Ballard raked in six figures from law firms targeted by Trump

Politico

2 days ago

With Daniel Lippman
LAW FIRMS PAID BALLARD $600K LAST QUARTER: A pair of top law firms that struck deals with the Trump administration to avoid retribution for their diversity, equity and inclusion policies shelled out $300,000 each to Ballard Partners during the second quarter, disclosure filings show. Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett both hired Ballard in March, within days of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission firing off inquiries to nearly two dozen law firms about their diversity hiring practices.
— Brian Ballard, Syl Lukis and Justin Sayfie reported engaging the White House Office and the Labor Department on behalf of the firms to provide 'advice related to employment practices,' according to disclosure filings. The law firms paid Ballard $100,000 during the first quarter, which ran through March.
— Ballard's advocacy appeared to pay off the next month, when Trump announced that five top law firms— including Kirkland and Simpson — had agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal work to support causes aligned with the president in exchange for dropping the EEOC probes.
— Kirkland and Simpson weren't the only law firms that enlisted help from a Trump ally ahead of settlements with the White House. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom retained Miller Strategies on March 25, according to a disclosure filing.
— On March 28, Skadden became the first law firm to strike a preemptive deal with Trump, setting off a flurry of additional dealmaking across Big Law. Skadden paid Miller Strategies $20,000 during the first quarter of the year and reported no lobbying activity during Q2.
TGIF and welcome to PI. Send tips. Add me on Signal at caitlinoprysko.17, email me at [e-mail] and be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
BIG TECH'S AGE VERIFICATION FIGHT GETS MESSY: 'The biggest tech companies are warring over who's responsible for children's safety online, with billions of dollars in fines on the line as states rapidly pass conflicting laws requiring companies to verify users' ages,' per Bloomberg's Emily Birnbaum.
— The debate has pitted platforms like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, against the owners of the world's two biggest app stores, Apple and Google.
— 'As the lobbying battle over age verification heats up, influential big tech groups are splintering and new ones emerging. Meta last year left Chamber of Progress, a liberal-leaning tech group that counts Apple and Google as members. Since then, the chamber, which is led by a former Google lobbyist and brands itself as the Democratic-aligned voice for the tech industry, has grown more aggressive in its advocacy against all age verification bills.'
— 'Meta tried unsuccessfully to convince another major tech trade group, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, to stop working against bills Meta supports, two people familiar with the dynamics said.'
— In the meantime, Meta partnered up this spring with Spotify and Tinder owner Match Group 'to launch a coalition aimed at taking on Apple and Google, including over the issue of age verification. Meta is also helping to fund the Digital Childhood Alliance, a coalition of conservative groups leading efforts to pass app-store age verification, according to three people familiar with the funding.'
FIRST IN PI — COURTOVICH SANCTIONED BY COURT: A federal court on Thursday ruled that lobbyist Jim Courtovich is in contempt of court for not providing financial information to Saudi-backed investors whom the court says he owes millions to, Daniel reports.
— The judge, Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also said in the 'sanctions order' that Courtovich will be fined daily for contempt until he comes into compliance: $250 per day for two weeks and $1,000 per day after that, and potentially even more later.
— Last year, Courtovich breached a settlement agreement he made to pay back the investment vehicle Woodland Drive, which had sued him over allegations of breach of contract and fraud. The court has previously ordered Courtovich to turn over financial information to the LLC as it attempts to collect its $4 million judgment against him.
— 'Courtovich has repeatedly and flagrantly ignored the court's unambiguous orders and has failed to appear at numerous hearings scheduled by the court,' Nichols said in the order. 'Indeed, to date, he still has not complied with the court's February 5 order directing him to produce the documents requested by Woodland Drive.'
— Courtovich declined to comment on whether he will comply with the court order and instead said he has an agreement with the Al Gosaibi family, which funds Woodland Drive, and not with Woodland Drive. But he added that Woodland Drive will get the proceeds of Courtovich's Hill house, which is for sale.
— 'The company will not stop pursuing Jim Courtovich until he has paid every penny of the $4 million that he owes,' a representative for Woodland Drive said in a statement to PI. 'His excuses will not stop this from happening. The walls are closing in and he knows it.'
THE INFLUENCERS ARE COMING: Strategic advisory firm Velocity Partners has teamed up with creator economy startup #paid to launch a new offering aimed at reaching stakeholders in Washington by mobilizing content creators and social media influencers around the country.
— Content creators are 'incredibly effective at driving action,' Velocity co-founder Ali Rubin argued. 'We have been saying, if you could use that to convert that action, that behavior that they're driving, to a policy, regulatory or grassroots campaign, think about the impact you'd have.'
— The #paid platform works by connecting brands with creators interested in sponsorship opportunities, and Velocity hopes to pair that functionality with its knowledge of Washington to put a D.C.-centered spin on digital campaigns focused on policy or regulatory objectives.
