With Daniel Lippman FIRST IN PI — Judicial activist group Demand Justice and nearly two dozen other progressive organizations are dialing up the pressure on Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) for an investigation into the latest ethics black eye for the Supreme Court involving Justice Samuel Alito’s flag-flying proclivities and Chief Justice John Roberts’ handling of the court’s recent ethics controversies. — Demand Justice, along with Accountable.US, the Center for American Progress, MoveOn and the Revolving Door Project, urged Durbin in a letter to go further than pushing for binding ethics rules for Supreme Court justices and calling for Alito to recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 attacks, following the revelation that Alito’s homes have flown two separate flags on two different occasions that have become affiliated with the attack and Christian Nationalism. — “[T]he American people deserve swift, transparent action to begin to address this state of affairs,” the groups wrote. “Investigations are critical to showing the American people that their elected leaders are committed to a judiciary worthy of our trust.” — “This is not how the Supreme Court is meant to function and the public’s trust in the Court will only continue to degrade if nothing is done to hold justices accountable for unethical behavior,” Maggie Jo Buchanan, the managing director of Demand Justice, said in a statement. The group is also running a six-figure ad campaign calling for Alito’s recusal from any election-related cases. — In a written response to Durbin, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and a collection of House Democrats this afternoon, Alito rejected those calls, writing that his wife was responsible for flying the controversial flags as well as many others over the years and that the couple was unaware of any possible connections to the Jan. 6 attack. — A spokesperson for Durbin told PI that “the Committee has been conducting a thorough investigation into years of ethical lapses by some justices on the Supreme Court,” which includes looking into the latest reporting on Alito. Durbin “will continue to pursue what the American people are demanding: accountability, transparency, and an enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court justices,” the spokesperson added. Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI, where your host isn't sure whether we're more excited about pandas returning to the National Zoo or arugula returning to Sweetgreen. Send tips, gossip, praise, complaints or whatever else strikes your fancy: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. QUANTIFYING THE AI LOBBYING BOOM: The number of clients who lobbied the federal government on artificial intelligence or AI-related issues in 2023 more than doubled compared to the year earlier, as Washington worked to wrap its head around the rapidly maturing technology, according to a new report. — Watchdog group Public Citizen found more than 560 clients engaged in AI last year after remaining steady at around 270 from 2019-2022. The group’s report, which analyzed lobbying disclosures from the past five years, found that the number of individual lobbyists working on the issue soared in 2023 as well — up to 3,410 in 2023 from 1,552 in 2022 — in a signifier of how quickly the rush to regulate AI has swept over the influence industry. — Public Citizen’s report comes on the heels of the bipartisan AI roadmap unveiled earlier this month, which received criticism from civil society groups and praise from the tech industry. While the tech sector led other industries in AI lobbying, the report highlighted a wide range of other stakeholders who engaged on the issue and warned against corporate capture. — “Out of all the lobbyists hired to lobby on AI-related issues in 2023, 85 percent represented corporate interests,” the group noted, adding that “they are likely having a disproportionate influence on how laws governing the use of AI will develop in the U.S.” and deserve skepticism by government officials. — While the House and Senate still attracted the vast majority of AI lobbyists’ attention, they also flocked to influence the White House’s executive orders. From the beginning of 2023, the number of AI lobbyists hitting up the White House skyrocketed from 323 in Q1 to 931 by Q4 — a 188 percent increase. Ultimately, more than 1,100 lobbyists reported AI-related outreach to the White House — more than twice the number for any other federal agency. THEIR ‘MRS. IGLESIAS’ MOMENT: “Chinese firms trying to buffer themselves from Washington’s anti-China policies are rebranding and creating U.S.-domiciled businesses to sell their wares as the Biden administration expands the government entity lists that restrict Chinese companies’ business dealings in the U.S.,” The Wall Street Journal’s Heather Somerville reports. — “TikTok spent years trying to distance itself from its China-based parent, ByteDance, by establishing a U.S. headquarters and exploring ways to rebrand in America. Despite the moves, the video app faces a possible ban under a new law. … Chinese companies’ efforts to shift production, rebrand as American or set up subsidiaries with new names are legal, lawyers say. Still, such moves irritate regulators who can’t enforce laws when it isn’t clear who is behind a company.” MEHLMAN’S LATEST: Mehlman Consulting’s Bruce Mehlman is out with his latest slide deck, which runs down the state of play in the race for control of Congress and the White House and highlights the contrasts between a second Biden term and a second Trump term in office. One topline? “Buckle up,” Mehlman told PI. — While most generally know what to expect in a second Biden term, “Trump 2.0 presents far broader possibilities for disruptive change in foreign & domestic policy,” Mehlman said, with a great deal of Trump’s agenda dependent on who controls Congress. The Hill itself will have a jam-packed to-do list, “starting with the no-longer-pro-forma certification of election results.” — But it’s a sure thing there will be a continued bipartisan focus on pro-manufacturing industrial policy, competition with China, Big Tech skepticism and more populist economic policy, according to Mehlman. FAMILY MATTERS: “Tens of thousands of dollars pumped into organizations involved in recent anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses originated in the fortune of one of America’s most venerable and politically active Jewish families—one that includes a sitting U.S. congressman and a former contender for ambassador to Jerusalem,” per The Daily Beast’s William Bredderman. — “[T]he Bafrayung Fund, based in Covina, California, ranks among the most consistent supporters of the Palestinian Youth Movement, which played a major role in the rash of encampments that spread through U.S. colleges this year. The Fund has also contributed substantially to two of the Palestinian Youth Movement’s allies: the Arab Resource and Organizing Center and Critical Resistance.” — “Behind the Bafrayung Fund is a 33-year-old Bay Area resident, Rachel Gelman, scion of the dynasty behind the Levi Strauss company and cousin to Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY). The money for the Bafrayung Fund comes from just two sources: Gelman herself, and the Morningstar Philanthropic Foundation—the personal charity of her parents, a pair of major Democratic Party donors who own a chain of publications catering to East Coast Jewish communities, have been long active in organizations promoting American-Israeli relations.”
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