Lobbyists booted from transition HQ Presented by the Consumer Brands Association

With help from Taylor Gee, Kaitlyn Burton and Mary Lee

THE SWAMP IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE SWAMP: The Trump transition is now barring registered lobbyists from its D.C. offices, two people familiar with the policy said. The move follows a crackdown since Vice President-Elect Mike Pence took over the transition and introduced a new ethics policy requiring lobbyists to drop their clients or leave the transition.


The rule is reminiscent of the Obama administration's widely ridiculed ban on lobbyists in the White House, which was easily sidestepped by sneaking out for coffee across the street. The transition's ban doesn't necessarily preclude staffers from consulting lobbyists on their areas of expertise; it merely seeks to avoid the optics of a revolving door inside the transition's headquarters, the people said.

In addition, the transition has asked the landing teams dispatched to various agencies to avoid having any outside meetings, lobbyists or otherwise, while they focus on the internal hand-off, one of the people said.

Lobbyists are already devising workarounds and sizing up winners and losers.

"If meetings are off the table, then it will also put a premium for lobbyists to have close, personal relationships with administration officials to get information and to make their case," one of the people said. "Most of the work will be over the phone."

The transition didn't answer a request for comment.

ONE TO WATCH: Another lobbyist has terminated his clients, perhaps in anticipation of joining the transition or administration. Jeffrey Holmstead, an energy lobbyist at Bracewell ( Rudy Giuliani's old firm) who's being considered for EPA administrator, filed paperwork to drop clients such as Southern Company, Duke Energy and DTE Energy. He didn't answer requests for comment.

AND ANOTHER: Shawn Krause, an executive vice president of government advocacy for privately held mortgage company Quicken Loans, one of the largest underwriter of mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, de-registered as a lobbyist to oversee the transition at HUD, POLITICO’s Lorraine Woellert reports.

CORPORATE INTERESTS: Despite the new rule against registered lobbyists, 70 percent of the members of the landing teams have worked for corporate interests, according to a new review by Public Citizen. They include:

— Robert Mackichan of Holland & Knight who used to lobby for American Express, Coach and Northrop Grumman. He's on the landing team for the General Services Administration, where he used to be general counsel.

— Joel Leftwich, a lobbyist for PepsiCo from 2013 to 2015 and in 2010 for DuPont, on the landing team for the Department of Agriculture.

— Tom Leppert, the former CEO of test-prep company Kaplan, on the landing teams for the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

— Mira Ricardel, former a vice president for defense contractor Boeing, on the landing team for the Pentagon.

— Michael Dougherty, the CEO of Secure Identity & Biometrics Association, which represents security screening technology providers, is on the landing team for the Department of Homeland Security. He previously worked for contractor Raytheon.

— Ralph Ferrara, a securities and white collar criminal defense attorney at Proskauer Rose who has represented insurance companies, Royal Dutch Shell and Global Crossing. He is on the landing team for the Federal Reserve.

The transition is also soliciting advice on energy policy from people working for think tanks heavily funded by oil companies, The Washington Post’s Steven Mufson reports. They include: Kathleen Hartnett-White, a former chairman and member of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality who is now a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation; Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, a wing of the Institute for Energy Research, which have ties to the Koch Industry; and Myron Ebell, a non-lobbyist who has spent more than a decade working for the Competitive Enterprise Institute. All have criticized the scientific consensus on human contributions to climate change.

W-T-WEDNESDAY. Send tips to [email protected].

SWOLL: CrossFit hired its first lobbyist, the Podesta Group's David Marin. He'll lobby on "oversight of conflict of interest rules and regulations related to academic research funded by government agencies," according to the filing.

RE-EDUCATION: The for-profit college industry, under siege by the Obama administration, is plotting a comeback in the Trump era, Collin Binkley reports for The Associated Press.

NOT FINE: Donald Trump’s pick for Education secretary, Betsy DeVos, headed the school-choice advocacy group All Children Matter that owes the state of Ohio more than $5.3 million for election law violations, POLITICO’s Benjamin Wermund reports. The unpaid fines date back to 2008 when the group run by DeVos funneled $870,000 in contributions through its national PAC to its Ohio affiliate. DeVos was not personally named liable. A

YUGE PERKS: Donald Trump’s inaugural committee is offering prime tickets, luxurious lodging and access to the president-elect himself in exchange for six- and seven-figure contributions to help pay for inaugural celebrations, Carrie Levine reports for The Center for Public Integrity. Donors in the seven-figure contribution bracket will receive exclusive tickets to an array of high profile luncheons attended by Cabinet appointees and leaders in Congress, and “premier access” tickets to a black-tie inaugural ball attended by the president, vice president and their wives.

NEW PACs:

Defend Democracy PAC: Unknown

Heidi Victory Fund: Unknown

International Commitee Of Communism: Unknown

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:

Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Hitachi Data Systems Corporation

Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: LRAD Corporation

Cornerstone Government Affairs, LLC: Mystic Seaport Museum

Earth & Water Group: Simkins River Farms

Frost Brown Todd LLC: Appriss

Mercury: Organik Kimya

Physicians for Fair Coverage: Physicians for Fair Coverage

Podesta Group, Inc.: CrossFit Inc.

Signal Group Consulting, LLC: SOS International LLC

Squire Patton Boggs: Natel Energy Inc.

Summit Health Care Consulting: Association of Black Cardiologists

The Ickes and Enright Group, INC.: Nuclear Development, LLC

Thorn Run Partners: OneMain Financial Group, LLC

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Brentwood School

CH Fisher LLC: Mid-Atlantic Network for Youth and Family Services

BlackBerry: Blackberry

Global Security & Intelligence Strategies: CZUSA

Global Security & Intelligence Strategies: LSI

Global Security & Intelligence Strategies: Sensity Systems

Frost Brown Todd LLC: Appriss

Carman Communications: State of North Dakota

FearnOil Inc.: North American Carbon Capture Storage Association

Gage, LLC: Silk Way Holding

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