— It feels like a natural next step following an election that cemented platforms like podcasts or TikTok as tools for campaigns to meet voters where they are, rather than relying on media that younger Americans are shifting away from, like live TV and newspapers.
— For some clients, Rubin posited, that could entail enlisting a mom blogger who submitted a bid for the campaign and 'who may or may not have followers who care about politics' to sway public sentiment on an issue in their own voice. Or the influencer could call for their followers to contact their local congressional representative, instead of 'hiring a policy spokesperson or putting an ad in a local newspaper.'
ANNALS OF ETHICS: The House Ethics Committee called on Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) today to divest his family's holdings in steel giant Cleveland-Cliffs, 'citing concerns around the appearance of wrongdoing,' per POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs.
— The bipartisan panel has been probing whether Kelly's wife bought stock in Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs, which has a plant in the lawmaker's district, 'based on non-public information gleaned from Kelly's position as an elected official. Although Kelly's wife was not fully cooperative with the probe, the panel 'did not find evidence that [the lawmaker] knowingly or intentionally caused his spouse to trade based on insider information.''
— ''It is rare for the Committee to recommend divestment of stocks where there is a potential appearance of a conflict of interest,' committee members wrote in their report. 'As Representative Kelly himself noted, however, he is an 'insider' when it comes to Cleveland-Cliffs, by virtue of his position as the representative for his district.''
— 'The panel urged Kelly and his wife to divest their holdings before he takes any more official actions related to Cleveland-Cliffs,' while expressing concerns 'that Kelly's wife bought more stock during the investigation, and Kelly did not disclose the purchase in a timely manner — nor did he answer questions about it.'
SPOTTED last night at a reception hosted by the Information Technology Industry Council featuring special guests from the Congressional Staff Association on AI, per a tipster: Margaret McCarthy of ITI, Alexandra Seymour and Ashley Truluck of the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee, Patrick Ottenhoff of Visa, Parul Desai of the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, Alyson Sincavage of Cisco and Robert Hoffman of Broadcom.
— And at a fireside chat on the White House's new artificial intelligence roadmap with OSTP Director Michael Kratsios hosted by the Consumer Technology Association, per a tipster: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Joel Miller of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Elena Hernandez, Dean Ball and Tim Kurth of OSTP, Will Burns of Rep. Jay Obernolte's (R-Calif.) office, Addie Cooke of Google, Melika Carroll of Cohere, Austin Carson of SeedAI, Andres Castrillon of Qualcomm, Ximena Gates of BuildWithin, Kevin Rambosk and India Herdman of Tesla, Kelsey Conradi of Samsung, Aya Kiy-Morrocco of AWS, Miranda Lutz of Cisco, Svetlana Matt of EchoStar, Melissa Wade and Charlotte McElroy of Aurora, John Mitchell of Workday, Pooja Patel of Siemens, Anarkalee Perera of HP, Sean Perryman of Uber, Kaya Singleton of Roku, Rebecca Steele of Toyota, Pat Thompson of Infineon, Melissa Tye of Verizon, Stefania Yanachkov of Waymo, Allison Cullin of Lyft, Jim Morgan of LG Electronics, Ashley Menzler of Dexcom, Tillie Fowler of EssilorLuxottica, Pat Pelletier of IBM and CTA's Gary Shapiro, Kinsey Fabrizio, Michael Petricone, Tiffany Moore and David Grossman.
Jobs report
— Kate Tyrrell is now chief of staff and senior deputy comptroller at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She previously was senior managing director at Greystone.
— Monument Advocacy has promoted Roberto Estrada Lobo to director of client acquisition and public affairs, Kaycie Goral to director of public affairs, Peyton Kelleher to senior manager of government relations and Chauncey Seeger to senior manager of government relations.
— Michelle West is now a partner in the construction and project development practice at Burr & Forman in its new Washington office. She previously was counsel at Fox Rothschild LLP.
— Jeff Hantson is now a managing director at FGS Global in its Washington office. He previously was deputy general counsel for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
— Bert Kaufman is now senior counsel for autonomy and robotics at DoorDash. He most recently was a senior adviser at the Commerce Department.
— Leslie Nettleford-Freeman is now associate general counsel and vice president of legal affairs and brand protection at the National Association of Realtors. She previously was associate general counsel at AARP.
— Amir Nasr is now a public policy manager at Amazon. He was previously trade policy manager at the Computer & Communications Industry Association.
New Joint Fundraisers
Cortez Masto Senate Victory (Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, All for Our Country Leadership PAC, DSCC)
Takano Victory Fund (Rep. Mark Takano, Inland Empire Strikes PAC; The)
New PACs
Draft Captain Mike Bouchard (Super PAC)
PAC Punch (Super PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Brian Glackin & Associates LLC: Icebreaker Strategies, LLC (Obo Health Supply US)
Clark Hill Public Strategies LLC: Riverside Energy Group
Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC: Bayonne Drydock & Repair Corp.
Government Solutions LLC: Custom Biometric Wearables, Inc.
Kellen Company: International Food Additives Council
New Century Government Affairs (F/K/A Terrence C. Wolfe): Polk County Public Schools
Patterson & Meek: Cancercare
Public Appeal LLC: Verp Holdings LLC
Puzzle Box Government Relations: Boundary Stone Partners On Behalf Of Cauldron Molecules, Inc.
The Nimitz Group LLC: Phronesis Global Training Solutions LLC, D/B/A Pgt Solutions
Venable LLP: Incompas
New Lobbying Terminations
Capitol 6 Advisors: Apex Site Services
Keller Partners & Company: Fairfield Medical Center
Keller Partners & Company: Limestone University
Stone Advocacy Solutions: Hualapai Tribe