Bush 43 alum joins ‘shadow' RNC
With Daniel Lippman
FIRST IN PI: Marc Racicot, the former Montana governor and RNC chair, is joining Our Republican Legacy as chair, lending his voice to the organization as it expands efforts to grow grassroots support for the pre-MAGA era of the GOP ahead of the midterms next year and presidential election in 2028.
— Racicot joins former Sens. John Danforth and William Cohen, two founding chairs of the nonprofit that bills itself as the inheritor of true Republican Party values. Former Reps. Charlie Dent and Barbara Comstock are also being elevated to chairs as the organization seeks to grow its foothold in all 50 states.
— 'There are a lot of good people that can come back into the fold, we just have to have the time and the messaging to work with them and show them what's going on,' Racicot told PI.
— Racicot, who left public service after successfully managing President George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, went on to spend four years as the president of the American Insurance Association (now known as the American Property Casualty Insurance Association).
— 'We're building a 50-state national committee, basically a shadow version of the party,' Our Republican Legacy senior adviser Chris Vance told PI, while emphasizing that the organization is not a PAC and will not be endorsing specific candidates or making donations.
— 'Maybe we, at some point, will form a PAC,' Vance said. 'But right now we are an advocacy group, like the NRA is an advocacy group, the Sierra Club, all these different organizations. They can't say the magic words — elect, donate, that sort of thing — but they still have a very big political impact by fighting for their ideas.'
Happy first Friday of Summer and welcome to PI. This is Daniel (no, not that one) and I'm your guest host today. Send tips and recommendations on how to beat the heat this weekend to dbarnes@politico.com or ping me on Signal. And follow me on X: @dnlbrns. Caitlin will be back on Monday. You can always reach her on Signal, email her at coprysko@politico.com and follow her on X: @caitlinoprysko.
BURR LOBBYING FOR BIOTECH: Former Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) will represent the Biotechnology Innovation Organization on issues related to drug pricing and supply chains, Medicare and Medicaid and reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, POLITICO's Amanda Chu reports. Burr is currently health policy chair at DLA Piper.
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Gaurav Srivastava, the Indian American businessperson who last year had major donations to Democrats frozen or returned after allegations he had posed as a spy for the CIA, now appears to be trying to curry favor with top Republicans, Daniel L. reports.
— Srivastava on Thursday posted a photo he recently took with Vice President JD Vance, adding in a caption, 'Pleasure seeing Vice President @JDVance during last week's event in #WashingtonDC as we work towards strengthening America's future!'
— The photo was taken at the performance of 'Les Misérables' at the Kennedy Center that President Donald Trump and Vance attended along with a slew of other senior administration and Republican figures.
— 'Thousands of people were at the Kennedy Center that evening, and the Vice President took photos with many of them,' a spokesperson for Vance said in a statement to PI. A spokesperson for Srivastava did not provide a comment. Srivastava has disputed the 'fake spy' allegations in the past.
— Earlier this year, Srivastava also had lunch with Hunter Biden, according to photos the Daily Mail snapped.
— In 2023, the FBI reportedly began investigating Srivastava and where he got his money. Srivastava has been engaged in a long-running battle with Dutch oil trader Niels Troost after their business relationship went sour. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on the status of the investigation.
FOUL-MOUTH FAIN: 'In a scathing report from a court-appointed union watchdog, UAW President Shawn Fain is depicted as a foul-mouthed, hotheaded leader,' Liam Rappleye reports in the Detroit Free Press.
— The 93-page report makes several references to 'a moment where Fain told hundreds of UAW members at a large staff meeting that he would 'slit' or 'cut' their throats if they messed with his closest aides.'
— 'In another anecdote — which Fain admitted to be true — the UAW president confronted a print shop employee and launched into a 'tirade' upon hearing that [UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock] wanted a photo of herself to appear alongside Fain on a pamphlet outlining details of an ongoing bargaining campaign.'
— 'Fain reportedly confronted the Head of the Print Shop in a tirade, demanding, among other things, that she tell him, 'Who told you to put [Mock's] motherf------ photo on there? This is my motherf------ membership.''
SPOTTED at the Rainey Center's 'Tea Party Revival: Don't Tax the Light' at Butterworth's on Wednesday night: Citizen Solutions Inc.'s Tomer Kagan, National Nuclear Security Administration's Charles Moran, RNC's CJ Pearson, Log Cabin Republicans' Ed Williams, Andre Soriano, TSG Advocates' Chase Kroll, Rainey Center's Sarah Hunt, Chet Love and Connor Sandagata, Foundation for American Innovation's Zach Graves, Latinos for America First's Bianca Gracia, HHS' Gregory Angelo, Fox News' Ryan Schmelz, Treasury's Shane Shannon and Dean Ball of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Jobs report
— The Modular Building Institute has added Alex Carmack as government affairs director, Andrew Muchnick as government affairs manager and Chastity Meade as communications manager. Carmack joins from the United Network for Organ Sharing where he worked as a policy analyst. Muchnick was previously a senior director in Bullpen Strategy Group's media intelligence practice. Meade was a community manager and social media manager for the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium.
