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| Bart Gordon |
Former Congressman Bart Gordon represents Beijing-headquartered ByteDance, parent company of Chinese social media darling TikTok, which is trying to fend off US sanctions.
Sens. Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton have asked Joseph Maguire, acting director of national intelligence, for an assessment on whether the short-form video platform poses a national security risk to the US.
The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 18 that TikTok is "looking for ways to shake off its ties to China."
Moving operations to Singapore and rebranding in the US are among considerations that have been floated by TikTok executives and advisors.
A ByteDance spokesperson though, told the WSJ that a Singapore shift is not in the cards.
Gordon, a Democrat who represented the Nashville area for 26 years and chaired the House science & technology committee, handles general issues affecting Internet companies for ByteDance, in his capacity as partner at K&L Gates.
K&L's Stephen Martinko, former chief of staff to Congressman Bill Shuster and member of the Trump transition team, and Stacy Ettinger, one-time aide to Schumer, also represent ByteDance.
The Journal noted that ByteDance, which is valued at $75B, ranks as one of the most valuable startups in the world.
Anthropic, the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence start-up, has retained Republican powerhouse firm Fierce Government Relations for DC representation.
Chad Horrell, who was senior manager for government relations at DoorDash, has joined BGR Group as VP in its state and local practice.
Continental Strategy, which has close ties with the Trump administration, has registered Geneva-based Rolex as a client for services regarding the tariffs on watch imports.
Kimberly-Clark calls on Ballard Partners as it moves to acquires Kenvue, maker of Tylenol. 
Brett Horton, who was chief of staff to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, has joined the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. as its chief advocacy officer, a new position.
