Asked if TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance had a role in prepping him for today, TikTok chief SHOU CHEW says he worked “with my team here in DC."

Curious what the Biden-connected firm @SKDK, which TikTok hired amid rising US scrutiny, is doing for TikTok. .@SKDK advises clients on navigating government & public scrutiny.

But it says it doesn't lobby.

It is not currently registered to lobby for TikTok (or any client) under LDA or FARA, despite FARA's requirement that consultants register when they do PR for some foreign clients.

LEONARD LEO's TENEO has been described to me as The FEDERALIST SOCIETY, but for the culture war.

It is the talent pipeline for Leo's powerful network, which I exposed back in October: nytimes.com/2022/10/12/us/…

I'd been planning a deep dive on Teneo, but @propublica beat me to it. TENEO was modeled after @FedSoc.

Its members include judges, but also Senators & business & media execs.

As LEONARD LEO put it in a video obtained by @ProPublica, "if this can work for law, why can’t it work for lots of other areas of American culture…" propublica.org/article/leonar…

NEW: KEVIN McCARTHY's closest confidant & biggest fundraiser is a lobbyist who spearheaded his speaker campaign, sneaking into his Capitol office to avoid reporters & urging donors to pressure holdouts to vote 'yes.'

Now, JEFF MILLER stands to benefit. nytimes.com/2023/02/03/us/… Rarely has a lobbyist enjoyed access to a House speaker like @JeffMillerCA2TX has with @SpeakerMcCarthy.

As a result, Miller is in high demand in corporate America, where he is seen as the guy to neutralize scrutiny from a GOP right flank that is targeting big business as "woke"

In an encrypted group text, FTX officials & consultants deliberated over how to attribute political donations, & worried they might be violating campaign finance rules, we revealed last month. nytimes.com/2022/11/22/bus…

Those concerns were borne out in the indictment unsealed today According to the indictment:

@SBF_FTX & others "knowingly & willfully" made donations to candidates, joint cmtes & super PACs "in the names of other persons" (i.e. illegal straw donations), & made corporate donations to campaigns (which are also illegal). documentcloud.org/documents/2345…

JUST POSTED: With Washington headed for divided government, The Oversight Industrial Complex is revving up.

Millions of dollars are already starting to flow to defense lawyers & new nonprofit groups geared toward GOP congressional investigations. nytimes.com/2022/11/17/us/… DAVID BROCK is leaving MEDIA MATTERS (@mmfa) & @AMERICAN_BRIDGE to start & run a new 501(c)4, @FactsFirstUSA that aims to raise $5m/year for "A SWAT Team to Counter Republican Congressional Investigations," per memo to Dem donors, outside groups & others. documentcloud.org/documents/2331…

SCOOP: A donor coalition linked to PETER THIEL & BEKAH MERCER aims to spend $30M+ to “disrupt but advance" the GOP.

ROCKBRIDGE NETWORK met this week in Florida, including a reception at Mar-a-Lago featuring TRUMP.

It's unclear if Thiel or Mercer attended nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/… The PETER THIEL-backed Senate candidate BLAKE MASTERS also spoke (before TRUMP) at the ROCKBRIDGE NETWORK's reception last night at Mar-a-Lago.

Then, Masters & Trump attended the premiere of a documentary critical of MARK ZUCKERBERG's donations to support election administration

The @sixers are not letting people into tonight’s game wearing this Ben Simmons Dickhead shirt. .@WellsFargoCtr Vendor: “Tonight we’re taking the caps off the waters.”

WHY WE DID THIS STORY: @ShaneGoldmacher & I debated whether the limitations of assessing “dark money” made it worth trying at all.

We decided the difficulty was not a good reason to shy away.

In fact, the opacity was partly why we deemed this worthwhile. nytimes.com/2022/01/29/us/… Secretive nonprofit spending shapes much of our politics, from campaigns to fights over voting rules & SCOTUS seats.

But it's difficult to get info about the donors & groups.

That's partly thanks to lax disclosure rules, & partly because some groups further obscure the $ flow.

Democrats complained for years about secretive political spending.

But in 2020, as they worked to beat Trump & take the Senate, they outpaced Republicans in “dark money,” @ShaneGoldmacher & I found in a @nytimes analysis.

Free link for non-subscribers: nytimes.com/2022/01/29/us/… Our analysis found that 15 of the most politically active nonprofits that generally align with Democrats spent more than $1.5 BILLION in 2020, compared to roughly $900 million spent by a comparable sample of 15 of the most politically active groups aligned with Republicans.

As they push back on BIDEN's big domestic policy bill, @SenatorSinema & @Sen_JoeManchin have been actively courting prominent Republican donors, many of whom have given to the Democrats for the 1st time this year, including:
➡️HARLAN CROW
➡️JIMMY HASLAM
1/
nytimes.com/2021/11/21/us/… MANCHIN & SINEMA took fundraising swings thru Texas (in July & Sept, respectively) that yielded GOP $, including separate events at BRINT RYAN's $18M home that were facilitated with help from Ryan's partner JEFF MILLER, a top fundraiser for @GOPLeader. 2/ ryan.com/europe/about-r…

NEW: @amazon paid JEFF RICCHETTI (the brother of top BIDEN WH adviser STEVE RICCHETTI) $90k over the last 3 months to lobby on legislation/regulations related to:
➡️online consumer privacy
➡️minimum wage
➡️unilateral digital services taxes
lda.senate.gov/filings/public… The lobbyist JEFF RICCHETTI is the brother top BIDEN advisor STEVE RICCHETTI.

