michael sullivan the lobbyist group

Public Citizen advocates Medicare for All, stronger oversight of dangerous doctors and safe clinical trials. There was not much compromise.. Introduction Ruth Marcus, columnist, The Washington Post. In fact, Amazon spent about 30% more than the next biggest spender, Comcast (Table 2). Sullivan wrote NUTS on the settlement offer and sent it back, mimicking an American generals response in World War II to a Nazi request for surrender at the Battle of the Bulge. Updated: 3 PM Central. When asked by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks who his political opponents may be, Sullivan referred to House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and former House member Vicki Truitt of Keller. Spaw said she did not discuss Texas Scorecards application with Patrick, and that Scorecard's credentials were approved via the same process as all media. By Michael Warren, Manu Raju and Alex Rogers, . Time is of the essence, David Isaacs, vice president of government affairs at SIA, told POLITICO on Thursday. His legislative scorecards grade lawmakers commitment to spending cuts and fiscal responsibility. He did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The term revolving door refers to when corporations, lobby shops and law firms hire government officials and/or have employees go into government (the reverse revolving door). Dan] Patrick did and Ill take Braddock off the House floor, referring to Scott Braddock, a reporter for the Capitol insider publication Quorum Report. [11] There are various reports and hypotheses to explain Googles decreased political spending since 2018, to be discussed later in the report. The recordings release promises to reignite the political storm that surrounded Bonnen after Sullivan went public with his story. Though not new to Amazon, Jay Carney, the companys Senior Vice President for policy and press, will likely have much more access in this administration than ever before. Oct. 15, 2019 Then Burrows references the failed vote in the House on banning taxpayer-funded lobbying and provides his analysis of which GOP members he thinks can be persuaded to reconsider their opposition next session. Sullivan declined to comment for this story, as he has for every request for an interview from The Dallas Morning News for at least 19 months. [44], On the antitrust side, the Arizona House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would help reduce the dominance and power of Apple and Google in their respective app stores. It diminishes his claim to be legitimate media, Braddock said. Sullivan, Michael J. was born on October 3, 1954. OpenSecrets routinely creates custom data sets on a wide variety of topics, based on popular requests, and provides you with direct access. He exhorted Sullivan to help target these Democrats in competitive districts. Read More more than the group has given any other candidate. In a separate filing, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce the largest lobbying group in the country also pushed the Biden administration to provide new chip projects with an exemption to the review process. As with other industries and companies, Big Tech spends far more on lobbying than campaign contributions. Since Public Citizen published the 2018 report, the four Big Tech corporations have faced greater legal and regulatory challenges than ever before. Burrows promises that the House will "spend the entire interim trying to expose what those dollars are being spent on" and building public support for the cause before giving it another try in 2021. Sullivans recording is all but certain to take center stage in conversations among members. Amazon and Facebooks outspending of Exxon and Philip Morris reflects the compounding legislative and regulatory challenges that Big Tech faces in Washington. If journalists are to be taken seriously by the public, they need to put away their bleeding hearts and toughen their skin, he said in a 1994 column. Prior to joining the firm, he was Vice President of State Government Affairs for Porter Gordon Silver Communications. [15] Cecilia Kang & Kenneth P. Vogel, Tech Giants Amass a Lobbying Army for an Epic Washington Battle, N. Y. Bonnen also spoke disparagingly about multiple Democrats, calling one House member vile and suggesting that anothers wifes gonna be really pissed when she learns hes gay., by Cassandra Pollock, Emma Platoff and Patrick Svitek Most recently he served as a senior advisor to Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and Clark County Commission Chair Marilyn Kirkpatrick. Michael J. Sullivan (born October 3, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (2001-2009) and Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (2006-2009). By Brendan Bordelon. The next day, Kaplan arranged a meeting for Zuckerberg and himself with Jared Kushner (son-in-law of President Trump) and President Trump himself. At least one journalist testified during the Ethics Commission hearing in favor of Empower Texans. Ill put your guys on the floor next session.. Michael Sullivan is an Alabama native who at one time was called Mountain Brooke's "Most Eligible Bachelor." Most of his lobbying activity came out of his practice in Montgomery, Alabama. Almost all of the members of these committees, 134 out of 142, or 94%, received a financial contribution from a Big Tech corporate PAC or lobbyist in 2020. Prior to joining the firm, he was Vice President of State Government Affairs for Porter Gordon Silver Communications. Notably, contributions are not skewed too heavily to one side of the aisle. Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. The registration fee during those . Who is available? They might find out that people think it's cruel. [12] Karl Evers-Hillstrom, Most Expensive Ever: 2020 Election Cost $14.4 Billion, OpenSecrets (February 11, 2021), https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/02/2020-cycle-cost-14p4-billion-doubling-16. toggle caption. OpenSecrets. [48] Adam Satariano, Uber Drivers Are Entitled to Worker Benefits, a British Court Rules, N. Y. [22] Brian Heater, Apple Exec Cynthia Hogan Joins Bidens VP Vetting Team, TechCrunch (April 30, 2020), https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/30/apple-exec-cynthia-hogan-joins-bidens-vp-vetting-team/. ", Sullivan declined to make predictions about Bonnen's political fate but said he hopes the Republican caucus "understands they need to a better job of finding men and women of integrity" to serve in such a high-ranking position. OpenSecrets is the nation's top resource for clear and unbiased information. Empower Texans Political Action Committee, an affiliated Sullivan enterprise, has spent more than $1 million on state races since late 2013. In total, the five Big Tech lobbyists on this list have contributed over $2 million to campaigns during the 2020 election cycle. Yet in 2020, spending patterns were much different. But the lobbying group in D.C. knew the truth in Smith's community too. [46] Emily Birnbaum, Apple and Google Lobbyists Are Swarming Arizona over a Bill that Would Reform the App Store, Protocol (March 1, 2021), https://www.protocol.com/policy/apple-google-lobbyists-arizona-bill. [7] Our Workforce Data, Amazon (December 31, 2020), https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/our-workforce-data. In November 2020, Public Citizen joined 32 groups in a letter urging President Biden to reject Big Tech appointments to his cabinet. A few had even called on the speaker to resign, or issued statements that stopped just short of doing so. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the tremendous investments Amazon and Facebook made in lobbying in the last election cycle, which pushed them to the top of the corporate lobbying spenders list in Table 2. Our mission is to track the flow of money in American politics and provide the data and analysis to strengthen democracy. One journalist calls these practices the soft corruption of Big Tech, and alleges that the corporations also pay for small businesses to write in local newspapers in the corporate interests favor.[33]. Ms. Sullivan's case is unusual; few unpaid advocates spend more than $5,000 on an issue, the annual threshold for registering as a lobbyist in New York. Dark money is alive and growing in influence every election cycle, he said. He told legislators if they did not vote for issues advocated by Empower Texans, they would lose the organization's endorsement, get low rankings on Texas Scorecard and be subject to political challenges. Phoenix, AZ 85034 The room dissolved in laughter before Bonnen turned to discuss other members of the lower chambers minority party. Big Tech corporations are known to have funded trade associations, advocacy organizations and think tanks across the political spectrum, including groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Conservative Union, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for American Progress. "We would be thrilled to see Clardy, somebody else, come back in that district.". Prabook is a registered trademark of World Biographical Encyclopedia, Inc. Michael J. Sullivan, lobbyist, former prosecutor. While many industries, like highway builders or other infrastructure contractors, have decades of experience dealing with the law, its something new for the semiconductor industry and its hoping to avoid it, arguing that any delays could spell trouble for Washingtons broader chip plans. Democrats, in sum, received $1.7 million in 2020, while Republicans received $1.4 million. Valid email is required, What are you looking for? In addition to writing news stories, Sullivan had a weekly opinion column at The Facts in whichhe flexed some right-wing muscle. Big Tech now outspends, by a large margin, the insidious industries on the decline, Big Oil and Big Tobacco. Throughout the year, Amazon and Facebook spent nearly twice as much as Exxon and Philip Morris did on lobbying. For years, Sullivan has been fighting to operate on this knifes edge one where he can freely continue his work influencing lawmakers and lavishing money on candidates, while labeling himself a member of the media. The