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Trump-connected Ballard Partners has agreed to represent Chinese video app TikTok.
President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on April 24 requiring TikTok owner, Bytedance, to divest the video app within a year, or face a ban in the US.
The move follows Congressional concerns over Bytedance’s close ties with the Chinese Communist Party, and the potential of TikTok to hoover up the data of American users.
Donald Trump, who championed TikTok’s split from Bytedance, now opposes the divestiture because he claims it would benefit Facebook, which he calls “the enemy of the people.”
His flip-flop also may have been influenced by news that the investment firm of billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican mega-donor, owns a 15 percent stake in Bytedance.
Brian Ballard, a top Trump fundraiser in Florida, heads his firm’s TikTok team.
Dan McFaul, aide to Florida Congressmen Joe Scarborough and Matt Gaetz; Michael LaRosa, advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and Stephen Klopp, deputy assistant sergeant at arms at the Senate, round out the Ballard TikTok squad.
Ballard Partners has signed to a represent the US unit of Rheinmetall, Germany’s biggest defense contractor, on Army procurement issues.
BGR Group signs on to provide lobbying and PR services for Terzo, an AI financial intelligence platform. Douglas Lute, chair of BGR’s international and defense practices, will join Terzo’s board of directors.
Avoq has landed Palantir Technologies, the controversial surveillance company founded by right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, as a client.
Anne Kierig, who was senior manager of public policy at Amazon, has joined the American Advertising Federation as VP-government affairs. She takes over for Clark Rector, who is retiring after a 37-year run at AAF.
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which was established in compliance with the executive order signed by President Trump, has hired Valcour LLC, which has close ties with his administration.
