by Daniel Lippman and Caitlin Oprysko at Politico
FIRST IN PI — FIRMS SEVER TIES WITH CHINA CLIENTS: Several of K Street’s top firms are no longer working for Chinese companies that are linked to the Chinese military, Daniel reports, after PI reported last week that several members of Congress were considering banning the firms from meetings with their offices.
— Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which began lobbying for Chinese lidar maker Hesai Group in August, filed termination paperwork over the weekend. The firm reported earning $300,000 in lobbying fees during the course of its work for Hesai.
— Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck also parted ways with Hesai this week, after being hired in September. The firm reported being paid $220,000 over the course of its work for the company. Some Hill staffers had previously informally told Brownstein — K Street’s top lobbying firm by revenue — to not take such clients.
— The Vogel Group has also dropped the Chinese drone company DJI, for which they have lobbied since 2022, and Complete Genomics, which it signed last fall. The firm reported pulling in $865,000 in lobbying revenues from DJI over the course of their relationship, and $450,000 from Complete Genomics.
— The ban lawmakers were considering would have included firms that represent companies on the Pentagon’s so-called 1260H entity list for “Chinese military companies,” even if they were trying to meet to discuss American clients — a potentially massive upheaval, given that several of the firms are among the biggest in town. DJI and Hesai Group are on the 1260H list. Complete Genomics is not on the list, but its former parent company, BGI Genomics, is.
— All of these firms and their Chinese clients were included…
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