He and his wife Terry have four children. I dont want to use the word extremism, but he pretty much had his mind all made up about the way things were, Cornwell said. He has said his group represents grass-roots conservatives and shouldnt have to disclose the source of its funds because its a violation of free-speech rights and could lead to harassment of his donors. Steve Bresnen, a lobbyist and attorney who is leading the charge against Sullivan, said the integrity of elections may be at stake. [19], The monopolists revolving-door roster extends far beyond Jay Carney and Brian Huseman. Mr. Sullivan has managed campaigns and provided government affairs services in Nevada since 1990. Sullivan is the chief executive of Empower Texans, a group that's flooded with oil money and is a unique tangle of political lobbying firm, news outlet and deep-pocketed political action committee. 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. Until Tuesday, there had been a mixed bag of reviews on the allegations though essentially every Republican or Democrat who was asked about it called on Sullivan to release the recording. [26] Wall brings a full Rolodex to the role: For the past five years, she has been a lobbyist for Duberstein Group, and boasts over a decade of Democratic work in D.C.[27]. He wasnt like he is now, she said. Cash and Hunt both said his politics never clouded his reporting. [17] Carney donated close to $3,000 to President Biden during his 2020 presidential campaign. Since Public Citizen published the 2018 report, the four Big Tech corporations have faced greater legal and regulatory challenges than ever before. [4] He stepped down in 1995 after being named District Attorney for Plymouth County. 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. Yet as Big Tech converts its enormous economic and social power into political influence, our political system is hamstrung from addressing those increasingly serious issues. Table 3 lists the top 10 lobbyists that contributed the most funds to political campaigns in 2020. The Lobbyist Group Ltd Follow View all 2 employees Employees at The Lobbyist Group Ltd Michael Sullivan Owner, The Lobbyist Group Pieter Fourie Owner, Pedenkadee CC See all. Valid email is required, What are you looking for? [19] Cecilia Kang & Kenneth P. Vogel, Tech Giants Amass a Lobbying Army for an Epic Washington Battle, N. Y. Bonnen and Burrows pushed back against those allegations, though the speaker later apologized for saying "terrible things" during the meeting and Burrows resigned as chair of the House GOP Caucus. Sullivan has carefully contained the story by allowing only his friends and allies to listen to it. Big Techs lobbying corps jumped along with the sectors overall increased expenditures. When Sullivan mentions state Rep. Keith Bell, R-Forney, Burrows interjects: "Leave him alone he's just a dumb freshman.". Open Secrets following the money in politics, OpenSecrets Following the money in politics, Armed Services Committee members received $5.8 million from defense sector during 2022 election cycle, The railroad industrys hold over Washington goes beyond Norfolk Southern, Online platforms embroiled in Supreme Court cases on content moderation spend millions lobbying on internet legislation, How U.S. arm sales fuel the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. He was extremely conservative, she recently recalled. [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. 775.331.4555, The Ferraro Group Las Vegas After the Herald, Sullivan moved on to the The Facts which happens to be Bonnen's hometown newspaper. His interaction with lawmakers, however, remained the same, according to evidence collected by the Texas Ethics Commission. On Thursday, Burrows gave an interviewstating that the purpose of the meeting was always to protect Republicans in the coming election. The lobbying group will start asking people how they feel about gerbil energy. The lobbying effort is going down to the wire. Roughly 45 minutes into the conversation, after Bonnen apparently leaves the room, Burrows begins speaking, telling Sullivan that banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, a conservative priority that failed this year, will be the "benchmark for next session." (Meanwhile, a UK court ruled in opposition to Uber, concluding drivers should be classified as employees.[48]). But before Sullivan made a name for himself in politics, he was a card-carrying member of what hed today describe as the Fake News media. In recent years, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google have all come under increased scrutiny for threatening our privacy, democracy, small businesses, and workers. [37] Jay Greene, Amazon Fights Aggressively to Defeat Union Drive in Alabama, Fearing a Coming Wave, Washington Post (March 9, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/09/amazon-union-bessemer-history. And we have a good relationship. In fact, the four biggest spenders after Facebook and Amazon have been on the leaderboard since 2017. [3] Among his initiatives was a budget amendment to have the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority charge municipalities for sewage management by volume instead of population, which moved much of the cost burden away from outlying towns and toward Boston. 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. In March, the governor of Virginia signed a state privacy bill, which privacy advocates have deemed is too friendly to industry, and too weak for consumers. [14] Brody Mullins & Ted Mann, Google Axes Lobbyists Amid Growing Government Scrutiny, Wall Street Journal (June 12, 2019), https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-facing-more-scrutiny-overhauls-lobbying-and-public-affairs-operations-11560331803. 