Glover Park Group reps Wanxiang America Corp., the U.S. unit of the Chinese auto parts company, which purchased bankrupt advanced electric battery maker A123 Systems for more than $250M.

That transaction triggered howls of protest from U.S. lawmakers and military officials concerned about the potential transfer of technology to the Chinese.

A123 received more than $250M from the U.S. Dept. of Energy as part of the federal stimulus program.

The State of Michigan lavished $125M in tax credits to A123, but the state's attorney general Bill Schuette asked the bankruptcy court on March 6 to disallow the transfer of the tax break to Wanxiang.

WAC argued that all of A123 rights were transferred to it as part of the acquisition.

GPG's team includes Joel Johnson, who was President Clinton's senior advisor for policy and communications; Susan Brophy, a member of the Clinton-Gore transition team and former head of Time Warner's public policy office, and Alex Mistri, ex-special assistant to George W. Bush, work the WAC account