With David Beavers and Aubree Eliza Weaver

THE LOBBYISTS WHO GAVE TO JONES OR MOORE: Dozens of Washington lobbyists wrote checks to the campaign of Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) in the weeks before the primary in the Alabama special election. They didn’t make the same effort to help Roy Moore, who beat Strange in the primary runoff and is facing off against Democrat Doug Jones today for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old seat. A review of Moore’s latest FEC report turned up just one Washington lobbyist who gave to Moore’s campaign in the weeks before the election.

— The lobbyist, Adam Emanuel of Emanuel & Associates, gave $500 on Nov. 7, two days before The Washington Post reported that four Alabama women said Moore had pursued relationships with them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Emanuel confirmed that he’d made the donation before the Post’s story ran but otherwise declined to comment.

— Jones has received more lobbyist contributions than Moore, although they appear to make up a tiny fraction of the $10.2 million he raised between Oct. 1 and Nov. 22, the time period covered by the pre-election report. A review of the first 2,500 pages of his campaign finance report (which is more than 13,000 pages and, unlike Moore’s, hasn’t been converted yet to a searchable format) turned up a handful of contributions from registered lobbyists, including Jason Abel of Steptoe & Johnson, Josh Alkin of Major League Baseball, Steve Bailey of Invariant, Bert Carp of Alignment Government Strategies and George Cooper of Forbes Tate Partners.

FORMER PODESTA, ROBERTI GLOBAL LOBBYISTS START NEW FIRM: Matt Johnson, a former Podesta Group principal, and Izzy Klein, a former managing partner at Roberti Global, are teaming up to launch a new firm, the Klein/Johnson Group. The pair first met at the Podesta Group, where they both worked before Klein left for Roberti Global in 2015. When the Podesta Group imploded this fall, they decided to start their own shop. They’ve already signed Oracle, a client of Johnson’s at the Podesta Group and Klein’s at Roberti Global, as well as First Data and Civitas Capital Group. Klein lobbied for First Data at Roberti Global and Johnson lobbied for Civitas at the Podesta Group. Ken Glueck, an Oracle senior vice president, called the duo “a lobbying dream team for Oracle” in a statement.

— Klein, a former aide to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Johnson, a former aide to Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, will lobby on a wide variety of issues. “We’ve got a pretty broad-based experience, and I think our client list as it develops will reflect that,” Klein said in an interview. And they plan to keep the Klein/Johnson Group a two-man shop for the time being. “It’s the two of us for now, and I think the goal is to remain lean and mean until we feel that we have to expand,” Johnson said.

— Johnson is the latest former Podesta Group lobbyist to strike out on his own after the firm collapsed last month. Two former Podesta principals, Oscar Ramirez and Dana Thompson, launched InSight Public Affairs last week with Josh Lamel, a former BGR Group lobbyist. Paul Brathwaite, another former Podesta principal, started Federal Street Strategies, and another Podesta veteran, Josh Lahey, teamed up with Colin Hayes, a former Senate staffer, to start Lot Sixteen. Others have joined Cogent Strategies, the new firm started by Kimberley Fritts, Podesta’s longtime chief executive, or joined other firms.

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

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VENABLE SIGNS RUSSIAN BANK: Sberbank CIB USA, the American subsidiary of the Russian bank Sberbank, has hired Venable to lobby in Washington. Venable’s Gregory Gill and Robert Smith will “engage in communications to promote a better understanding of the bank and its business interests” and “monitor legislative activity that may impact the bank,” according to a disclosure filing.

— It’s not the first time Sberbank has lobbied in Washington. The bank hired the Madison Group and the Podesta Group last year and SGR LLC earlier this year to push for relief from U.S. sanctions affecting the bank. But Sberbank has parted ways with the first two firms, and SGR LLC hasn’t actively lobbied for the bank since earlier this year, according to disclosure reports.

COMMENTING FROM THE GRAVE: “A comment posted on the Federal Communications Commission’s public docket endorses a Trump-administration plan to repeal a ‘net neutrality’ policy requiring internet providers to treat all web traffic the same, The Wall Street Journal’s James V. Grimaldi and Paul Overberg report. “Calling the old Obama-era policy an ‘exploitation of the open Internet,’ the comment was posted on June 2 by Donna Duthie of Lake Bluff, Ill. It’s a fake. Ms. Duthie died 12 years ago. The Wall Street Journal has uncovered thousands of other fraudulent comments on regulatory dockets at federal agencies, some using what appear to be stolen identities posted by computers programmed to pile comments onto the dockets.” Full story.