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. In February 2021, Google hired Anne Wall, former Obama staffer, aide at U.S. Treasury, and floor director for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), to lead U.S. and Canada government affairs at Google. But when you find corruption, which they say they have, you would publish it, he said. Since the 2020 election cycle has ended, Public Citizen reevaluated Big Techs influence over the government by analyzing the tech companies lobbying spending and campaign contributions. Not so much for what they believe, but because they stand by their beliefs popular or not. It should safeguard consumers, workers and the environment, and be funded well enough to do so. 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. mike@theferrarogroup.com CONNECT WITH US The Ferraro Group - Reno 165 West Liberty Street, Suite 210 Reno, Nevada 89501 775.331.4555 Throughout the 2020 election cycle, Big Tech spent 5.2% more on lobbying and campaign contributions combined than it did in the 2018 cycle. Sujai Shivakumar, director of the Renewing American Innovation Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said environmental concerns shouldnt interfere with the national security goals that underpin the CHIPS and Science Acts billions of dollars in manufacturing subsidies. Because of his experience in the journalism and political worlds, Mr. Sullivan knows through years of experience how best to frame a clients issue so it has the best chance of being successful. Attorneys, who typically do not retain their posts in a new administrations. Additionally, he has been a registered lobbyist in Carson City for more than two decades. In 2020 . 750 9th Street, N.W., Suite 750 The speaker said state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat, makes my skin crawl and is a piece of shit. Bonnen, after saying he's"begging this is all confidential," then recounted a meeting with the freshman, after which he asked his chief of staff, Gavin Massingill, what he thought about the new House member. Big Tech corporations exert influence not just through formal lobbying or campaign contributions, but also through advertisements. After the group was denied access for the 2019 legislative session because of ties to a lobbying organization, it sued the House Administration Committees chairman over it, arguing the rejection was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.. This problem is reflective both of Big Techs extraordinary wealth and power and a broken political system that works for giant corporations but not the rest of us. [10], Sullivan presented charges, in Boston, on November 23, 2005, against Abdullah Khadr, an Egyptian from Canada who is alleged to have sold arms to the Taliban. A native of the Holbrook-Abington region, Sullivan served . Sullivan, who is the publisher of Texas Scorecard, a hardline conservative blog, had registered as a lobbyist from 2001 to 2009 but did not in 2010 and 2011. [23], Sullivan announced on February 14, that he would collect signatures to run for the Republican nomination in the 2013 special election to succeed John Kerry as U.S. Nearly all (94%) members of Congress with jurisdiction over privacy and antitrust issues have received money from a Big Tech corporate PAC or lobbyist. "He'll show you the list of who we hope someone will show up" to challenge, Bonnen said. Utilize our advanced search form to filter the search results by Company Name, City, State, Postal Code, He reiterated his reasoning for secretly recording the meeting he thought Bonnen might lie about it afterward and he said he did not initially reveal he had the recording because he was perhaps embarrassed but also wanted to give Bonnen the "chance to make things right" on his own. 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. served to you completely ad free and you will be granted access to view every profile in its entirety, even 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.. [4] Facebook and Google have wielded unprecedented influenceover our democratic process. Republican lawmakers were blunt with the Chamber's lobbyist, Tom Sullivan, . On Tuesday, after Sullivan's recording was released, Bonnen said in a statement that he had repeatedly called for the audio to be made public "because it will be immediately clear that no laws were broken." In a House Judiciary Antitrust subcommittee hearing in February 2021 about competition in digital markets, Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) questioned witness Tad Lipsky about the funding for his organization, the Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) at George Mason University. . We must act quickly to make our economy run on renewable power and ensure that disadvantaged families and displaced workers share equitably in the new economy. Times (March 28, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/us/politics/facebook-housing-discrimination.html. Public Citizen advocates for ordinary people by taking on corporate interests and their cronies in government. with up to 5 times the number of maximum matches per search vs. non-subscribers. Phoenix, AZ 85034 In fact, Amazon spent about 30% more than the next biggest spender, Comcast (Table 2). View the profiles of professionals named "Michael Sullivan" on LinkedIn. Just a month later, Zuckerberg was invited back to the White House for a private dinner.