Friends in High Places

Brian Ballard

I know somebody… Brian Ballard’s Ballard Partners ranked No. 1 in third-quarter federal lobbying revenues, according to Lobbying Disclosure Act filings compiled by Politico Influence.

The firm of Trump’s former Florida fundraising chief, attorney general Pam Bondi and his chief of staff Susie Wiles recorded $25.1M in revenues, compared to $4.8M during the same period a year ago.

Ballard crushed No. 2 firm BGR Group, a more establishment GOP outfit, by nearly $6M. BGR co-founder Haley Barbour was Ronald Reagan’s political director, Republican National Committee chair, and two-term governor of Mississippi.

Trump-tied Continental Strategy and Checkmate Government Relations also rocketed up the lobbying revenue charts.

Continental founder Carlos Trujillo served in the first Trump administration as ambassador to the Organization of American States. He also was a Trump campaign surrogate in outreach to Latino voters during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Continental partner Alex Garcia was political director for Trump’s campaign in battleground states, while partner Katie Wiles is the daughter of Susie Wiles.

The Florida firm took the No. 9 slot with revenues of $8.3M compared to $398,708 a year ago when Joe Biden was still in office.

Checkmate managing partner Ches McDowell is a good friend and hunting buddy of Donald Trump, Jr. McDowell, who founded the firm in Winston-Salem, led the North Carolina branch of Sportsmen for Trump.

Checkmate checked in at No. 14 with $7.1M in revenues. That’s an outstanding performance for the Raleigh, NC-based firm that had zippo federal lobbying revenues in the 2024 period.

What a difference a year makes in old DC!

Dangerous dictator... More Americans view Trump as a “dangerous dictator” rather than a “strong leader,” according to a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute released Oct. 22.

Nearly six in ten (56 percent) believe Trump’s power should be limited before he destroys America, while 41 percent of the respondents say he should be empowered to restore America’s greatness.

PRRI found that 54 percent agree that Trump is assaulting constitutional checks and balances, and the rule of law. He has the backing of 43 percent who believe Trump has launched a “long-overdue correction of disastrous policies pushed by elites at the expense of ordinary Americans.”

The poll found that two-thirds of respondents say the ability of the federal government to meet the needs of everyday Americans has mostly changed for the worse since the beginning of the year (66%), while 30% say it has mostly changed for the better.

There is a shred of good news in PRRI’s survey. Only 17 percent agree that “American patriots may need to resort to violence” to get the county back on track. That’s down from the peak of 23 percent in September 2023.

If it’s good enough for Bondi… Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks wants Secretary of State Marco Rubio to correct or clarify his Congressional testimony in May that “no one has died” due to the dismantling of the US Agency of International Development and foreign assistance program.

In his October 20 letter to the Secretary of State, Meeks notes that attorney general Pam Bondi brought charges against former FBI director James Comey for allegedly making false statements to Congress while under oath.

Meeks wants Rubio to refute stories in the New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press about deaths directly linked to the termination of US food aid.

The Congressman said Rubio’s testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee appears to be false and misleading.

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Three cheers for Robert Decherd… The former chairman and controlling shareholder of the DallasNews Corp. accepted a takeover price of $16.50 per share bid from Hearst, rather than a higher $20 per share bid from Alden Global Capital, which is notorious for stripping down newspapers to their bare bones.

The great-grandson of the founder of the Dallas Morning News said his sole objective was to sustain the journalistic quality and civic responsibility of the paper.

Selling out to Hearst ensures that the DMN will continue to produce distinguished journalism for Dallas and of north Texas, said Decherd.

The deal closed on Sept. 24.