Our latest look at interesting trends and news items that our Reporting Group has seen on Sunlight's influence trackers.
Continue readingTech companies flex influence abroad at UN Internet conference
Does management of the Internet need an upgrade? That's the question before representatives of governments, corporations and civil society groups at a two-week conference that opened today in the Persian Gulf city of Dubai.
Continue readingCaffeinated lobbying
A New York Times report that the Food and Drug Administration is investigating the popular energy concoction “5-Hour Energy” in the deaths of 13 people, comes after a strong lobbying effort appears to have stymied congressional efforts to regulate highly caffeinated beverages.
The energy drink industry falls into a regulatory crack between soft drink industries and, oddly enough, the food supplement industry. Some of the makers of these drinks claim that they are not food but a dietary supplement. That classification allows them to avoid listing ingredients on their products.
"These energy drinks, do not have to abide by nutrition ...
Continue readingMexico’s president-elect hires DC lobbyists
Mexico’s President-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, who takes office December 1, has hired lobbying firm Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates to represent him in Washington. According to documents filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the contract focuses on U.S. outreach and “monitoring of news and policy developments related to Mexico-U.S. interests.”
So far, six lobbyists with the firm have filed paperwork confirming they will work as part of the Peña Nieto account.
The question is whether Peña Nieto, seen at right, should have filed sooner. This may not even be the first U.S. media ...
Continue readingDespite ‘unlikes’ over Facebook, Morgan Stanley still has friends in high places
The disappointing debut of Facebook’s IPO and Morgan Stanley’s seemingly unequal treatment of its customers in providing inside last-minute cautions about the social network giant has investors and regulators upset, and lawyers readying for business. But when the nation's lawmakers start making the inevitable inquiries (key House and Senate committees already are making noises) about the deal and its chief underwriter, Morgan Stanley will not be defenseless. The financial services giant has plenty of political capital from campaign contributions and a veteran lobbying team.
Morgan Stanley has heavily invested in lobbyists. In the last three quarters of ...
Continue readingSpaceX blasts off literally and politically
The private rocket that made history early this morning when it blasted the first commercially-launched payload for the international space station into orbit also was fuelled by a decade-long, multi-million-dollar political effort to pry funding from a sometimes skeptical Congress.
Since its inception in 2002, SpaceX, the company behind Tuesday's successful launch, has spent more than $4 million lobbying Congress and given more than $800,000 in political contributions, according to data compiled from Sunlight's Influence Explorer. Many of the company's campaign donations went to key members of Congress in charge of the budget for NASA, which ...
Continue readingWith merger, expect airline lobbying to take off
American Airlines and US Airways, the fourth and fifth biggest domestic airlines that took another step towards merger Friday, are also high fliers when it comes to political influence.
Any marriage of the two carriers would require government approval, and both airlines have been active lobbying Congress -- which controls the budgets of the federal agencies that would review the merger's impact on the market, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.
American Airlines has spent $3.8 million on lobbying in the first three quarters of 2011 and has hired 10 lobbying firms during that period.
Although US ...
Continue readingGaddafi’s long history of lobbying comes to an end
Libyan Dictator Moammar Gaddafi was killed today in his hometown of Sirte, a showman to the end, “brandishing a golden pistol.” Lobbying, in many ways, was part of his political arsenal that boosted Gaddafi’s international prowess, helped protect him from additional sanctions and promoted the business interests of the Libyan ruling elite and U.S. business. We’ve covered several of these instances in the past. Here’s a look at a few:
Paul Blumenthal reported, on the Monitor Group, an international firm that contracted with the Libyan dictator, which should have filled under the Foreign Agent Registrant Act ...
Continue readingPalestinian lobbyists meet with key decision makers
The Palestine Liberation Organization recently filed their bi-annual lobbying documents that show outreach to top decision makers, media and academia, and list meetings with up and coming policy leaders.
Lobbyists met with Dan Shapiro of the National Security Council a few months before before President Obama appointed him to be the U.S. envoy to Israel.
The general delegation of the PLO to the U.S. also honored General James Mattis on December 2011 at an event hosted by the Ambassador of Yemen. The event took place before he was named U.S. Central Command, replacing General David Petraeus.
Another ...
Continue readingEgypt’s PR shop terminates their US operation
A few weeks after Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in response to the public outrage against his 30 year rule, the Egyptian government’s PR outfit in Washington terminated their operation, records show. Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter and Associates ended their representation of the Egyptian press office on February 28, 2011, shortly after Mubarak resigned on February 11.
From November 2010 to March 2011, the Egypt Press and Information Bureau paid the lobbying group $200,000 in fees and expenses. The lobby shop was hired in April 2009 and was paid a total of $985,000 during that period ...
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