T-Mobile hires Turnberry Presented by the Consumer Brands Association

With David Beavers

T-MOBILE HIRES TURNBERRY: Turnberry Solutions, a lobbying firm started by three former staffers on Donald Trump’s campaign, has signed T-Mobile. (The filing was first spotted by POLITICO’s Steven Overly.) It’s by far the highest-profile client Turnberry has attracted since two former staffers from Avenue Strategies, the lobbying shop started by Corey Lewandowski and Barry Bennett after the election, and a former Agriculture Department official in the Trump administration launched the firm last year. Lewandowski has denied any ties to Turnberry, but it’s registered to the same address as the Capitol Hill townhouse in which Lewandowski works and crashes when he’s in Washington. T-Mobile didn’t respond to a request for comment.


ANOTHER TECH FILING: Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas has signed Lyft. The ride-hailing company, which spent $600,000 on lobbying last year, also retains the Eris Group and the Glover Park Group. Lyft was one of the Podesta Group’s clients before the firm’s collapse late last year.

END OF THE ROAD: We’ve highlighted a number of new registrations in the flood of end-of-quarter filings over the past few days. Here are some of the termination filings that caught our eye: The Podesta Group, which imploded late last year after Tony Podesta stepped down as chairman, filed termination reports for 80 clients. Nearly a quarter of those clients have signed on with Cogent Strategies, the new firm started by Kimberley Fritts, Podesta’s longtime chief executive. Others have signed with new lobbying shops started by other Podesta principals or hired other firms.

— American Continental Group has parted ways with Viacom. NextEra Energy has split with Capitol Counsel and Holland & Knight. Covington & Burling is no longer lobbying for Eli Lilly. Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas has parted ways with FedEx. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which saw a number of member companies depart last year, no longer retains Peck Madigan Jones. And Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is no longer lobbying for Google.

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GROUPS TEAM UP TO DEFEND TRADE DEALS: “Four leading industry groups representing business, manufacturing and agriculture have banded together to form a new coalition that aims to grow support for trade and modernization of deals like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement,” POLITICO’s Megan Cassella reports. “The American Farm Bureau Federation, Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are holding an event in Dallas, Texas, today to mark the launch of the new group, which is being called Trade For America. … House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) is scheduled to speak at today's event.” Full story.

PRO-TRUMP SUPER PAC SPENT $33,000 AT TRUMP HOTEL: The America First Action super PAC spent $33,000 at the Trump International Hotel during the second half of 2017, according to a new FEC filing. (Thanks to The New York Times’ Ken Vogel for flagging some of these on Twitter this morning.) The super PAC paid $55,000 to Lewandowski’s Green Monster Consulting firm and $40,000 to Katrina Pierson’s consulting group. (Lewandowski and Pierson both advise the group.) It also received a $1 million donation from Murray Energy Corporation, a $5,000 donation from Donald Trump Jr. and a $5,000 donation from former labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder.

SPEAKING OF SUPER PACS: Sharp-eyed PI readers may have noticed a super PAC in the filings on Monday called Ohio First PAC, which popped up a couple of weeks after Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) announced he’d challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown rather than running for governor. Blaise Hazelwood of Grassroots Targeting, who’s running the super PAC, confirmed it’s backing Renacci.

INTERNET ASSOCIATION WILL HIRE DIVERSITY DIRECTOR: “The Internet Association, which represents the world's biggest tech companies, plans to hire a director of diversity and inclusion policy, according to a letter to lawmakers obtained by POLITICO,” POLITICO’s Ashley Gold reports. “The move comes after pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus for the tech industry to increase the diversity of its workforce. The letter, addressed to Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), members of the Congressional Black Caucus, says "the new Director will be responsible for developing and leading all diversity, inclusion, and related policies, programs, and filings. The Director will facilitate industry-wide efforts to improve diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.’” Full story .

— The Internet Association is also setting up shop in London, POLITICO’s Steven Overly reports.

KOCH GROUPS BASH CHAMBER’S GAS TAX PROPOSAL: “Two conservative groups are calling on President Donald Trump to reject proposals to raise the federal gas tax to help pay for an infrastructure bill, specifically calling out the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's suggested 25-cent hike,” POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner reports. “Raising the tax ‘would effectively undermine recent tax cuts by clawing back hundreds of billions of dollars — roughly 25 percent of the total benefit from tax reform — from low-and middle-income Americans at a time when they thought they were finally getting some relief,’ Nathan Nascimento, executive vice president of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, and Brent Gardner, chief government affairs officer at Americans for Prosperity, wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.” Full story.

IF YOU MISSED IT: Former Rep. James Walsh (R-N.Y.), who’s now a lobbyist at K&L Gates; Melanie Sloan of Summer Strategies; Rich Gold of Holland & Knight; and Craig Holman of Public Citizen had an op-ed in The Washington Post on Tuesday calling for a return to earmarks with reforms to prevent abuses. “We are a group of unlikely bedfellows — including a former member of Congress, lobbyists and good-government advocates who have sought the prosecution of lawmakers who personally gained from earmarks — but we all agree that while spending had run amok, a total ban on earmarks isn't the answer,” they write. Here’s the full op-ed.

