ANNALS OF DARK MONEY: The Hill’s Taylor Giorno pulls back the curtain on an $800,000 wire transfer the U.S. Chamber of Commerce received from billionaire donor Hank Meijer last cycle — days after it endorsed his son, then-Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) in a heated primary contest. — “Within days of the transfer, the Chamber spent $381,000 on ‘Media Advertisement – Energy and Taxes – Mentioning Rep. Peter Meijer,’ according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). But because the ad … does not explicitly advocate for his election or defeat, the pro-business lobbying giant did not have to legally disclose the donation from Hank Meijer, the co-chair and CEO of the Meijer chain of superstores.” — “Emails obtained by The Hill lay out the timeline of the endorsement, donation and ad buy just weeks before the Aug. 2, 2022, House GOP primary in Michigan,” which spokespeople for the Chamber and Meijer family “insisted the donation complied with all applicable laws. But neither the Chamber nor Truscott answered specific questions about the timing of or discussion around the donation, the terms of the contribution and how that money was used.” FIRST IN PI — HAWKINS RETIRING FROM ALPINE GROUP: Jay Hawkins, who leads the company’s health care practice group, is retiring after 20 years with the firm. Hawkins previously spent more than a decade on the Hill, including as a health care adviser to former Senate HELP Chair Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.). Courtney Johnson will succeed Hawkins as head of the health care practice, which represents clients like Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Boston Scientific Corp. and Calvary Hospital. FLYING IN: The Portland Cement Association kicked off a two-day fly-in today to push for policies to decarbonize the industry through lower-carbon cements, alternative fuels and carbon capture. Attendees have almost four dozen meetings with lawmakers on the books, including with House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. PCA President and CEO Mike Ireland said in a statement the group expects record turnout this year. — The International Fresh Produce Association is also in town to meet with lawmakers on labor and workforce issues, the farm bill and more. They’ll hear from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as well as Congressional Specialty Crop Caucus co-Chairs Jim Costa (D-Calif.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.). — The Insured Retirement Institute’s board flies in tomorrow to discuss ways to build on retirement legislation passed in recent years. Board members will meet with House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), House Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and others, in addition to senior staff for Johnson and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.). — Money-in-politics advocacy group American Promise is slated to meet with 100 members of Congress this week about a constitutional amendment to empower states and Congress to set limits on political spending. And Google CEO Sundar Pichai is in town to meet with lawmakers today and Wednesday for discussions on artificial intelligence, our friends at Morning Tech report. THE GHOSTS OF SBF: “Little is left of the cryptocurrency empire that made Sam Bankman-Fried one of the country’s wealthiest people and a major player in Democratic Party politics” after the fallen crypto mogul was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud earlier this year, but our Jeremy White writes that “one vestige of Bankman-Fried’s once grandiose plans to reshape American politics endures.” — “This November, voters in his native California are on track to see a proposal on the ballot to fund a major new pandemic prevention program by taxing the rich, which Bankman-Fried helped to launch and bankroll. At this point, however, it is a zombie ballot initiative.” — “The campaign to sell it to voters has seen its cash on hand dwindle from more than $15 million at its peak to a reported $78 on hand at the end of last year. A fleet of political consultants once on retainer have signed up to work on other campaigns instead. Politicians who lined up to throw their support behind the proposal stopped talking about it after the main benefactor was disgraced.” — “The rise and fall of the Pandemic Early Detection and Prevention Institute Initiative is a distinctly Californian story — featuring faddish philanthropy, the Silicon Valley boom-and-bust cycle, policy dilettantes, money and a byzantine ballot measure process that can give political issues a life of their own.” DEMOCRACY DIES IN ‘PINK SLIME’: Axios’ Sara Fischer reports on a bleak milestone: “The number of partisan-backed outlets designed to look like impartial news outlets has officially surpassed the number of real, local daily newspapers in the U.S., according to a new analysis.” — Many of the outlets, which have earned the moniker “pink slime,” are “targeted to swing states — a clear sign that they're designed to influence politics. There are at least 1,265 websites identified as being backed by dark money or are intentionally masquerading as local news sites for political purposes, according to a new report from NewsGuard, a misinformation tracking company.” — “As of last year, there were only 1,213 daily local newspapers in the U.S. That number may have gone down significantly in the time since, but the researchers who track that data have yet to release an updated figure for 2024.”
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