With help from Daniel Lippman

THE TERMINATIONS CONTINUE: Yet another lobbying firm has cut ties with one of its Chinese clients after PI reported that several members of Congress were considering banning the firms that represent those clients from meetings with their offices. Steptoe has terminated its contract with Shenzhen-based biotech company BGI, according to disclosure filings.

— The white shoe law and lobbying firm is the fifth this week to part ways with a Chinese client after PI reported their inclusion on a list circulating around the Hill that named firms lobbying for Chinese companies that are on federal entity lists.

— BGI hired Steptoe in July after the House passed language in its annual defense authorization bill that would bar the government from continuing to do business with certain Chinese biotech companies. Disclosures show BGI paid Steptoe more than $900,000 for the work on the bill, which ultimately only required the Pentagon to evaluate whether Chinese biotech companies should be added to a list of entities operating in the U.S. that are affiliated with the Chinese military, which BGI was already on.

— Last month, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers including the heads of the House Select China Committee, introduced a standalone measure that would ban federally funded medical providers from working with companies like BGI.

NEW BUSINESS: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, another firm that dropped a Chinese client this week, has registered to lobby for VC giant Sequoia Capital, which has faced its own scrutiny from the China committee as Washington looks for ways to crack down on U.S. investments in China.

— Will Dunham, a former top aide to ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a former executive director of the conservative Republican Study Committee that new Speaker Mike Johnson once led, began working for Sequoia last month on issues related to artificial intelligence, emerging tech and the venture capital sector, according to a newly filed disclosure.

— Sequoia was one of five U.S. venture capital firms accused in a report by the China committee last month of funding Chinese tech or AI companies that have since been used by the Chinese government in human rights abuses, our Gavin Bade reported.

— Sequoia split its China business off into a separate entity last year, which the committee called “a step in the right direction.” But “without further legislative action,” the report argued, “it is not clear whether these splits will in fact staunch future flows of American capital to problematic [Chinese] companies.” (Among Sequoia’s investments were TikTok parent company ByteDance, and Sequoia China’s included dronemaker DJI and a BGI subsidiary.)

— The firm, like others featured in the report, defended its investments in the country, telling the committee that its entry there “coincided with expressed government policies and public positions in the US that encouraged businesses to invest in the region,” the report notes.

TGIF and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: [email protected]. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

E&C AIDE DECAMPS FOR K STREET: Michael Taggart, a top aide to retiring House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), is leaving the committee ahead of his boss to join Ferox Strategies as a government affairs director.

— Taggart has worked for McMorris Rodgers since 2019, first as her legislative director and most recently as the policy director for the Energy and Commerce Committee. Before that, Taggart spent six years with former Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.). Taggart will register to lobby for clients in the energy, health care, telecom and retail sectors — all subjects under the domain of the powerful E&C committee.

— In a statement provided by the firm, McMorris Rodgers praised Taggart’s “vast knowledge and understanding of policy, the political environment, and the legislative process that, collectively, are essential to successfully navigating the current environment.”

FIRST IN PI — ATLANTIC COUNCIL SPLITS WITH DONOR: The Atlantic Council terminated its relationship with a major donor, Gaurav Srivastava, after the think tank couldn’t confirm important details of his background in its donor vetting process, Daniel reports. Srivastava and his wife Sharon donated at least $1 million to the think tank for its Global Food Security Forum in Bali in November 2022.

— Srivastava last October was the subject of an unflattering profile by the news outlet Project Brazen that suggested misconduct on his part; a lawyer for Srivastava, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, told PI that the allegations in the article were “categorically false.” Bradley Hope, a co-author of the story and a former Wall Street Journal reporter, told PI in an email that “we stand by our story.” The termination of the relationship with the Atlantic Council has not been previously reported.

— “All funds received by the Atlantic Council from Mr. Srivastava for the Global Food Security Forum were dedicated to and used for the event,” a spokesperson for the Atlantic Council told PI. “We did, however, return funding received from Mr. Srivastava in 2023 for future collaboration.”