[24]. Later this week, both the House Democratic and House Republican caucuses are set to be in Austin for already-scheduled meetings. Beyond lobbying spending, Big Tech corporations have a suite of other tactics to influence legislation. Buck Wood is a Texas elections and campaign finance attorney and critic of Sullivans. Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the chip lobbys fears feel like unnecessary paranoia thats mostly stemming from an unfamiliarity with how NEPA works. He said the law is frequently trotted out by industry as an umbrella scapegoat for all types of delays in approvals of projects. While Hartl could not say theres a zero chance that taking federal chip subsidies would by itself prompt a NEPA review, he called it a relatively unlikely thing that would trigger it., But the chip lobby is still spooked. Sullivan is known for his brass-knuckles approach to reshaping the Republican establishment. In January of this year, Public Citizen joined 50 other groups in an open letter calling on corporate America to cease all of its political spending not just its PAC contributions to the 147 members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 president election. Simonton is a former fashion model and feminist whose civil disobedience in the '80s was geared toward ending sexual assault against women. Previously, she worked in Baton Rouge for The Advocate as an investigative state government reporter. Figure 2 illustrates that both an increase in lobbying spending as well as campaign contributions are behind this boost. 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. Time is of the essence, David Isaacs, vice president of government affairs at SIA, told POLITICO on Thursday. Sullivan, 49, is of course best known as a political power broker. Do you value our journalism? [11][12][13], In February 2009, following the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Sullivan announced his intention to resign his position, following the customary practice of U.S. In the race to amass monopoly power in their respective markets, these corporations have developed predatory business practices thatharvest user data for profit[1] and facilitated discrimination by race, religion, national origin,[2] age,[3] and gender. Learn more about where their money was sent. If you need some primaries to fight in I will leave and Dustin will tell you some wed love if you fought in. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Stand with us in our mission to discover and uncover the story of North Texas, Conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan fights lobbyist label, What we know after 3 children killed, 2 wounded at Ellis County home, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones defers comment on revival of sexual harassment lawsuit. Big Tech now outspends, by a large margin, the insidious industries on the decline, Big Oil and Big Tobacco. He was very smooth, very poised, he presented himself well, Cashsaid of Sullivan, who is an Eagle Scout. They are now the parents to three children and continue to live in Alabama where they are raising their family. By Tuesday afternoon, Republican members hadn't yet weighed in, while a number of Democrats either in leadership positions or mentioned in the recording issued statements condemning the speaker for his comments. Las Vegas, NV 89148 Discover. As with other industries and companies, Big Tech spends far more on lobbying than campaign contributions. To shut the revolving door for good, Public Citizen recommends that the federal government: We also call for reforms in lobbying disclosures: Lastly, the Securities and Exchange Commission should move forward with a rule requiring corporations to disclose their political activity. To protect our site, we cannot process your request right now. The chip industrys push underscores the tension between President Joe Bidens plans to resurrect high-tech manufacturing in the U.S. and his administrations effort to strengthen environmental protections. In addition to writing news stories, Sullivan had a weekly opinion column at The Facts in whichhe flexed some right-wing muscle. 702.367.7771, The Ferraro Group Washington D.C. Theres a long history in the United States of great undercover journalism. Sullivan contends that he's no lobbyist working on behalf of specific interests and that the commission's inquiry is unconstitutional. Rebekah is a Louisiana transplant living in Austin, Texas where she covers state government and the Texas Legislature. (Indeed, Facebook spent $11.6 B in marketing in just 2020.[49]). Michael Sullivan was known as Mountain Brook's most eligible bachelor (according to Bravo TV) before meeting the love of his life Jaime Primak, star of new reality show Jersey Belle. Several new dynamics have altered Big Techs strategy in Washington. Midterm spending spree: Cost of 2022 federal elections tops $8.9 billion, a new midterm record. [3], In 2006, Sullivan was made Acting Director of the ATF by President George W. 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. He was very outspoken and I always thought hed go far, but I thought hed go far fighting for something and not just fighting against things.. In his meeting with Bonnen that was recorded, Sullivan alleges the speaker dangled the coveted media credentials as an incentive to do his bidding going easy on some Republicans in the next election and targeting others. A spokesperson for the Commerce Departments CHIPS Program Office declined to comment. Bonnen, Sullivan added, "needs to do some serious soul-searching.". Most recently he served as a senior advisor to Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and Clark County Commission Chair Marilyn Kirkpatrick.