With David Beavers and Aubree Eliza Weaver

FIRST IN PI — BOB BROOKS HEADS TO CAPITOL COUNSEL: Bob Brooks, a former chief of staff to former Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.), is leaving the Alpine Group to rejoin his old boss at Capitol Counsel. He’ll start June 1 as a partner focusing on tax, energy and trade issues. Brooks previously led the tax practice at Alpine, where his clients included Centene Corporation, the Distilled Spirits Council, General Cigar Company, Houchens Industries, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Swedish Match.

SASSE CHIEF HEADS TO K STREET: Derrick Morgan, who’s been chief of staff to Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) since Sasse arrived on Capitol Hill in 2015, is heading downtown. He’s joining the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers as senior vice president for federal and regulatory affairs, the trade group announced. Morgan worked for the Heritage Foundation, the Senate Republican Policy Committee and as a senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney before joining Sasse’s office.

— Morgan grew up in Texas and has a background in energy from his time working on the Republican Policy Committee, he said in an interview. He’s forbidden from lobbying Congress for one year under the Senate’s ethics rules, but he’s allowed to lobby the administration immediately, including former colleagues from the Heritage Foundation and the Senate who have gone in. Morgan is the second former chief of staff to land on K Street in recent weeks; Todd Novascone, the longtime chief of staff to Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), joined Ogilvy Government relations last month.

AVENUE STRATEGIES FILES CITGO REGISTRATION: Avenue Strategies, the lobbying firm that Corey Lewandowski and Barry Bennett founded after the election, has filed paperwork registering to lobby for Citgo, the oil company owned by the Venezuelan government. Bennett will lobby for Citgo on the “potential impact of U.S. energy and foreign policy restrictions on CITGO Petroleum Corporation’s operations and valuation of assets,” according to the filing. Lewandowksi left Avenue last week after POLITICO reported the firm had agreed to lobby for Citgo. So did C.J. Gimenez, who cited Avenue’s signing of Citgo as “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” “I will personally never represent the interests of the Maduro regime, which reflects the worst there is of all humanity,” Gimenez toldThe Miami Herald.

— Other lobbyists with ties to Donald Trump’s campaign are also nabbing clients. David Urban, who helped run Trump’s campaign in Pennsylvania, has signed the National Association of Convenience Stores and Rassini International, which he’s representing along with other lobbyists at American Continental Group. Brian Ballard, a former top Trump fundraising lieutenant, and two others at Ballard Partners have signed the Mosaic Company. And Gotham Government Relations & Communications, which organized Trump’s 2015 campaign announcement, signed Zaka Search & Rescue, an Israeli rescue and recovery operation.

Good afternoon, and welcome to PI. Making a hire? Overhear something interesting at BLT? Your tips are always appreciated: [email protected]. You can also follow me on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer.

FORMER MERCER EMPLOYEE SUES OVER FIRING: “Hedge fund mogul Robert Mercer, one of biggest financial backers of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, was sued by a former employee who claims he was fired for calling Mercer racist and publicly criticizing his support of Trump,” Bloomberg News’ Erik Larson reports. “The complaint by David Magerman, a research scientist who worked at Renaissance Technologies LLC for two decades, alleges he was wrongfully fired April 29 after his relationship with Mercer and his family became toxic. For example, Magerman alleges that Mercer’s daughter, Rebekah Mercer, a member of Trump’s transition team, called him ‘pond scum’ at a celebrity poker tournament. The confrontation ‘just shows the hostility that the Mercers had toward Mr. Magerman because he dared to challenge their political views,’ his lawyer, H. Robert Fiebach, said in a phone call on Monday.” Full story.

MORE ADS FROM AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK: American Action Network, a nonprofit aligned with House Republican leadership, is dropping $500,000 on new TV ads thanking House Speaker Paul Ryan for efforts to pass the GOP health care bill. The ad is airing on national cable and in Ryan’s Wisconsin district. Watch the ad here.