— “We made the decision to terminate our relationship with Mr. Srivastava in May 2023 upon learning new information because of our donor review process. For example, we learned that The Gaurav & Sharon Srivastava Family Foundation was not an established 501C3 in April of 2023, despite Mr. Srivastava’s representation to the Council that this was a registered foundation,” the spokesperson continued.

— Srivasatva’s lawyer said the termination was “related to a gift in respect of a subsequent project, as to which the parties disagreed on the manner of its implementation whereupon $500,000 given in advance was returned.” They said that it’s not a requirement for contributions to the Atlantic Council to come exclusively from 501(c)(3) organizations.

DEEP-POCKETED AI DOOMSAYERS TAKE K STREET: “Two nonprofits funded by tech billionaires are now directly lobbying Washington to protect humanity against the alleged extinction risk posed by artificial intelligence — an escalation critics see as a well-funded smokescreen to head off regulation and competition,” our Brendan Bordelon reports.

— “The similarly named Center for AI Policy and Center for AI Safety both registered their first lobbyists in late 2023, raising the profile of a sprawling influence battle that’s so far been fought largely through think tanks and congressional fellowships.”

— “Each nonprofit spent close to $100,000 on lobbying in the last three months of the year. The groups draw money from organizations with close ties to the AI industry like Open Philanthropy, financed by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, and Lightspeed Grants, backed by Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn.”

— “Their message includes policies like CAIP’s call for legislation that would hold AI developers liable for ‘severe harms,’ require permits to develop ‘high-risk’ systems and empower regulators to ‘pause AI projects if they identify a clear emergency.’”

— “Until late last year, organizations working to focus Washington on AI’s existential threat tended to operate under the radar. Instead of direct lobbying, groups like Open Philanthropy funded AI staffers in Congress and poured money into key think tanks.”

— “The uptick in lobbying work — and the policies CAIP and CAIS are pushing — could directly benefit top AI firms, said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a professor at Brown University who co-authored a 2022 White House document that focused more on AI’s near-term risks, including its potential to undermine privacy or increase discrimination through biased screening tools” — though CAIP’s executive director disputes those claims.

THIS STORY HAS EVERYTHING: “A Democratic consultant who worked for a rival presidential campaign paid a New Orleans magician to use artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden for a robocall that is now at the center of a multistate law enforcement investigation,” NBC News’ Alex Seitz-Wald reports.

— “Paul Carpenter says he was hired in January by Steve Kramer — who has worked on ballot access for Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips — to use AI software to make the imitation of Biden’s voice urging New Hampshire Democrats not to vote in the state’s presidential primary.”

— “The Phillips campaign and the candidate himself expressed outrage when asked about Steve Kramer’s alleged involvement, saying they will never work with him again and may pursue legal action if the allegations are confirmed. NBC News has seen no evidence that the campaign directed Steve Kramer to produce or disseminate the robocall.”

CRYPTO PACS GET READY TO STRIKE: “An $80 million cloud of crypto campaign cash is hanging over the battle for Congress,” our Jasper Goodman reports, with this week’s FEC filings offering confirmation “that a trio of affiliated pro-crypto super PACs are poised to be among the top-spending outside groups in this election cycle.”

— “The groups — Fairshake, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs — are backed by major industry players including Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz. Defend American Jobs just spent $1.5 million backing West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s Senate run, and Fairshake is starting to flex in California’s Senate primary.”

— “As the groups evaluate where else to make it rain, two big opportunities to challenge industry skeptics are emerging thanks to pro-crypto Republican candidates vying to unseat Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown in Ohio. ‘It’s a huge development,’ Club for Growth President David McIntosh said of the crypto-friendly candidates.”

KNOWING ERIN HAWLEY: Kathy Gilsinan is out with a new profile for POLITICO Magazine of Erin Hawley, the conservative lawyer married to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) whose legal work for the Alliance Defending Freedom has put her at the center of some of the most consequential abortion cases — and thus, political discourse — in decades.

