With David Beavers and Daniel Lippman

CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER ASKS DOJ TO INVESTIGATE RIVERA: The Campaign Legal Center has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether former Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act by not registering for work he did for Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. The details of the work were revealed when the company sued Rivera’s firm, Interamerican Consulting, last month, alleging that he “performed no meaningful services under the Agreement, and certainly did not perform the level of services that might reasonably be expected for a fee of approximately $17 million per month,” according to the suit.

— In a letter to John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, two Campaign Legal Center lawyers wrote that “Rep. Rivera should have registered as a foreign agent because he agreed to perform political activities, serve as a public relations counsel, and act as a political consultant for a foreign principal.” Rivera’s lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment.

NEW BUSINESS: Yum China Holdings — a Chinese company listed on the New York Stock Exchange that operates KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants in China — has hired Sidley Austin as its first Washington lobbying firm. Former Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and three other Sidley lobbyists will lobby for the company on legislation known as the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, S. 945 (116). The bill, introduced by Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), is designed to expel Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges if they don’t certify that they aren’t owned or controlled by foreign governments. The bill passed the Senate last month by unanimous consent.

— General Motors has added former Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) of Sweeney & Associates, who worked on President Donald Trump’s transition team, to its ranks of outside lobbyists. The company retains about a dozen other lobbying firms. And the Edison Electric Institute has hired Missy Edwards of Missy Edwards Strategies to lobby on “coronavirus preparedness and response,” among other issues.

Good afternoon, and welcome to PI. Tips: [email protected]. Twitter: @theodoricmeyer.

NEW COALITION WILL PUSH FOR LIABILITY PROTECTIONS: A new coalition called ProtectUS plans to push Congress to include liability protections that would make it harder for workers and customers sickened by the coronavirus to sue business in the next relief package. The coalition plans to run ads in battleground districts across the country. It’s run by the same team that handled the Trade Works for America campaign that pushed for ratification of Trump’s trade deal with Canada and Mexico: Zack Roday, Phil Cox, Marie Sanderson, Liesl Hickey, Generra Peck and Catherine Chestnut of Pathway Public Affairs, the public affairs arm of the lobbying firm GuidePost Strategies. The coalition declined to disclose its members to PI.

TRADE GROUPS CHEER PAYCHECK PROGRAM PROGRAM CHANGES: A wide spectrum of trade groups applauded the Senate’s passage of a bill on Wednesday easing restrictions on how small businesses can use hundreds of billions of dollars in coronavirus relief loans, including the National Restaurant Association, the Independent Restaurant Coalition, the U.S. Travel Association, the National Federation of Independent Business and the International Franchise Association. Many trade group lobbied hard for the bill. The International Franchise Association, for instance, held 70 telephone town halls with lawmakers in which its members pushed for changes to the loan program, according to Matt Haller, the trade group’s top lobbyist.

COMPANIES LOBBY FOR CONGRESS FOR MAIL-IN VOTING FUNDS: “More than 100 companies have signed an initiative asking congressional leaders to provide additional federal funding so that state and local governments can expand mail-in voting to all eligible voters and extend early, in-person voting by two weeks,” The Wall Street Journal’s Chip Cutter reports. “Corporations ranging from consumer-goods giant Unilever to eyewear maker Warby Parker are among the signatories. Some of the companies banding together to try to expand voting access were also part of a push earlier this year to give workers time off to vote in the 2020 presidential election.

— “Mail-in voting is a way to protect workers from possible exposure to the new coronavirus in lines or crowded polling places on Election Day, said Rose Marcario, chief executive of outdoor apparel company Patagonia and one of the organizers of the effort. ‘Voting in this country was already too difficult before the pandemic,’ Ms. Marcario said. ‘The virus has exacerbated the problem.’”

ZOOM JOINS TECHNET: Zoom has joined TechNet as it ramps up its presence in Washington. Zoom hired its first two Washington lobbying firms in April. The trade group — whose members include Silicon Valley giants such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google and venture capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital — also added the startups goPuff and hims & hers.

HOW TO HELP WASHINGTON SMALL BUSINESSES: Just a few months ago, Washington lobbyists were organizing efforts to raise money for favorite restaurants shuttered by coronavirus. Now Morning Consult, the data and polling company, is trying to raise $1 million for the Washington Area Community Investment Fund following another blow for some small businesses: the damage they sustained during protests over George Floyd‘s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The company said it had chipped in $30,000.

New Joint Fundraisers

Harrison Warnock Victory Fund (Jaime Harrison for US Senate, Warnock for Georgia)
West Michigan Victory Fund (Jon Hoadley for Congress, Scholten for Congress)

New PACs

43 Alumni for Biden (PAC)
Integrity America (PAC)
JVP Action PAC (Super PAC)
Miles of Greatness Fund, Inc. (Super PAC)
Nelson + Pope Political Action Committee (PAC)
NPV Political Action Committee (PAC)
Pro-Africa USA PAC (Hybrid PAC)
Science Truth and Expertise Matter PAC (Leadership PAC: Rep. Sean Casten)
Sheroes Coalition PAC (Hybrid PAC)
The People for Mt. Morris Township (Hybrid PAC)
United for Massachusetts (PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: 1Huddle Inc
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld: Otis Elevator Company
Alston & Bird LLP: EyeCare Partners LLC
Alston & Bird LLP: Inmar
Ballard Partners: Seal Shield, LLC
Barker Leavitt, PLLC (SKA Mr. James C. Barker): South Coast Water District
Capitol Hill Policy Group LLC: Makah Tribe
Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC: City of Bloomington
Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC: Motor Coach Industries
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: T3 Expo
Clark Hill, PLC: Delta Star Inc.
Clark Hill, PLC: Niagara Transformer Corp.
Clark Hill, PLC: Pennsylvania Transformer Technology, Inc.
Clark Hill, PLC: SPX Transformer Solutions, Inc.
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: StriveTogether, Inc.
Groundswell Strategy LLC: NS Brands, Ltd.
Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Inc.: Elara Caring
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Chris Abele
Michael Hutton: Eaves Law Firm
Missy Edwards Strategies, LLC: Antelope Point Marina
Missy Edwards Strategies, LLC: Edison Electric Institute
Monument Advocacy: National Young Farmers Coalition
Park&K Public Affairs LLC: Akonni Biosystems
Park&K Public Affairs LLC: Raptor Technologies
Perry Bayliss Government Relations, LLC: Fiber Broadband Association
Rising Tide Associates: Danner Boot
Sidley Austin LLP: Yum China Holdings, Inc.
Sweeney & Associates: General Motors Company

New Lobbying Terminations

Adams and Reese, LLP: Greater New Orleans, Inc
LeBlanc Government Relations, LLC: Crossroads Strategies on behalf of Alitheon, Inc.
The Picard Group, LLC: Acadian Companies
The Sheridan Group: Prescription Justice

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