PROPUBLICA GETS RESULTS: “Justice Clarence Thomas belatedly acknowledged that Republican billionaire Harlan Crow paid for Thomas’ accommodations during trips in 2019 to Bali and Sonoma County — a disclosure that comes amid unprecedented scrutiny of the Supreme Court and the wealthy benefactors close to the justices,” our Hailey Fuchs and Josh Gerstein write. — Thomas’ financial disclosures released today “explained that he ‘sought and received guidance from his accountant and ethics counsel’ as part of a ‘review of prior filings that began last year.’ The gifts from the Crows were ‘inadvertently omitted at the time of filing,’ Thomas said on the new form, which primarily covers the 2023 calendar year.” — “Thomas’ 2019 trip to Indonesia with the Crows — some of it spent aboard a private yacht — was first reported last year by ProPublica, which noted it was not included on the justice’s disclosure form for that year. Thomas later said he’d been advised by ethics officials that ‘personal hospitality’ from friends did not need to be reported.” — “However, the new filing appears to be a concession that whatever ambiguity may have existed around travel on private jets or yachts, gifts of stays at hotels or clubs owned by third parties have long been required to be disclosed.” FLYING IN: Congressional leaders met this week with a trio of senior executives from DoorDash who were in town to discuss the delivery app’s business model and other policy issues related to the gig economy and the broader regulatory environment, where the Biden administration is seeking to crack down on how app-based companies classify their workers. — CEO Tony Xu, vice president of public policy Max Rettig and vice president of policy and communications Liz Jarvis-Shean huddled throughout the week with more than a dozen top lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to a company spokesperson. — On tap to hit the Hill next week are nearly 300 music educators and music education leaders with the National Association for Music Education as well as advocates with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and its advocacy affiliate, the Hospice Action Network. The music teachers will be lobbying for funding and legislation to support music education for students. — The hospice and palliative care advocates have meetings slated with nearly two dozen House Ways and Means member offices along with Schumer and Johnson, and will discuss issues related to the hospice Special Focus Program, telehealth, workforce, veterans, payments and more. MORE BIG LEGAL NEWS: “The longtime head of the Federalist Society, the influential US conservative legal organization, is preparing to step down and has started searching for his successor,” Bloomberg’s Emily Birnbaum reports. — “Eugene Meyer, who has served as the executive director, CEO or president of the nonprofit organization for more than 40 years, said he is in good health but is beginning the search now in the hopes it will move ‘expeditiously and carefully but without undue pressure.’” — Meyers’ departure “comes as the Federalist Society, which was instrumental in suggesting conservative Supreme Court justices during Donald Trump’s administration, faces new pressure from allies of the former president who say it has been too timid and business-friendly.” — “While the Federalist Society has long advocated for a traditional and restrained approach to the courts, younger members influenced by Trump have pushed for judges and lawyers to more aggressively push conservative policies.” ROUNDS AI STAFFER HEADS TO MOZILLA: Joel Burke, a former artificial intelligence fellow in Sen. Mike Rounds’ (R-S.D.) office, is joining Mozilla’s Washington office as a senior public policy and government relations analyst. — Burke’s yearlong fellowship in Rounds’ office was sponsored by the Horizon Institute for Public Service, part of a network of AI fellows across Washington funded by Open Philanthropy, the nonprofit bankrolled by billionaire Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. Before that, Burke completed another congressional fellowship through TechCongress. THE DOWNFALL OF ‘GOOGLE’S SECRET WEAPON’: Brody Mullins is out with a new piece in the Wall Street Journal pulling back the curtain on how a series of office romances and affairs with students over the years have upended the career of former FTC commissioner and antitrust lawyer Joshua Wright, who made himself into what Mullins calls “the tech industry’s indispensable fixer,” in part by skirting transparency norms to the benefits of his business and personal life. — “For more than a decade, Wright kept antitrust regulators at bay while America’s top technology companies amassed economic power not seen since Standard Oil, AT&T and other behemoths dominated their industries in the 20th century,” Mullins writes. — “Along the way, Wright spent two years as a regulator himself, serving on the Federal Trade Commission. Google, Facebook and Qualcomm benefited from his work at the FTC and through his consulting firm. The companies made hefty donations to fund his academic perch at George Mason University, money that kept flowing while he was in and out of government.” — “While Wright served on the FTC from 2013 to 2015, he won limits on a potentially powerful antitrust tool, benefiting corporations that paid millions to him or the university in the years before, during and after he was on the commission, the Journal found. He used ties with executives, government officials and the Trump administration to place romantic partners at the FTC, Justice Department and law firms without disclosing the relationships.” SPOTTED on Thursday at S-3 Group’s offices for a book party for Mullins hosted by S-3’s John Scofield, per a PI tipster: Gus Miller of Blue Origin, Dana Brooks of Pet Food Institute, Chris Peace of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Megan Milam of Anduril, Ceci Connolly of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, Betsy Bina of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Brandi Pensoneau of the National Business Aviation Association, and Brooke Barnard of Sierra Nevada Corporation.
| 
Comments
Post a Comment