PHRMA MOVES CLOSER TOWARD NEW MEMBERSHIP RULES: The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America “will likely adopt new membership rules this week that will oust many smaller companies that don’t spend heavily on research, people familiar with the matter said, amid increasing scrutiny of prescription drug prices,” Bloomberg News’ Cristin Flanagan reports. PhRMA “is proposing that to remain a member, companies will have to spend $200 million a year on research and development, based on a three-year average. They’ll also have to have to show that their research spending amounts to at least 10 percent of their global sales, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is still private.” The move comes after several members have left the trade group in recent weeks. Full story.

IF YOU MISSED IT THIS MORNING: “Stuart Jolly, who served as national field director for the Trump campaign, has parted ways with the lobbying firm Sonoran Policy Group amid scrutiny of his efforts to highlight his access to the White House,” POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman and Kenneth P. Vogel report. “Jolly, who had joined SPG as its president after the election, left last week to open his own firm, SPG executive chairman Robert Stryk said in a statement from the firm. Jolly last week had visited the White House and posted on Facebook a photo of himself in front of the presidential limousine with the caption ‘My uber finally arrived!’ The photo is no longer publicly available on his Facebook page.”

— “The post was seen by some Trump insiders and rival lobbyists as boasting about his access to the administration”, sources told” Playbook. Jolly, for his part, said that he “‘never boasted about my access,’ and he said he only posed for the photo because someone nearby offered to take it for him.”

EARTHJUSTICE HIRES LUNA+EISENLA: Earthjustice, the environmental law nonprofit, has hired LUNA+EISENLA media to do media outreach work on its efforts to combat the Trump administration’s environmental and climate policies. “We are employing aggressive media relations and engaging with national political media to ensure President Trump’s executive orders attacking access to clean air and water while denying climate change don’t go unchecked,” the firm said in a statement.

JOB MOVES:

— CTIA has added Nick Ludlum as senior vice president of communications and chief communications officer. He was previously executive vice president and group director of corporate and public affairs at Ogilvy Public Relations.

— Chris Moyer has left Washington for Sacramento, Calif., where he’s taken a job as deputy communications director for California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. He was previously senior director of public affairs for the American Gaming Association.

— Nicole Harburger has joined Whiteboard Advisors as chief operating officer. She was previously a senior vice president at GMMB.

NEW JOINT FUNDRAISERS:

None

NEW PACs:

Flip The House Now (PAC)
Institute On Voting And Electoral Engagement (Super PAC)
Stop Sanctuary Cities PAC (Super PAC)
The American Noocratic Party (Party)

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:

American Continental Group: National Association of Convenience Stores
American Continental Group: Rassini International
Avenue Strategies: VantageKnight, Inc. on behalf of Citgo Petroleum Corporation
Ballard Partners: The Mosaic Company
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Jackson Family Enterprises
Doucet Consulting Solutions, LLC: El Paso Electric Company
Doucet Consulting Solutions, LLC: Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association
Gotham Government Relations: Zaka Search & Rescue Inc.
Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, P.C.: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
J.C. Watts Companies: Community Reinvestment Fund, USA
J.C. Watts Companies: Investment Retirement Institute
Mercury: Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC
Mercury: International Franchise Association
Natural Resource Results LLC: American Fly Fishing Trade Association
Natural Resource Results LLC: Delta Waterfowl
Natural Resource Results LLC: LPC Conservation LLC
Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough: Tomlinson Group
Peck Madigan Jones: National Immigration Forum
Potomac Strategic Development Company, LLC: Grand Rapids Whitewater
Poyner Spruill LLP: North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, Inc.
Rasky Partners, Inc.: Shellback Industries LLC
Squire Patton Boggs: BAE Systems, Inc.
Stanton Park Group: Osh’s Not for Profit Pharmaceuticals
Zirkelbach Strategies: EmblemHealth

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:

Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting: BioDelivery Services International, Inc.
Mr. William Hilleary: Tennessee Valley Floating Homes Alliance
MRGB Consulting: VisionQuest 20/20
Ms. Elizabeth Garner: Merchant Advisory Group
Quadripoint Strategies LLC: National Installment Lenders Association
Stump Strategic LLC: Futures Industry Association

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