Washington state senator will lobby for Cambodia Presented by the Consumer Brands Association

With David Beavers and Daniel Lippman

WASHINGTON STATE SENATOR WILL LOBBY FOR CAMBODIA: Doug Ericksen, a sitting Washington state senator, has registered to lobby for the Cambodian government. Ericksen, a Republican, registered as a foreign agent along with Jay Rodne, a former Washington state representative who left office earlier this year, through a company called PacRim Bridges LLC. Ericksen and Rodne will meet “with US Officials, electeds at both the federal and state levels, and administrative officials to promote improved relations between the USA and the Kingdom of Cambodia,” according to a Justice Department filing.


— The work will include arranging “visits by Cambodian officials to the US and visits by US officials to Cambodia” as well as setting up meetings with American business leaders, according to the filing. The contract, which was signed March 25, is worth $500,000 a year.

— State lawmakers aren’t typically involved in foreign affairs. But Ericksen visited Cambodia twice last year, including a trip in July with other state lawmakers, to observe the country’s elections, according to The Seattle Times. The elections were widely considered illegitimate, and the White House criticized them at the time as “neither free nor fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people.” But Ericksen told The Seattle Times that the voting process was “amazingly transparent” and “incredibly well conducted” and that he planned to submit a report to Cambodia’s National Election Committee saying so. Neither Ericksen nor Rodne immediately responded to requests for comment.

— This isn’t the first time Ericksen has tried to hold down two jobs at once. During the early days of President Donald Trump’s administration, Ericksen, who worked for Trump’s campaign in Washington state, was tapped to work on the “beachhead team” at the Environmental Protection Agency as he continued to serve as a state senator, The Washington Post reported at the time. Ericksen commuted back and forth between Olympia, Wash., and Washington.

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INSIDE GIULIANI’S WORK ABROAD: Stephanie Baker has a piece in Bloomberg Businessweek digging into Rudy Giuliani’s foreign work in Ukraine and elsewhere. “Giuliani has consistently denied lobbying U.S. officials on behalf of Ukraine or any other foreign government. He told me that most of his work has been in the form of consulting within foreign countries, which [Foreign Agents Registration Act] experts say typically wouldn’t trigger an obligation to file as a foreign agent. ‘Most of our contracts involve giving a state within the national government a security plan to reduce crime, investigate terrorism, secure critical infrastructure,’ he said.” Full story.

MCAFEE LOBBYING ON DEMS’ ELECTION REFORM BILL: The cybersecurity software company McAfee has hired a trio at Blank Rome Government Relations to lobby on House Democrats’ sweeping election reform bill. Stephen Peranich, Jennifer Carrier and Scott Thomas, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, will lobby for McAfee on H.R. 1 (116), House Democrats’ election security and ethics reform bill. The firm’s top priority is ensuring the Election Assistance Commission receives “the necessary federal funds to enable the states to better secure their election infrastructure,” Thomas Gann, McAfee’s chief public policy officer and head of government relations, told PI in an interview.

— The bill, which passed the House last month, has almost no chance of becoming law with Republicans in control of the Senate and the White House. “We certainly hope that some version of the election security provisions [in H.R. 1] gets signed into law,” Gann said. “Based on what we’ve heard, the election security provisions have the best chance of getting passed as a stand-alone effort.”

FLYING IN: Members of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors were in Washington this morning for a roundtable hosted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

— The Grocery Manufacturers Association has added Audra Kruse as manager of digital communications, Leslie Lake as director of media relations and Sarah Soulier as manager of industry narrative. Kruse previously worked for the International Dairy Foods Association, Lake previously worked at Powell Tate and Soulier previously worked for Airlines for America.

— Carla Lochiatto is joining ASIS International as director of the chief security officer center. She was previously the American Society of Association Executives’ director of public policy operations and political fundraising.

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Climate 2021 (PAC)

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Green New Deal Alliance (Super PAC)

Alignment Government Strategies: FP2 Inc.

Alignment Government Strategies: Southwestern/Great American, Inc.

Bose Public Affairs Group: Metropolitan School District of Washington Township

CapeDC Advisors, LLC: Lincoln Military Housing

Capitol Counsel LLC: TeraExchange

Capitol Counsel LLC: The Surety & Fidelity Association of America

Capitol Decisions, Inc.: Van Scoyoc Associates (Medical University Hospital Authority)

Capstone National Partners: NCBA CLUSA

Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Noble Energy, Inc.

Covington & Burling LLP: Greenwich Biosciences, Inc.

First Rule: Hyperloop America, Inc.

GovBiz Advantage, Inc.: National Wistleblower [sic] Center

Guide Consulting Services, Inc.: Centerstone

J M Burkman & Associates: Royal Dairy

McDermott Will & Emery LLP: Innovative Defense Technologies

McLarty Inbound LLC: Swisse Wellness Pty Ltd

Ms. Susan Greenhalgh: National Election Defense Institute

National Environmental Strategies: Alta Ski Area

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The Madison Group: Loeb & Loeb

BlueWater Strategies: Aptim Corp

BlueWater Strategies: Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority

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BlueWater Strategies: Timber Products Manufacturers' Association

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP: Cotiviti Corporation

DC Legislative and Regulatory Services, Inc.: Agrium Advanced Technologies

Dickinson Wright PLLC: Ohio Association of Career Technical Education

Electrify America, LLC: Electrify America, LLC

Kathleen Fitzgerald: The Fair Food Network

McDermott Will & Emery LLP: Ambrosia Treatment Center

Nathanson+Hauck: Express Scripts Inc.

OnPoint Strategies: National Association for Relationship and Marriage Education

Polsinelli PC: American Chemistry Council

Smith Advocacy Group, LLC: Arctic Catering & Support Services

Smith Advocacy Group, LLC: Deterrent Specialities LLC

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