— “[I]n terms of her effect on America, Erin Hawley’s status as a senator’s wife is perhaps the least interesting thing about her. By some accounts, she’s having a greater impact on the law in this country than her lawmaker husband is,” Gilsinan writes.

— Erin Hawley’s “many public appearances, writings and interviews with former classmates, colleagues and even critics help illuminate the thinking of a leading figure inside the most important organization battling for religious conservative causes in the courts.”

SPOTTED at a happy hour last night at Bobby Van’s to celebrate new Smith-Free Group Vice President Max Becker, per a tipster: Emily Porter of Sidecar Health, Esme Grewal of BrightSpring Health, Evan Sarris of Kroger, Chris Tampio of the American Dental Association, Tom Lehner of Bridgestone, Brenda Becker of Boston Scientific, Ian Mair of GeoComply and Jon Deuser, Bob Hickmott, Mike Gaffin, Trevor Kolego and John Christie of Smith-Free Group.

Jobs Report

— Blockchain Association has promoted Sarah Milby to head of policy and Marisa Coppel to head of legal. Milby was previously a senior policy director, and Coppel was senior counsel at the trade group.

— The Consumer Technology Association appointed Kinsey Fabrizio as the trade association’s president. She was previously senior vice president for the group’s annual trade show, CES, and membership.

— Molly Gannon is joining NLX, a conversational AI platform, to oversee comms and marketing. She previously was senior director of newsgathering PR at CNN, and is a Washington Post alum.

— Altair named Chip Colbert as its senior director for federal and Pentagon business. He was the vice president for DOD and the intelligence community at Virtualitics and senior director of U.S. sales at Rebellion Defense.

— Boeing has named Uma Amuluru chief human resources officer and executive vice president of human resources. She is the vice president and general counsel to Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

A Common America (Super PAC)

COMMON SENSE ALABAMA (Super PAC)

CONCERNED AMERICAN FATHERS (DAD PAC) (Hybrid PAC)

CONSERVATIVE GRASSROOTS NETWORK ELECTION FUND (Hybrid PAC)

Incubate PAC (PAC)

Ohio Truth PAC (Super PAC)

SpelHouse Political Action Committee (PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

American Defense International, Inc.: Riverlane Ltd.

Avenue Solutions: Alliance For Regenerative Medicine

Brian Glackin & Associates LLC (Formerly Listed As Brian J. Glackin & Associates LLC): Jones Walker LLP (On Behalf Of Conrad Industries Inc.)

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Sequoia Capital Operations LLC

Colas & Associates, LLC: Pharmaceutical Care Management Association

Dgsr LLC: Jefferson Rising Fund

Healthsperien: Clear Spring Health Insurance Company, Fka Clear Spring Health

Holland & Knight LLP: Abide Women’s Health Services, Inc.

Interlink Capital Strategies: Telekom Srbija

Invariant LLC: Dittolive Inc.

Invariant LLC: Salesforce, Inc.

K&L Gates, LLP: Opal Fuels Inc.

Lsn Partners, LLC: Intuition Robotics Ltd

Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Korea Zinc Company, Ltd.

Polaris Government Relations, LLC: Action Now Initiative, LLC

Pontis Partners, LLC: Friends Of United Hatzalah Inc.

Stuart Chemtob: Interdigital Communications

Ulman Public Policy & Federal Relations: Autos Drive America

Whitmer & Worrall, LLC: Helicon Chemical Company

Williams And Jensen, Pllc: Wps Health Solutions

New Lobbying Terminations

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Enpower Inc.

Avoq, LLC (Fra Team Subject Matter, LLC): Dji Technology, Inc.

Boyden Gray & Associates Pllc: Illinois Corn Growers Association

Forbes-Tate: Bipartisan Policy Center Action

Forbes-Tate: Fight Colorectal Cancer

Forbes-Tate: Secure Identity, LLC Dba Clear

Forbes-Tate: US Radiology Specialists, Inc.

Invariant LLC: Klarna Inc

Steptoe LLP: Bgi Shenzhen Co., Ltd.

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