Wooten heads to Holland & Knight

With Daniel Lippman

WOOTEN HEADS TO HOLLAND & KNIGHT: The Democratic lobbyist Todd Wooten has left the S-3 Group to join Holland & Knight, where he started on Monday as a partner. He’ll be the firm’s senior lobbyist focused on Senate Democrats. Wooten, a former senior tax and energy counsel on the Senate Finance Committee, left the Hill in 2017 to become the S-3 Group’s first Democratic lobbyist. He lobbied for clients including the American Petroleum Institute, General Motors, the Internet Association, the National Football League and T-Mobile, according to disclosure reports. He’s also a former aide to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). No word on whether he’s bringing any clients with him.

TRADE GROUPS TURN TO ADS TO PUSH FOR PANDEMIC AID: A coalition of trade groups formed last week as part of a last-ditch effort to convince Congress to hash out a coronavirus relief package ahead of the election has debuted its first ad as part of the push. The ad warns that “our economy is on the brink of collapse” and urges viewers to tell Congress not to recess without passing a bill. (Congress has already recessed, with the Senate scheduled to return on Oct. 19; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has continued to negotiate with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and could recall her members if they reach a deal.)

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— The ads are running online, including on Facebook, according to a spokesperson for the COVID RELIEF NOW coalition, who declined to say how much it was spending to run the ads. The coalition’s members include Airlines for America, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the International Franchise Association, the National Association of Counties, the National Governors Association, the National League of Cities, the National Restaurant Association, the National Retail Federation, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the U.S. Travel Association, among others.

Good afternoon, and welcome to PI. Days until Election Day: 28. Tips: [email protected]. Twitter: @theodoricmeyer.

FLYNN LEAVES THE HILL FOR ITI: Mike Flynn signed on as the Information Technology Industry Council as senior director and counsel for government affairs, heading up its lobbying on cybersecurity matters. He was previously the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee’s senior counsel and is also a veteran of the information technology subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (now the House Oversight and Reform Committee).

WHITE HOUSE CITED PHARMACEUTICAL LOBBY’S CONCERNS IN BLOCKING VACCINE GUIDELINES: “A White House decision to halt release of new standards for emergency authorization of a Covid-19 vaccine came after officials close to President Donald Trump told the [Food and Drug Administration] that the pharmaceutical industry had objected to the tougher requirements, according to three people with knowledge of the situation,” POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn reports. “The White House cited the private-sector opposition as a chief reason for blocking the guidelines, which aim to hold companies’ vaccines to a higher bar for safety and effectiveness and would likely push any authorization beyond Election Day, they said.”

— “The fact that the president was siding with drug makers over his own regulators in shelving the guidance – which has not been previously reported – adds a new dimension to concerns about White House interference in the FDA, which has continued to insist that any decision on whether to approve a coronavirus vaccine will be based on scientific benchmarks alone.’”

IF YOU MISSED IT ON MONDAY: “The Internal Revenue Service is investigating longtime National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre for possible criminal tax fraud related to his personal taxes, according to people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal’s Mark Maremont and Aruna Viswanatha report. “Mr. LaPierre was paid $2.2 million by the NRA in 2018, the most recent year available, the nonprofit group’s public filings show. His total reported pay from 2014 to 2018 was $11.2 million.”

— “In August, he was charged in a civil suit by New York Attorney General Letitia James with taking millions of dollars of allegedly undisclosed compensation from the NRA and its vendors, in the form of free yacht trips, private jet flights for his family, exotic safaris and other benefits. Asked at a news conference announcing the lawsuit whether she believed Mr. LaPierre had evaded personal taxes, Ms. James declined to comment but said she was referring the matter to the IRS.”

— The American Bankers Association has hired Jasmine Cooper as vice president of internal diversity, equity and inclusion. She was previously senior manager of diversity, inclusion and corporate social responsibility at Steptoe & Johnson.

— Raytheon Technologies has hired Paul Jones as vice president of international government relations. He was previously the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.

Fischbach Victory Fund (Fischbach for Congress, MNM PAC, Seventh Congressional District Republican Party of Minnesota)
Pat Hackett Victory Fund (Pat Hackett for Congress, Indiana Democratic Congressional Victory Committee)
Representation Matters V (Rep. Sharice Davids, Hiral for Congress, Gina Ortiz Jones for Congress, Sima for Texas, Committee to Elect Pam Keith, One Voice)

Great Northeast Comeback (PAC)
LDS Democrats of Arizona (Super PAC)
LFG PAC (PAC)
Making Investments Toward Conservative Heroes PAC (Leadership PAC: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell)
No Nonsense PAC (Leadership PAC: Nicole Malliotakis)
North Star (Super PAC)
Washington Forward Action (Super PAC)

Baker & Hostetler LLP: Becton, Dickinson and Company
Baker & Hostetler LLP: SQI Diagnostics
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz /The Daschle Group: Ace Electric, Inc.
Ballard Partners: Pulaski Law Firm, PLLC (on behalf of Business Interruption Group)
Capitol Resources, LLC: Ligado Networks
Dentons US LLP: LG Chem Michigan, Inc.
Guide Consulting Services, Inc.: Spectrum Science Communications, Inc. on behalf of Theravance Biopharma US, Inc.
Invariant LLC: DSM
Invariant LLC: PRA Group, Inc.
McCarter & English, LLP: Bergen Anesthesia Group P.C.
Miller Strategies, LLC: Allied BioScientific, Inc.
Miller Strategies, LLC: HSBC Holdings PLC
Miller Strategies, LLC: Integra Connect, LLC
Miller Strategies, LLC: LG Chem Michigan Inc.
Miller Strategies, LLC: ViveBio Scientific, LLC
Pavea LLC: Mid America Transplant
Tarplin, Downs & Young, LLC: 10X Genomics
The McKeon Group, Inc.: AVX Corporation
The McKeon Group, Inc.: Macoma LLC
The Normandy Group, LLC: Association of Military Banks of America

Ballard Partners: Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Navatek LLC
K-Beaz Consulting LLC: Humana Military
MWR Consulting: Penn Hill Group on behalf of Hollister, Inc.
Wise Advice, Inc.: Florida Association of Counties

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