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| Ed Gillespie |
Ed Gillespie, chairman of Sard Verbinnen & Co.'s public affairs group, will join AT&T as executive VP-external & legislative affairs on April 22. He will report to Randall Stephenson, CEO.
The one-time chairman of the Republican National Committee and aide to George Bush II takes over for Jim Cicconi, who held the lobbying post on an interim basis.
Cicconi emerged from retirement last fall to take the chief lobbyist post. He assumed the duties of Bob Quinn, who exited in 2018 following revelations that AT&T paid $600K to Michael Cohen, president Trump's personal lawyer.
Gillespie has had a twenty-year relationship with AT&T, while at Quinn Gillespie & Associates and Ed Gillespie Strategies. He also counseled AT&T at SV&C.
"Ed will be a tremendous addition to our team with his wealth of public affairs experience and deep understanding of the public policy issues important to our customers, our economy and our company," said Stephenson in a statement.
With the departure of Gillespie, Bruce Haynes, vice chairman of SVC Public Affairs, moves into the chairman seat, and Trent Duffy, co-founder of HDMK Public Affairs. joins as vice chairman and co-head of the DC office.
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development enrolls Venable for government relations services.
Coinbase has hired Checkmate Government Relations, which has close ties to the Trump administration, to handle matters related to digital assets as the Senate works on the Clarity Act.
Peter Thiel-backed Palantir Technologies has added Democratic firm Ferox Strategies to its DC lobbying line-up to handle data analytics and technology issues.
Former congressmen Joe Crowley (D-NY) and Jeff Denham (R-CA) have signed on to handle the “new” TikTok on issues related to internet technology and learning-enabled platforms.
Knob Petroleum, which is based in Panama City, has retained Ballard Partners to explore opportunities in Venezuela.