JOBS REPORT

— Cornelia Horner has joined the American Petroleum Institute as a senior associate for media and issue management. She was previously a senior director at the Herald Group.

— The American Council of Life Insurers has hired Kathleen Coulombe as a vice president working on retirement security issues. She was previously a senior adviser for government relations at the Society for Human Resource Management.

— The American Institute of Architects is adding Jim Brewer as managing director of government affairs and policy and top lobbyist. He was previously a lobbyist for the American Society of Interior Designers.

— Josh Finestone has joined Venable as a senior policy adviser. He was previously a lobbyist at Navigators Global and before that worked for Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.).

— Bracewell has added Stoney Burke as a principal, working on energy, infrastructure, technology, trade and national security issues. He was previously chief of staff to Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas).

NEW JOINT FUNDRAISERS:

None

NEW PACs:

Pennsylvania Conservative Political Action Committee (PAC)

Warner Music Inc. Political Action Committee (PAC)

Young Progressives Of AZ (PAC)

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:

Advanced Energy Advisors: LONGi Solar Technology (US) Inc.

Ballard Partners: NOVA Southeastern University

Ballard Partners: Trulieve

Bousum Consulting LLC: Borsight

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Limoneira Lewis Community Builders, LLC

Cavarocchi Ruscio Dennis Associates, L.L.C.: Mount Sinai Genomics, Inc. (d/b/a Sema4)

Edgepoint, LLC: Nexus Services

Federal City Strategies: Stanton Park Group on behalf of Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Granite Peak Strategies, LLC: Cemex

Hill East Group, LLC: The Williams Group For Sustainable School Resources LLC

JMS Consulting LLC: Vanguard Renewables

Keys Group, LLC: Johnsonville Sausage

McDermott+Consulting LLC: eviCore

Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Inc.: Lyft, Inc.

Mr. H.R. Bert Pena: Georgia Farm Services

O'Keeffe Strategies, LLC: Capital SouthEast Connector JPA

O'Keeffe Strategies, LLC: CEMEX Inc

Oldaker & Willison, LLP: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Porter Group, LLC: Secured Communications, LLC

RR&G, LLC: Ignite

The Summerill Group LLC: Gregg County Sheriff's Office

The Summerill Group LLC: Lincoln County Sheriffs Office

The Summerill Group LLC: Phelps County Sheriffs Department

The Summerill Law Firm: San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:

Carmen Group Incorporated: Kaltex Fibers America, Inc.

Chamber Hill Strategies: Corning Incorporated

Findlay & Western Strategies, LLC: ROXUL Inc.

Jones Walker, LLP: JPMorgan Chase Holdings, LLC

Maxar Technologies Holdings Inc. f/k/a SSL

MDA Holdings, Inc.: Maxar Technologies Holdings Inc

McAllister & Quinn, LLC: Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association

Mr. Cory Smith: Kids in Need of Defense

Mrs. Susan Goodman: National Down Syndrome Congress

O'Keeffe Strategies, LLC: Mercury on behalf of CEMEX Inc.

Olsson, Frank, Weeda, Terman & Matz, PC: National Geospatial Coalition

Podesta Group, Inc.: ABIR

Podesta Group, Inc.: FlexTech Alliance

Podesta Group, Inc.: International Society for Photo-Optical Instrumentation (SPIE)

Podesta Group, Inc.: Ligado Networks

Podesta Group, Inc.: National Association for the Education of Young Children

Podesta Group, Inc.: National Association Of Broadcasters

Podesta Group, Inc.: Nuclear Energy Institute

Podesta Group, Inc.: Optical Society of America

Podesta Group, Inc.: Oracle Corporation

Podesta Group, Inc.: Perceptics, LLC

Podesta Group, Inc.: Radio One, Inc.

Podesta Group, Inc.: SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Inc.

Podesta Group, Inc.: SecurityPoint Media, LLC

Podesta Group, Inc.: Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition

Podesta Group, Inc.: Shorts International

Podesta Group, Inc.: SolarReserve

Podesta Group, Inc.: Syngenta Corporation

Podesta Group, Inc.: Synthetic Genomics

Podesta Group, Inc.: TE Connectivity, Inc.

Podesta Group, Inc.: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

Podesta Group, Inc.: Treasure Island Community Development, LLC

Podesta Group, Inc.: Zenefits Potomac

Strategic Development Company, LLC: Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies

Stoll IP Consulting LLC: American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section

The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Quendall Terminals

Thunderbird Strategic LLC: Miami Technology Solutions, LLC

Wellington Strategies, LLC.: Omnicell, Inc.

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