suit was dismissed in May and Empower Texans has already filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit. 02/27/2023 04:30 AM EST. Excludes Eric Swalwells presidential campaign contributions, Source: Public Citizens analysis of data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org), Excludes Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchars presidential campaign contributions, Excludes John Hickenlooper and Amy Klobuchars presidential campaign contributions. Since 2006, the organization has donated at least $10 million to candidates. Sullivan would leave the paper before his political foe would take office in 1997. Other important pieces of Big Techs spending include: state and local election spending, dark money and more. A native of the HolbrookAbington region, Sullivan served earlier in his career as the Plymouth County District Attorney, and as a Republican member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. On Thursday, Isaacs said a balance can be struck on NEPA that allows new chip manufacturing facilities to begin operations in a timely and environmentally responsible way, achieve the goals of the CHIPS Act, and reinforce Americas economic and national security.. [2] Katie Benner et al., Facebook Engages in Housing Discrimination With Its Ad Practices, U.S. Says, N. Y. Just in the past month, an Axios newsletter has featured several advertisements from Amazon about raising the federal minimum wage, from Facebook about passing internet regulations, and from Google flaunting its new philanthropic enterprises. Tables 1 through 4 in the Appendix list the amount of campaign contributions the members of these committees have received from Big Tech PACs and lobbyists. Cash said shes disappointed today to see Sullivan blanket media with what she considers unfair and mean-spirited attacks. Carney previously served as White House press secretary under President Obama and communications director for then-Vice President Biden. I think he views everyone as an activist in some way, Hasty said. Since many of these lobbyists have more than one of the four Big Tech companies as clients, they may be counted more than once, for each client they lobby on behalf of. Crucially, he orchestrated the mob hit that ended with Connor Looney's death. These data sets are a goldmine for academics as well as journalists and interested citizens. In todays information age, if everyone who writes a post on Facebook is a journalist, then all political expenditures and even paid lobbying would not be required to be reported, Clancy said. The NRA has called the Joyce Foundation an activist foundation whose "shadowy web of huge donations" leads "straight to puppet strings that control the agenda of gun ban groups". Sullivan left newspapers behind in 1995 and dived headfirst into politics: first, working as a spokesman for Paul on the Hill, then back to Texas at the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation, and finally leading Empower Texans. [7] All of these companies havekilled, rather than fostered innovation.[8]. In addition, Hunt said she thought Sullivan might one day run for governor. [3], Representing the town of Abington, he was elected as a Republican state representative in 1990. Bonnen could also be heard speaking disparagingly about multiple Democrats, calling one House member vile and suggesting that anothers wifes gonna be really pissed when she learns hes gay.. Partner McGovern & Sullivan, 19901995. Its purely a matter of being able to use unidentified contributors to affect outcomes in Texas elections, Wood said. Mr. Sullivan will oversee local government public affairs for The Ferraro Group. In Road to Perdition, Stanley Tucci portrays real-life gangster Frank Nitti, who succeeded Capone as the head of "The Outfit" in 1932. The lobbying effort is going down to the wire. It just gives you access to the floor, he said. [2/3] FILE PHOTO -- Tax lobbyist Michael Quinn Sullivan at the State Capitol in Austin, TX Friday May 27, 2011. . Neither Bonnen nor Rep. Dustin Burrows, who was also in the meeting and stepped down as House GOP Caucus chairman this week as a result of the scandal, hadpublicly discussed the details of the conversation before this week, leavingonly Sullivan to tell his version of the secret meeting for a month. But in court filings, he said that media credentials are reserved for employees of editorially independent entities, and Empower Texans, by contrast, is generally known as a political advocacy organization., Sullivan made inroads in the Senate this year when Texas Scorecard was granted press credentials for the upper chamber. His senior year he penned a column in The Battalion criticizing both "conservatives" and "non-conservatives" for a lack of fortitude. "This was nothing more than a political discussion the problem is that I had it with that guy," Bonnen said in a statement. District attorney Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 19952001. Not only do they stand at the top of the list, Facebook and Amazon lead the pack of corporate lobbying spenders by a significant