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| (L-R) Joe Crowley, Jeff Denham |
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.
Established on Sept. 25, 2025, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC serves 200M Americans and 7.5 million businesses. It reflects the shift from Chinese to American majority ownership. Owners include Larry Ellison’s Oracle, Michael Dell’s family office and Silver Lake. China’s ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake.
Through their firm, Dentons, Crowley and Denham will deal with data protection and privacy; algorithm security and integrity; content moderation; online safety; interoperability of global platforms; and the economic impact of TikTok.
They may also have to explain the the $10B fee that TikTok's new owners are paying the US Treasury to approve the deal.
Sen Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on March 17, expressing concern that the new ownership group has close ties with Donald Trump.
“This arrangement, if true, would continue a pattern set by the Trump administration of exercising the power and authority of the government to benefit certain companies and individuals close to the President, and to extract concessions as a condition of doing so,” wrote Warner.
He also noted: “The opaque, uncompetitive, and ad hoc process surrounding the government-brokered sale, with numerous conflicts of interest, has no analogue in modern American history.”
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.
