FIRST IN PI — DASCHLE GROUP WON’T REP CHINESE COMPANIES: On the other end of the China lobbying debate, the Daschle Group sent out a note to clients and contacts today declaring the firm wouldn’t ever represent companies headquartered in China. “We share the growing concern about the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on companies headquartered in China and the ramifications for our national interest,” reads the note. — Nathan Daschle, the president and COO of the firm, told Megan that they’d recently been approached about representing a Chinese company. “In that moment,” he said, “we had to ask ourselves where we stood.” — “The influence of the Chinese government is an issue that has become paramount for all of us,” he said. The announcement comes as bipartisan efforts are underway on Capitol Hill to ban social media apps like TikTok and restrict U.S. access to Chinese biotech companies such as WuXi AppTec. — The efforts have caused companies to scramble for representation, occasionally finding themselves stranded, as we laid out above. Another such instance came earlier this month, when the industry group Biotechnology Innovation Organization announced it would be removing WuXi AppTec from its members following criticism from Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. — The Daschle Group, founded by former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), represents Stand for Hong Kong Action, a group advocating for democracy in the Chinese territory. It also represents the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, the de facto embassy of Taiwan, which Beijing asserts is part of China. FARA FRIDAY: One of the most prolific PR firms on Saudi Arabia’s payroll parted ways with the Saudi Embassy earlier this month after four years, according to DOJ filings. Des Moines-based Larson Shannahan Slifka Group, which also goes by LS2 Group, had worked for the Saudis since 2019, spearheading an image rehab effort notable for its focus outside of the Beltway. — The firm raked in nearly $5.9 million during that time, according to PI’s tally, working with subcontractors and politically connected consultants spread out across nine different states. LS2 Group reported making thousands of contacts with local news outlets, nonprofits, community leaders, industry groups and more about everything from a partnership between Boeing and the Saudi state-backed airline, to Riyadh’s leadership swooping in to help during multiple global crises, to advancements for women and women in sports in the notoriously oppressive Kingdom. — LS2 Group’s most recent contract with the embassy had been running on a month-to-month basis since the beginning of 2024, according to the terms of a copy of the agreement filed with DOJ. The firm conducted work for the embassy through January and February, filings show, but terminated on March 5. Neither LS2 Group nor the Saudi Embassy responded to requests for comment about the termination. ANNALS OF DARK MONEY: Our Hailey Fuchs reports that American Accountability Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that has worked to sink Biden administration nominees, “has failed to disclose some spending on political ads, a move experts say could complicate its tax-exempt status.” — AAF “reported no spending on lobbying or advertising in 2021 and 2022, according to filings shared with POLITICO by the liberal-leaning watchdog group Accountable.US and available through ProPublica’s nonprofit database. But ad spending data shows AAF has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote its research attacking President Joe Biden’s nominees, from a Supreme Court justice to agency leaders, even publicly cheering its own success when a campaign culminated in a nominee’s withdrawal.” — “What the IRS considers to be lobbying, tax experts emphasized, is largely ambiguous. … The agency does appear to be investigating the matter, based on correspondence AAF made public revealing an IRS audit for 2021.” WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: “One of the most powerful corporate entities in the country, which has a number of controversial ties to China, appears to have been providing a passive revenue stream to an influential Republican senator for years,” Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger reports. — “Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who sits on the powerful Finance Committee and chairs the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, has deep ties to Oracle, dating back to his life as a private sector entrepreneur. Those relationships continued while Daines was in office, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, from the Austin, Texas-based software and analytics giant.” — “Today, Oracle is at the center of the complex but heated national political debate about TikTok and its relationship with the Chinese government, with its $1 billion TikTok data management contract playing a key role in the controversy.” — “While the TikTok discourse has dominated the national stage lately, that contract is just the tip of the iceberg for Oracle, a powerful beltway player that has seen a number of recent scandals — including deadly failures from a Veterans Administration project and ties to dicey security contractors in China.” MORE SRIVASTAVA CHECKS FROZEN: Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic super PAC close to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, is setting aside a $500,000 donation it received from Gaurav Srivastava, the L.A. businessperson accused of fraudulently pretending to be associated with the CIA, Daniel reports in West Wing Playbook. — WWPB reported on Tuesday that the Biden campaign and the DCCC were freezing hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations they received from him. Srivastava also donated half a million dollars to Senate Majority PAC on Nov. 7, 2022, the day before Election Day, according to FEC records. Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Sarah Guggenheimer said they were putting it aside “as a precaution.” — Asked for comment, Srivastava’s lawyer passed along a statement from his client saying: “I have not been made aware by the committee that my contribution has been placed in escrow. If indeed the funds are not being deployed for election purposes for which it was solicited, then I request my contribution to be returned immediately.” When asked if SMP will comply with his request, Guggenheimer said the super PAC currently has no plans to return the money.
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