Free Republic

The inside story of how House Speaker Mike Johnson was flip-flopped on Ukraine aid starts with his top policy adviser...SNIP>>>> Johnson’s policy director, Dan Ziegler, was–until he joined the Speaker’s office as his top policy aide when Johnson won the Speakership last year–a lobbyist with the firm Williams & Jensen. He had previously worked for Johnson in other capacities, but left Johnson to become a lobbyist and accumulated a client list that included several top companies–some of which seem to have a financial interest in seeing Congress pass Ukraine aid. The lobbying firm for which he worked represents a number...

New York lobbyists have hit the jackpot alongside a push to open casinos in the Big Apple — raking in bundles as they try to woo Mayor Eric Adams and council members, a new city report reveals. Compensation for lobbyists shot up 8% last year — up from $121.15 million in 2022 to $130.96 million, according to the annual study prepared by the City Clerk’s Office, which regulates the lobbying industry. Entities tied to Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen and Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment led the charge — spending more than $2 million combined on a stable of lobbyists last...

As a private citizen, I was always offended when I heard about tax dollars going to lobbyists. You may not be familiar with this practice, but any public institution can use your taxes to hire private lobbyists to lobby any other institution, usually for more taxes to be collected and spent. Cities can lobby the State, the State can lobby the feds, and the feds can lobby the cities. It becomes one endless cycle of forcing citizens to pay to subsidize their own tax increases. Imagine my surprise then to find out that Ada County had its own contract lobbyist...

Investor Keith Rabois and his same-sex spouse Jacob Helberg – both strong backers of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – appear to have defected to the camp of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and will be hosting an “intimate private reception” to raise money for her later this month.“I want to say very clearly that my husband and I are significant supporters of [DeSasntis] and all his policies,” Rabois said as recently as three months ago, adding he and Helberg “think what he’s doing in Florida is the recipe that should be copied in every state – period, without exception.”With the...

The Biden administration has made a deal with Iran to release $6 billion in frozen funds in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. The agreement issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer sanctioned Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions includes the release of five Iranian citizens held in the U.S. The Iranian-Americans include businessmen Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Shargi, 58, along with environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the deal late last week, but Congress was not notified of the decision until Monday,...

Tesla got a carve-out. It’s a good day for auto dealers in the Sunshine State, and not so great for motorists who’d prefer a more direct route for buying a new coupe, sedan or SUV. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure (HB 637) banning most direct-to-consumer vehicle sales, solidifying the future viability of car-selling operations across the Sunshine State. The measure, championed and authored by lobbyists representing the Florida Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), prohibits automakers from selling vehicles directly to buyers.That restriction, which goes into effect July 1, was considered a direct threat to the business model of Tesla, an...

An Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light) lobbyist is also a major bundler for Governor Ron DeSantis, POLITICO has revealed.Slater Bayliss, a former Jeb Bush “bundler” was even the third-largest bundler for the DeSantis campaign at one point during his Four Seasons donor meet the day of his campaign launch. Bayliss had raised at least $242,600 for DeSantis.Anheuser-Busch has seen $27bn wiped off its value since its endorsement from transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

One of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s top D.C. fundraisers is a highly paid lobbyist for Big Pharma firm Moderna, and is advertising $1,000 tickets for access to DeSantis at his firm’s office a few blocks from the White House.The Daily Mail broke the story of lobbyist Marc Lampkin, one of the hosts of a DeSantis fundraiser in the swamp, on June 23rd.Lampkin has lobbied for Moderna since February 2021, and worryingly has also represented AbbVie – which makes puberty blocker Lupron targeted at “transgender” children – as well as the Chinese Communist Party-linked Fujian Jinhua – a semi-conductor manufacturer sanctioned...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration — not his campaign — have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis' presidential bid, NBC News reviewed text messages from four DeSantis administration officials, including those directly in the governor's office and with leadership positions in state agencies. They requested the recipient of the message contribute to the governor’s campaign through a specific link that appeared to track who is giving as part of a “bundle” program. DeSantis’ office did not return a request seeking comment, but one administration official acknowledged that they...

Visits show TikTok's extensive clout inside the Biden administration Executives at high-powered firms hired by TikTok for lobbying and strategic consulting visited the White House at least 40 times in the past year, according to official White House visitor records. The Chinese social media platform and its parent company, ByteDance, are mounting a massive public relations blitz as lawmakers are seeking to ban the app due to national security, espionage, and data privacy concerns. ByteDance and TikTok have spent $13 million on federal lobbying since 2019 and hired heavyweight firms such as influential Democratic public relations shop SKDK. Those hired...