— Mike Spratt has joined the Investment Company Institute as an associate general counsel from the SEC where he previously was assistant director in the division of investment management disclosure review.
— The American Land Title Association has promoted three members of their government relations staff. Elizabeth Blosser has been appointed chief strategy, communications and innovation officer. She was previously vice president of government affairs overseeing state advocacy. Emily Tryon has been promoted to chief advocacy officer. She was previously vice president of government affairs managing federal advocacy. Kevin Cameron takes on a new title as vice president, head of federal government affairs. He was previously senior director of federal government affairs.
— Gregory Cox is the new executive director of the office of government relations at Texas Christian University. He was most recently an attorney in private practice and is a Greg Abbott alum.
— Brett Tolman is the new chair for law and justice at America First Policy Institute. He previously served as chair of AFPI's weaponization of government initiative.
— CropLife America has added Tonya Parish as senior manager of communications and government relations. Parish was previously communications manager for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. She is joined at CropLife by Jay Ivey, new manager of government relations. He was previously state outreach and public affairs coordinator at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
New Joint Fundraisers
Blue Dog Victory Fund (Cooke for Congress, Rep. Jared Golden, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, Rep. Lou Correa, Rep. Adam Gray, Rep. Sanford Bishop, Rep. Jim Costa, Rep. Henry Cuellar, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Mike Thompson)
New PACs
American Fidelity PAC (Super PAC)
BDA PAC (Hybrid PAC)
Founding Father's Vision PAC (Hybrid PAC)
DraftKings Inc. Political Action Committee DBA DraftKings PAC (PAC)
Fire Fetterman (Super PAC)
Archer Aviation Inc. Political Action Committee (AKA Archer PAC) (PAC)
MAGA KY (Super PAC)
Lunatic Fringe Political Action Committee (PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Axadvocacy Government Relations: 503 Capital Partners
Ballard Partners: Transportation Management Services
Boundary Stone Partners: Mantel Capture, Inc
Boundary Stone Partners: National Carbon Technologies, LLC
Brightspring Health Services: Brightspring Health Services
Continental Strategy, LLC: Cm Consortium LLC
Covenant Government Affairs, LLC: Auto-Mark, Inc. Dba Sea Foam Sales Company
Covenant Government Affairs, LLC: Royal Engineering And Consulting, LLC.
Cruce Capitol Consulting LLC: American Sugar Cane League Of The USa, Inc.
Dga Group Government Relations LLC: Kyowa Kirin Inc, USa
DLA Piper LLP (US): Biotechnology Innovation Organization
Ervin Graves Strategy Group, LLC: Hereford Ethanol Partners, L.P.
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Artanis Capital, LLC
J.A. Green And Company (Formerly LLC): Aimpoint US
J.A. Green And Company (Formerly LLC): American Center For Manufacturing & Innovation Federal General LLC
Javelin Advisors LLC: Fred Daibes
Lilette Advisors: Rf Catalytic Capital
Lilette Advisors: Vale USa LLC
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Sentinelone Inc.
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Charter Casting
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Dairyland Power Cooperative
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (Kkr)
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Maxar Intelligence
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Tricolor Holdings
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: United Opticians Association
Park Strategies, LLC: Global Dairy Distributors LLC
Steptoe LLP: Lake Charles Methanol Ii, LLC
The Mckeon Group, Inc.: Momentum Solutions
The Mckeon Group, Inc.: Sunation Energy
The Mckeon Group, Inc.: Umo & National Association Of Ukrainian Defense Industries (Naudi)
The Vogel Group: Allentown, Inc
The Vogel Group: Auto Approve
The Vogel Group: Canadian National Railway
The Vogel Group: Contingency Capital
The Vogel Group: Graftech International Ltd.
The Vogel Group: William Tierney
Venn Strategies: Ohio Coating Company
New Lobbying Terminations
Accelerate Strategies: Sports And Fitness Industry Association
Cgcn Group, LLC: National Oilseed Processors Association
Ess Tech, Inc.: Ess Tech, Inc.
Forbes-Tate: Crestview Strategies Obo Teknion
Forbes-Tate: Ginkgo Bioworks
Forbes-Tate: Lykos Therapeutics
Lot Sixteen LLC: North Star Manganese, Inc.
Ms. Virginia Ainslie: American Geophysical Union
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