margin. A spokesperson for the Commerce Departments CHIPS Program Office declined to comment. Zuckerberg was met with a packed agenda: He started with dinner at a private room in an upscale restaurant with prominent Democrats including Sen. Warner (D-Va.), Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and independent Sen. King (ID-Maine). There are 4900+ professionals named "Michael Sullivan", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. Times (June 5, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/us/politics/amazon-apple-facebook-google-lobbying.html. Republican lawmakers were blunt with the Chamber's lobbyist, Tom Sullivan, . A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization, 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 800 Microchip industry lobbyists are urging Washington to exclude new projects from the federal environmental reviews attached to huge federal subsidies. This report finds that the four companies have massively expanded their Washington influence machines eclipsing big spenders of yesterday like Big Oil and Tobacco, and making them among the most powerful corporate interests in Washington. Having the people who decide whether theyre going to spend millions of dollars for or against you looking you in the eye while your on the floor voting on bills is a bad idea.. If youre a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didnt talk to you. Times(February 19, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/business/uber-drivers-britain.html. We welcome all corrections and feedback using the button below. [16] This conference was organized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and funded by a $375,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation. Washington, D.C. 20001 [16] The National Rifle Association has criticized the IACP report, calling it "a rubber stamp, bought and paid for, of the pre-existing agenda for gun ban groups." [35] Facebook Launches P.R. While the companies have already factored state and local environmental procedures into their plans, Shivakumar said NEPA is an unknown to them.. On February 27, he announced that he had gathered the requisite 10,000 signatures to appear on the primary ballot. I can tell you [political spending] plays an important role. As Brad Smith of Microsoft indicated in the comment at the beginning of this report, Big Techs political spending makes a huge difference, more than our democracy can tolerate. mike@theferrarogroup.com CONNECT WITH US The Ferraro Group - Reno 165 West Liberty Street, Suite 210 Reno, Nevada 89501 775.331.4555 On his website the Texas Scorecard, Sullivan broke news of the scandal involving the powerful and popular HouseSpeaker Dennis Bonnen, forcing the lawmaker to publicly apologize for trashing his colleagues in a secret meeting. Turns out that it's incredibly cost-effective. This website is shared by Public Citizen Inc. and Public Citizen Foundation. In another early column that forecast his antipathy for reporters, Sullivan criticized the media as biased and thin-skinned in his own newspaper, even as he worked as a journalist. Joe Nixon, a former lawmaker and another Empower Texans attorney, also declined comment. [42] Hayley Tsukayama, Virginias Weak Privacy Bill Is Just What Big Tech Wants, EFFs Deeplinks Blog (February 25, 2021), https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/02/virginias-weak-privacy-bill-just-what-big-tech-wants. More recently, it was reported that New York Times opinion columnist David Brooks, while receiving funds from Facebook (indirectly through the Aspen Institute), was also writing and publishing positive words about Facebook as a guest blogger.[32] Brooks, too, failed to disclose his donors before this was reported by journalists. Braddock said the issue is not that Empower Texans is conservative. Blitz Ahead of Zuckerberg Testimony, Tech Transparency Project (March 9, 2021), https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/facebook-launches-pr-blitz-ahead-of-zuckerberg-testimony. This list excludes associations, federations, trade groups, and other consolidated corporate spenders such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, which aggregates spending from about 20 subsidiaries across the U.S.. [10] Note that this sum does not represent unique individuals. "He'll show you the list of who we hope someone will show up" to challenge, Bonnen said. Sullivan set his sights on journalism early, writing provocative political commentary for Texas A&M's student newspaper before going on to work for small newspapers in Denison and Brazosport. Areport Public Citizen released in 2019(covering up to the 2018 election cycle) detailed how Big Tech corporations have blanketed Capitol Hill with lobbyists and lavished members of Congress with campaign contributions. Nearly two months after it was first revealed that Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt rented a $50-a-night Capitol Hill condo from the wife of a top lobbyist, newly released emails show that relationship was not just limited to an unorthodox rental agreement.