Hunter Biden unveiled his latest paintings as part of a group exhibit that opened at a New York City gallery Thursday evening amid an ongoing probe into his business dealings. The president’s son debuted his newest work in the exhibit titled “Bridging the Abstract” alongside paintings by renowned artists like the late Elaine de Kooning and Helen Frankenthaler at the Georges Bergès Gallery in Soho. Biden, 53, displayed three pieces — priced at $85,000 a pop — in the group show which features work by both emerging artists and historical icons of the abstract art movement, according to gallery owner...

I have some genuine questions and I have no malice against Ron DeSantis or his supporters but a few things trouble me about him! He has the tacit support of the Bushes. I know they want anyone but Trump but as one Freeper put it: Will he blow kisses back? What does having their support mean? Does it mean Karl Rove becomes an advisor? Campaign cash, staff and what not? Think about it. It's not just some throw away endorsement by them it comes with serious muscle, donors, etc. He's also visiting Texas instead of CPAC. Will he be hanging...

Fox News is running an hour-long campaign infomercial to support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis winning the 2024 GOP primary nomination. Inside the political messaging, Jeb Bush gives his full-throated endorsement. {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:Based on current available evidence, the announcement of a 2024 presidential bid is a mere formality, likely to surface later in 2023, as all the background datapoints reflect the strategic and financial team behind Ron DeSantis have been positioning an announcement since late 2021. One visible datapoint has been his campaign office, specifically his then spokesperson Christina Pushaw, reaching out to a group of Florida influencers and...

The group of Ron DeSantis’ top donors and supporters gathering in Palm Beach, Fla., this weekend includes some longtime backers of former President Donald Trump. The Florida governor’s three-day retreat at the Four Seasons hotel — just four miles down the road from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate — kicked off Friday evening with a cocktail reception and dinner for the approximately 150 attendees. The event, billed as a celebration of the “Florida blueprint,” precedes a likely DeSantis presidential bid that would pit him against Trump. And the roster of people there shows that the governor is appealing to major GOP figures...

To assist in their new venture, they(Biden & Heinz) partnered with a Massachusetts-based consultancy called the Thornton Group, headed by James Bulger, son of former Massachusetts state Sen. Billy Bulger. James Bulger has the dubious honor of being named after his uncle, the notorious mob hitman James “Whitey” Bulger. They have a Chinese counterpart Solebury Thornton (Beijing) Consulting Co., Ltd., Beijing, China

Black activists are slamming New York governor Kathy Hochul (D.) for moving to ban flavored tobacco products while allowing rampant access to flavored marijuana. "You’re telling me that my 21-year-old son can buy all the cannabis he wants, but my grandmother who’s been smoking for 65 years can’t get a cigarette? It doesn’t make sense," said Corey Pegues, a retired black New York Police Department executive who is urging lawmakers to reject Hochul’s proposal. Pegues said the governor’s proposed legislation, which was tucked in her Jan. 10 State of the State plan, will disproportionately affect black voters. Critics say the...

The Manhattan apartment and Southampton mansion of a Russian oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir Putin were raided by federal agents on Thursday, according to the FBI and a report. An FBI spokesperson confirmed agents “conducted law enforcement activity” at the Upper East Side high-rise and Long Island estate linked to billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, but declined to comment further. FBI officials and Homeland Security Investigation agents were seen carrying boxes out of Vekselberg’s 515 Park Ave. apartment building and his Southampton mansion at 19 Duck Pond Lane, according to NBC New York, which first reported the searches. The US...

More than 230 consumer, environmental and public interest groups urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the electric utility industry for widespread abuses. These include bribery, fake dark-money campaigns and denying customers access to renewable energy.…

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates testified in federal court Thursday against Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig about the ex-counsel's Ukraine-related work for Paul Manafort, Politico reported. Gates was a top lieutenant to Manafort, a former Trump campaign chairman, for approximately 10 years. During that time, Manafort supervised a 2012 review conducted by Craig of the abuse-of-power trial of ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, according to Politico. While the review was presented as an independent probe of the trial, it was commissioned by Manafort's primary client, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and bankrolled by Victor Pinchuk, a steel oligarch and...

Hunter Biden's private equity firm invested in a company run by a Chinese executive with ties to officials at some of the highest levels of the Communist Party of China, it emerged on Thursday.