a ban on public officials acting as a foreign agent appeared at the time to be without precedent, and DOJ adding another current member of Congress to that list in a matter of months signals that its yearslong campaign to crack down on foreign influence campaigns is far from over. — According to prosecutors, from 2014 to 2021, the Cuellars funneled the bribes from an oil and gas company owned by the Azerbaijani government and a bank headquartered in Mexico City through front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar “pursuant to sham consulting contracts,” under which she “performed little to no legitimate work.” — In exchange, Henry Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan, including “legislation relating to U.S. security and economic development programs, legislation and policy relating to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, immigration issues relating to an Azerbaijani citizen, and the promotion of Azerbaijan’s reputation as an ally and strategic partner of the United States,” according to the indictment. — He also agreed to influence legislative activity and regulators in favor of the Mexican bank, prosecutors allege. The indictments come after the FBI raided the Cuellars’ home and a Cuellar campaign office in early 2022, which was linked in news reports to a federal probe related to Azerbaijan. — An attorney for Cuellar, a senior appropriator and former co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, said at the time Cuellar was not a target of that investigation. TGIF and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | FIRST IN PI — CHAMBER TAPS BURR FOR MARCH-IN COALITION: Former Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) will help lead a business coalition formed to fight back against the Biden administration’s proposal to exercise so-called march-in rights in an effort to lower drug prices. — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched the Business Alliance to Stop Innovation Confiscation (or BASIC) Coalition in March in response to the administration’s determination late last year that the government has the authority to seize patents of certain high-priced drugs that were developed using taxpayer funding. Burr will serve as the coalition’s co-chair alongside Paul Michel, a retired judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. — The business, intellectual property and venture capital communities have warned the move could open the door for this administration or future administrations to use the same justification to seize patents for other emerging tech like clean energy — and that it would have a chilling effect on new research and development. — “This mission, which is to safeguard private property rights from unwarranted government seizure and to staunchly defend the principles of free enterprise, resonates deeply with me,” Burr said in a statement, calling “the proposed misuse of march-in rights” a “matter of grave concern.” — Burr served in Congress for nearly three decades, including as ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee. After leaving Congress last year, he joined law and lobbying firm DLA Piper to lead its health policy strategic consulting practice and serve as a principal policy adviser in its regulatory and government affairs practice. BIOTECH’S HANDWRINGING: “The biotech industry is in a bind when it comes to the BIOSECURE Act, bipartisan legislation that would effectively prohibit Chinese biotech companies from doing business in the U.S.,” our Megan R. Wilson writes. — “Companies appearing to favor the bill risk angering Beijing, which has a penchant for corporate retaliation. Meanwhile, companies looking for carve-outs could look lax on national security.” — “The dynamic is forcing companies to balance their desire to maintain access to China's massive market for drugs and other products with the concerns expressed by lawmakers, who intend to crack down on Chinese firms and want to protect Americans’ genomic data and U.S. intellectual property.” TIKTOK NOT OUT OF THE WOODS AT CHINA PANEL: The bipartisan heads of the House Select China Committee aren’t letting up pressure on TikTok despite the enactment of a landmark measure to force Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell off the app, per The Wall Street Journal’s Richard Vanderford. They are demanding the company face an FTC investigation for its lobbying campaign to deploy users against a potential ban. — “TikTok’s plea to users to contact their representatives, which came amid debate on legislation on the app’s fate, could violate federal law against deceptive business practices and child protection law, the leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said Thursday in a letter to Federal Trade Commission head Lina Khan.” — “‘We are gravely concerned that an app controlled by the Chinese Communist Party appears to have the unfettered ability to manipulate the American public, including America’s children,’ committee Chairman John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois congressman who is the committee’s top Democrat, wrote to Khan.” — “TikTok said that it doesn’t believe it has violated the laws referenced by the representatives. The company uses standard ‘age-gating’ processes—a means to stop young people from improperly using an app—that follow FTC guidance, it said. Notifications went to users aged 18 and older, and users had multiple options to dismiss them, TikTok said.” SPEAKING OF: Our Rebecca Kern reports the video app “is poised to get new allies in its constitutional challenge” to the new law from a pair of “prominent free speech groups … planning to defend the company and its 170 million U.S. users in court.” — The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Center for Democracy and Technology “have both told POLITICO they see the law as unconstitutional and are considering legal action on the company’s behalf. Knight is weighing whether to bring its own case, and CDT is considering filing a friend-of-the-court brief backing TikTok,” meanwhile the ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation said they’re assessing how they’ll approach potential litigation.