THE MUELLER EFFECT: Foreign lobbyists seem to be taking the Foreign Agents Registration Act more seriously in the age of Robert Mueller, The Daily Beast’s Lachlan Markay reports. “Muzin Capitol Partners, a lobbying firm run by former Trump campaign aide Nick Muzin, signed the Democratic Party of Albania as a client on March 22, 2017. Two days earlier, Muzin had signed a contract to lobby on behalf of a private company, Biniatta Trade LP, under the terms of the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which governs advocacy [by] domestic and privately owned foreign entities.”

— “It wasn’t until November 14, nearly eight months later, that Muzin informed [the Justice Department] that Biniatta had paid Muzin for its work on behalf of the Democratic Party of Albania. The company had written Muzin a $150,000 check four days after they signed a contract, and two days after Muzin inked his deal with the political party.” Full story.

VOTERS SUPPORT A LONGER BAN ON LOBBYING: “A majority of potential voters — both liberal and conservative — back proposed legislation that would force former congressmen and congressional aides to wait longer before cashing in their government experience as lobbyists, according to a new study by theUniversity of Maryland,” the Center for Public Integrity’s Ashley Balcerzak reports. “Currently, former House members and senior staffers must wait one year, and former senators two years, before they may lobby their former colleagues. The study found nearly four in five prospective voters approved extending former members’ cooling off period to five years or more. Almost one in three said members of Congress should never be allowed to lobby their former colleagues.” Full story.

SPOTTED: Lunching at Bullfeathers today, according to a PI tipster: Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer and Matt Keelen of the Keelen Group.

— At the Hispanic Lobbyists Association’s holiday party Monday night at the UPS townhouse on the Hill, according to a PI tipster: Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas), Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and Ruben Kihuen (D-Nev.). (The association also elected its board members for 2018, who include Larry Gonzalez of the Raben Group, the association’s president; Maximiliano Trujillo of MJT Policy, the association’s vice president; Rosemary Garza of Medtronic, the association’s treasurer; Liz Lopez of the Opportunity Finance Network, the association’s secretary; Patricia Tamez of Shell Oil Company; Anais Carmona of T-Mobile; Omar Franco of Becker & Poliakoff; Richard Lopez of General Motors; Chuck Rocha of Solidarity Strategies; Christopher Guerrero of Ibarra Strategy Group; Susan Santana of AT&T; and Zuraya Tapia-Hadley of the Raben Group.)

WATCH LIVE TODAY — OUTSIDE, IN: COORDINATING CARE FOR THE ARMED FORCES: The three medical services for our armed forces — the VA, DoD and private providers — have historically been challenged by inadequate resources for care coordination. But now that the VA has purchased the same electronic health record system as the Pentagon, hopes are growing that we are on a path to better integration. Today, POLITICO, VA Secretary David Shulkin and more will discuss what new opportunities greater integration might create, and what barriers still remain. The Newseum — livestream begins at 3:45 p.m. EST. RSVP: here. Watch live: here.

NEW JOINT FUNDRAISERS:

None

NEW PACs:

None

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:

America-First Energy Consulting Services: EnRevo Pyro
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: A&J Capital
Bold Strategies, LLC: American Ethane Company, LLC
Capitol Counsel, LLC: Florida Community Loan Fund
Capitol Counsel, LLC: Southbridge Associates II LLC
Federal Policy Group, LLC: Altaba, Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: ATL Hawks, LLC
Miller & Chevalier, Chtd: Ryan, LLC
Nexxus Consulting, LLC: National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade
Prince Global Solutions, LLC: City of Diamond Bar, CA
Rising Tide Associates: OptaSense
Venable LLP: Sberbank CIB USA, Inc.

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:

Henderson Grayer, Inc.: Hallmark Healthcare Solutions
Prince Global Solutions, LLC: Successor Agency To The Industry Urban-Development Agency
R. J. Hudson Associates (dba Pace Government Services): Fairness in Music Licensing Coalition

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