With Daniel Lippman

WHO GAVE TO THE VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL NOMS: Democrats across the country suffered bruising defeats in Tuesday’s elections, but the marquee race of the evening was the showdown for the governorship in Virginia, where former Carlyle Group executive Glenn Youngkin defeated former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Given the race’s physical proximity to D.C. and its political importance as a bellwether for next year’s midterms, it should be no surprise the race drew contributions from dozens of Washington lobbyists and K Street types — many of whom live in Virginia — to both nominees in the last few weeks alone, according to campaign finance reports.

— Those who’ve cut checks to Youngkin this year include Marc Lampkin, Lori Harju and Geoffrey Burr of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Sem Geduldig of CGCN Group; Kirk Blalock of Fierce Government Relations; Chris Swonger of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States; former Rep. Barbara Comstock of Baker Donelson; Brendan Dunn and Geoff Verhoff of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Chris Giblin of Ogilvy Government Relations; former Gov. Haley Barbour, Loren Monroe, Robert Wood and Erskine Wells of BGR Group; Don Nickles of The Nickles Group; Susan Sweat of Cornerstone Government Affairs; Jeffery Walter of Capitol Counsel; Justin Peterson of DCI Group; and Frank Atkinson of McGuireWoods Consulting.

— K Streeters who gave to McAuliffe include Jessica Zielke of Coca-Cola; Vincent Roberti of Roberti Global; Jeff Forbes of Forbes Tate Partners; Paul Reagan of McGuireWoods; Richard Sullivan of State Federal Strategies; Scott Pastrick of Prime Policy Group; John Rafaelli, Shannon Finley, James Davidson and David Jones of Capitol Counsel; former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of The Daschle Group; Steve Elmendorf of Subject Matter; Joel Johnson of Finsbury Glover Hering; Daniella Landau and Jennifer Poersch of HLP&R Advocacy; Jeff Ricchetti of Ricchetti Inc.; former Sen. Mary Landrieu; Ron Hamm of Hamm Consulting Group; Tonio Burgos of Tonio Burgos & Associates; Izzy Klein of Klein/Johnson Group; Sam Whitehorn of Elevate Government Affairs; Jonathan Jones of Tiber Creek Group; Jim Kolb of Summit Strategies; and Joe Novotny of Husch Blackwell Strategies.

FIRST IN PI — JONES JOINS MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY GROUP: Former Sen. Doug Jones is joining Inseparable, a nonprofit working to expand access to mental health care, as a senior adviser. “When I was campaigning, and when I was in the Senate, mental health kept coming up almost everywhere I’d go,” Jones said in an interview. “The problem is there just didn't seem to be as much happening on that front, as I think was needed.” The mental health crisis was only exacerbated by the pandemic, Jones said. Jones added that his role will involve less advocacy for specific legislation — he’s banned from lobbying his former colleagues for two years and says he has no plans to register — but to be a public advocate and help draw attention to mental health issues.

— “The time is right, because these are such bipartisan issues,” he argued. “Every senator, every member of Congress right now, I can guarantee you are hearing more and more from their constituents, about problems they're seeing in their communities, and their families and with their friends, involving some type of mental health issue.”

— The Alabama Democrat, who lost reelection last year, has been busy since leaving office. After being passed over as President Joe Biden’s pick for attorney general, Jones joined Arent Fox’s government relations and government enforcement and white collar groups as counsel. He’s also become a CNN contributor and formed a PAC to advocate for candidates and causes like civil rights and racial justice. And he’s a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. But the former senator stressed that he won’t be lobbying in any of his new roles.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI, where I hope any Braves fans out there aren’t nursing too terrible a hangover today. Send lobbying tips: [email protected]. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

MERCURY PARTS WAYS WITH BLACKLISTED ISRAELI FIRM, HAITI: The Commerce Department today added Israeli surveillance firms NSO Group and Candiru to its “entity list,” blacklisting the companies “for engaging in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States,” and accusing them of developing and providing spyware to foreign governments that “used these tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.”

— The move effectively bans the companies from exporting software or hardware from the U.S., and comes after a consortium of news outlets reported this summer that a military-grade spyware known as Pegasus was used to surveil journalists and human rights activists around the world. Meanwhile, Mercury Public Affairs, which has represented the firm in Washington since last year, parted ways with NSO Group’s majority stakeholder, Q Cyber Technologies, days before the firm’s addition to the entity list, according to a new DOJ filing.

— Mercury declined to comment on the termination, which came after Mercury staffers working on the account sent out numerous denials of the illegal spying accusations to the press, and after the firm took in more than $400,000 over six months this year from Q Cyber Technologies, according to separate filings.

— Mercury, which last month saw an exodus of top staffers from its California, London and New York offices, including a co-founder, also ended its contract with Haiti’s presidential office and the Ugandan government, according to their newest filing. Mercury staffers had a public-facing role in the firm’s work for Haiti this year as well, routinely passing along statements and flagging tweets from the country’s ambassador to the U.S. in the wake of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination and the ensuing struggle for power.

CONSUMER BANKERS’ HUNT STEPPING DOWN: “Richard Hunt, who has led the Consumer Bankers Association since June 2009, told the group’s board of directors Wednesday morning that he plans to leave the organization, which represents 69 big retail banks, next summer after helping with the search for a successor,” POLITICO’s Kate Davidson reports.