| | — Noelle Huizenga has been promoted to vice president of public policy and communications at the National Religious Broadcasters. — Mike French has started the Space Policy Group and joined BCG as a senior advisor on space. He previously was vice president for space policy at the Aerospace Industries Association and is an Obama NASA alum. — Joe Bush is now deputy communications director for Sen. Jacky Rosen’s Nevada Senate reelection campaign. He most recently was deputy communications director and speechwriter for Rosen’s Senate office. — Blake Johnson is now communications director for the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. He previously was senior media relations manager at the Bipartisan Policy Center. — Madison Lazas and Kasey Henderson have been promoted to account directors at Global Situation Room. — L’Oréal USA CEO David Greenberg has been elected as the next board chair for the Personal Care Products Council. — Shelley Husband has been promoted to executive vice president for government affairs and Lui Simpson to executive vice president for global policy at the Association of American Publishers.
| | Heinrich-Vasquez Victory Fund (Sen. Martin Heinrich, Rep. Gabe Vasquez)
| | 1000 Women Strong PAC (Super PAC) Blue Horizon Action (Super PAC) Frisch Victory Fund (Adam for Colorado, Federal: Colorado Democratic Party, Mountain Third PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Accelerate Strategies: Childrens Healthcare Is A Legal Duty (Child) USa Accelerate Strategies: United States Soccer Federation Aristotle International, Inc.: American Society Of Association Executives Aristotle International, Inc.: Pilot Mental Health Campaign Avoq, LLC (Fra Team Subject Matter, LLC): Rivers Portsmouth Gaming, LLC Avoq, LLC (Fra Team Subject Matter, LLC): Rush Street Gaming, LLC Ballard Partners: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld (On Behalf Of Nippon Steel Corporation) Cuney, Edwards, Washington, And Associates: Forgenow Government Relations Group, LLC: Octogon Strategic Services, LLC Harbinger Strategies, LLC: The Pnc Financial Services Group Metris Global: Metris Global Moran Global Strategies, Inc.: Govly Penn Hill Group: Kipp Foundation Penn Hill Group: National Association Of College Stores Plurus Strategies, LLC: Watereuse Association Pontis Partners, LLC: Kidney Transplant Collaborative Red Flag Consulting USa (Formally Known As International Business-Government Cou: Livent Sunday Creek Horizons, LLC: Appalachian Children Coalition Sunday Creek Horizons, LLC: Memorial Health System Sunday Creek Horizons, LLC: Ohio University The Mizeur Group, LLC: Clene Nanomedicine Watkins & Eager Pllc: Mercy House Adult And Teen Challenge
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Brian Foster: Maschhoffs Brian Foster: Triumph Foods, LLC Dawson & Associates, Inc.: Gould Electronics Inc Efb Advocacy, LLC: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association First Strategic: Urbix Government Relations Group, LLC: Dynamic Solutions Group, Incorporated Hair Of The Dog Outfitters, LLC: Elizabeth Buckley On Behalf Of Conley Immigration Firm Harbinger Strategies, LLC: Sk Hynix America, Inc. Jbs Communications, LLC: National Association For Biomedical Research Mr. H.R. Bert Pena: Nuvimedix Ms. Anna Hansen: Sullivan Strategies Obo U.S. Travel Association Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority Rosner Consulting, LLC: Fiberesin, Abet USa On Behalf Of Passage Group Sandhills Strategic Solutions: Pemdas Technologies Sandhills Strategic Solutions: The Livingston Group Obo National Association Of Ordnance Contractors Sunday Creek Horizons, LLC: Buy Ohio Ppe Manufacturer'S Network Sunday Creek Horizons, LLC: Ohio Association Of Community Action Agencies Sunday Creek Horizons, LLC: Scioto Valley Local School District Townsend Public Affairs, Inc: North County Transit District Vianovo: Texas Border Coalition Vol. 1 Ventures: Vol. 1 Ventures
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