In the 1st half of 2020 (under TRUMP), Jeff Ricchetti’s firm collected $370k in lobbying fees.

In the 1st half of 2021 (under BIDEN), Ricchetti’s firm collected $1.67M in fees. wsj.com/articles/lobby…

Trying to avoid watching the @sixers, but I’ll probably cave & tune in, since I am a Philly fan, & therefore a glutton for optimism-crushing disappointment. At least Ben Simmons is trying to foul out. That will make this game somewhat easier to watch.

NEW: Former RUDY GIULIANI associates PAVEL FUKS & ANDRII TELIZHENKO are sued by an estranged associate of Fuks who alleges Fuks (a developer who once discussed a Moscow project with TRUMP) is "an agent of Russian intelligence services, & a money launderer" documentcloud.org/documents/2080… The suit was brought by YURI VANETIK, a prominent GOP fundraiser & sometime lobbyist.

In 2019, PAVEL FUKS had sued Vanetik for bilking him out of $200k he paid for VIP tickets to TRUMP's inauguration.

Fuks ended up watching the inauguration from a DC bar nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/…

NEW: Federal investigators executed a search warrant on Wednesday at RUDY GIULIANI’s NYC apartment, seizing his electronic devices.

It’s a sign that the criminal investigation is ramping up into his dealings in Ukraine, including whether he violated FARA. nytimes.com/2021/04/28/nyr… UPDATE: @FBI also executed a search warrant at the home of @VicToensing, a lawyer who worked with GIULIANI on the BIDEN dirt-digging campaign.

She had dealt with, & discussed representing, YURIY LUTSENKO, the Ukrainian prosecutor who provided info to Rudy nytimes.com/2021/04/28/nyr…

Government watchdogs should call out transparency & influence concerns regardless of partisan affiliation.

@POGOwatchdog has exemplified this, flagging links between BIDEN's inner circle & shadowy consultancies like WESTEXEC as emblematic of the DC swamp. pogo.org/topics/legaliz… .@POGOwatchdog has asserted WestExec "circumvents" lobbying disclosure laws, "sells influence & connections” & called it “disappointing” that Biden tapped so many WestExec alumni “because I thought the message was clear … that the swamp is unacceptable & it’s time for a change.”

.@BernieSanders to @neeratanden: “Your attacks were not just made against Republicans. There were vicious attacks made against progressives, people who I have worked with — me personally… Can you reflect a little bit about some of your decisions…?” For reference: in 2008, @NeeraTanden, then a top @HillaryClinton aide, punched @fshakir in the chest after he asked Clinton about her Iraq war vote.

Neera’s reaponse: “I didn’t slug him, I pushed him.”

Shakir became @BernieSanders’s 2020 campaign chief. nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/…

NEW: ALAN DERSHOWITZ helped craft & push proposals for GEORGE NADER to be released from a 10-year sentence (for child pornography/sex trafficking) & returned to the U.A.E. (on an Emirate jet) so he could play a role in backchannel Middle East peace talks. nytimes.com/2021/02/08/us/… GEORGE NADER's allies believed @AlanDersh was pushing for clemency from TRUMP.

DERSHOWITZ says that was a small part of his work for Nader, who didn't get out.

But the episode shows how DERSHOWITZ was sought after by people seeking relief from TRUMP. nytimes.com/2021/02/08/us/…

SHELDON ADELSON was portrayed as a master political manipulator.

But his giving was often feckless & driven by relationships.

When I asked why he was funding a @newtgingrich '12 super PAC, he said “I’m just a loyal guy," then compared NEWT's ill-fated campaign to a steak dinner That interview (which was in my book) came after @maggieNYT & I wrote for @politico that ADELSON had committed to donating $20M to a super PAC supporting GINGRICH's 2012 campaign.

*Adelson denied he made any such commitment.

**He ended up donating $20M. politico.com/story/2011/12/…

NEW: Allies of @WikiLeaks founder JULIAN ASSANGE have ramped up a push for a last-minute pardon from TRUMP, filing a clemency petition with the WH & enlisting a lobbyist with connections to the administration, ROBERT STRYK. nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/… The Australia-based press freedom group @BPFreeSpeech retained ROBERT STRYK to seek a pardon for JULIAN ASSANGE.

Stryk says he is working for free "in solidarity with Julian Assange" & will continue seeking a pardon under BIDEN, if TRUMP doesn't grant it. nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/…

NEW: For $1M, corporations can be listed as a "chair" of JOE BIDEN's inauguration ($500k for individuals).

Donor packages include "virtual signed photos" with Biden, @KamalaHarris & their spouses, plus virtual briefings with inaugural & campaign leaders. beta.documentcloud.org/documents/2042… NEW: BIDEN's inaugural is forgoing fossil fuel $, but liberal groups want the ban expanded to "all major corporate sectors" to prevent them "from wielding undue influence."

The groups, led by @demandprogress, released a letter to @BidenInaugural today. nytimes.com/live/2020/12/1…

BIDEN WH STAFF SO FAR:

➡️Venture capital executive (@RonaldKlain).
➡️Former pharmaceutical, insurance lobbyist (Steve Ricchetti).
➡️Top Dem recipient of Big Oil $ (@CedricRichmond).
➡️Co-founder of firm that represents pharma & private equity (@jomalleydillon). MORE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PICKS:

➡️Co-founder of firm that represents big defense & tech companies (@ABlinken).
➡️Ex-consultant for data-miner @PalantirTech (Avril Haines).
➡️Senior VP (on leave) of firm that represented embattled Swiss-based mining giant Glencore (@LindaT_G).