— “When the 55-year-old Hunt joined CBA as president and CEO during the financial crisis, he said he set a goal of staying on for 10 years. After navigating the crisis, a sweeping new regulatory regime under the Dodd-Frank Act — including a new consumer financial regulator — and a global pandemic that tested the resiliency of the banking system, Hunt said he was ready to step back. ‘It’s hard to leave something you love — which is why I stayed on a little longer than I expected — but now it’s time for a new leader to take the helm,’ he said.”

— Hunt’s departure “comes at a time when the banking industry is facing intense competition from upstart technology companies and is bracing for an overhaul of anti-redlining rules under the Community Reinvestment Act — issues that are front and center for CBA’s membership,” which includes some of the country’s biggest retail banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, PNC and Capital One. “CBA has been at the center of some of the banking industry’s biggest battles with lawmakers and regulators under Hunt’s leadership, most recently the fight over new IRS reporting requirements in the Biden administration’s social spending bill. The provision, which drew opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D.-W.Va.) and some House Democrats, was eventually removed from the latest version released by the White House last month.”

— “A Louisiana native, Hunt is also known by many in Washington for his outsize personality, Southern drawl and irreverent humor, often on display on his Twitter account, which he uses to chide lawmakers or regulators and cheer the Atlanta Braves. Before joining CBA, Hunt served as senior vice president of federal policy for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. He started his career in Washington in 1989 as a driver for then-Rep. Jim McCrery — a Republican from Hunt’s home state of Louisiana — eventually becoming a district representative and later chief of staff.”

SENATORS OFFER BILLS TO CLOSE FOREIGN DONOR LOOPHOLE: “Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is introducing legislation barring foreign nationals from financing U.S. referendum campaigns, after Axios revealed federal regulators recently okayed the practice,” Axios’ Lachlan Markay reports. “Gillibrand's bill would close what good government advocates call a glaring loophole in federal election laws allowing foreign nationals to bankroll efforts to reshape state and local laws.”

— “Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also said Wednesday he plans to introduce legislation to close the loophole. Gillibrand's bill, the Stop Foreign Interference in Ballot Measures Act, would amend the prohibition on foreign national donations to U.S. political campaigns to include state and local ballot initiatives.”

— “It is absolutely chilling that foreign nationals can fund ballot initiatives, giving them significant influence on our laws and democracy. This loophole is frankly dangerous and must be closed swiftly,” Gillibrand said in a statement. Rubio, in a separate statement, vowed to “do everything we can to protect the votes of American citizens.”

— Cisco Minthorn is joining the Information Technology Industry Council as vice president for government affairs. He was previously at Intel, where he was senior director of government relations and senior counsel. He is a Commerce Department and Hill alum.

— Jessica Martinez has joined Franklin Square Group as partner. She was most recently deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) and is an FCC alum.

— Emily Coyle is joining Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney as a principal. She was most recently senior director of U.S. government affairs and head of U.S. cybersecurity and privacy policy at SAP and is an Ernst & Young, National Association of Insurance Commissioners and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) alum.

— Robert Micek is joining American Beverage as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He most recently served as senior vice president and chief financial officer for ISACA, a trade group focused on IT audit, risk, security, privacy, and governance.

— Christopher Eddowes is now manager of government affairs at Atlas Crossing. He most recently was a senior legislative assistant for Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.).

— Former CFTC commissioner and acting chair Mark Wetjen has joined cryptocurrency exchange West Realm Shire Services Inc. Wetjen will lead the company’s public affairs effort as head of policy and regulatory strategy. He served most recently at MIAX Futures, where he focused on crypto-derivative products.

— Ben Nuelle has been named public policy director at the Iowa Pork Producers Association. Nuelle was previously associate editor at Agri-Pulse Communications.

— Natalie Birrell, a partner and chief operating officer of Anchorage Capital Group, has been named chair of the Managed Funds Association’s board of directors. Jim Rowen, chief operating officer at Renaissance Technologies, has been named vice chair of the board, and Kelly Rau, an audit partner at KPMG, will be treasurer of the board.

None.

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Al Fakher Holdings USa: Al Fakher Holdings USa
Alpine Group Partners, LLC.: Cellebrite Inc.
Congressional Partners: Foundcare
Congressional Partners: Iowa Wesleyan University
Forethought Advisors, LLC: National Association Of Real Estate Brokers
Hatton Partners, LLC: Commercial Real Estate Financial Council
Holland & Knight LLP: Blandford Biotech Corporation
Jake Perry + Partners: Liberty Partners Group Obo Partnership For Quality Home Healthcare
Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Bellus Academy
Peter Damon Group LLC: City Of Fort Smith
Salinas Strategies LLC: US Manufacturers Association For Development And Enterprise
The Madison Group: Bell Legal Group
Ulman Public Policy & Federal Relations: National Association Of Manufacturers
Van Scoyoc Associates: Ava Labs Inc.
Van Scoyoc Associates: Shrink The Tax Gap, Inc.
Venn Strategies: End Citizens United

Christine Hesse: Liberty Mutual Insurance
Moonwalker Associates: Arizona State University
Olsson, Frank, Weeda, Terman & Matz, Pc: Association Of Medical Device Reprocessors