Despite Sanctions, Biden-tied Lobbying Firm Renews Deal With Turkish Defense Company
By: Robbie Jaeger
Tags: Turkey, Campaign Finance, Politics, Lobbying, Joe Biden

According to recent Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings, D.C. lobbying firm Capitol Counsel — who fundraised for President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign, and who scooped up his New York State Director days after the election — has renewed their contract to represent Turkish defense company TAI , or Turkish Aerospace Industries, for seven months at $25,000 per month.

The filing, which was first reported by ForeignLobby.com, shows that on 12/8, Capitol Counsel — who has worked with TAI as a subcontractor for Greenberg Traurig since July — has extended their contract with the defense firm, taking over full responsibility for the account after Greenberg Traurig terminated their contract on 10/29. Turkish Aerospace Industries, who is owned by SSB (Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries, a Turkish government controlled agency) and the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, are tasking Capitol Counsel to help push through a problematic sale of TAI’s T-129 attack helicopters to Pakistan — and because many parts for are made by American companies Honeywell and Rolls-Royce, that gives the federal government a say in the matter.

On the same day Capitol Counsel filed with the DOJ, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced new sanctions on Turkey’s SSB, which included export bans of SSB products and an asset freeze of it’s head official. Though it is still unknown if these sanctions will extend to SSB subsidiaries such as TAI, the fact remains that Capitol Counsel has their work cut out for them — and are undoubtedly looking forward to lobbying the next administration, one with whom they have, at the very least, a friendly relationship with.

Per Politico, in August of this year, Capitol Counsel was holding fundraisers for Joe Biden’s campaign — events that reportedly included involvement from Biden campaign offials and policy directors. That specific fundraiser was also reported to have solicited $25,000 per person — and according to Capitol Counsel founder John Raffaelli, drew between 40-50 people. In fact, according to FEC filings, the firm raised just below $89,000 for that month— but it went to the DNC. As a whole, Capitol Counsel bundled around $200,000 for the Democratic Party this election cycle — with the vast majority of it (approximately $180,000) coming in August or later, after they started working for Turkish Aerospace Industries in July.

That said, Capitol Counsel is obviously banking on their newfound relationship with the Democrats to bolster their ability to reach a desirable outcome for their client, and judging by their push to raise campaign funds for Biden, they seem to be optimistic about the incoming administration being a bit more hands-off with Turkish affairs. Even still, a recent, opportunistic addition to Capitol Counsel’s firm may make getting a foot in the door with the Biden White House a bit easier.

On November 13, ten days after election day, Politico reported that Strategem Public Affairs — a public affairs firm run by Biden’s New York State Campaign Director, Robert Diamond — was being absorbed, with Diamond coming on in a significant capacity: heading up their executive branch practice. In fact, Capitol Counsel’s website has Diamond’s name front and center on their personnel page. Though Diamond isn’t listed as a lobbyist on the account with TAI, the close association to Biden — which many lobbying firms left and right are trying to obtain and/or promote — increases the risk for “shadow lobbying", or various unreported lobbying activities.

Per the FARA filing, Capitol Counsel’s job is to engage the “executive branch of the US government, including the White House, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Commerce”. With Biden’s nominees for Secretary of State and Defense, Antony Blinken and Gen. Lloyd Austin III, respectively, both coming from a firm that primarily invests in defense contractors — the latter sitting on the board of Raytheon Technologies— coupled with Capitol Counsel’s experience in representing defense sector mainstays (such as current client Lockheed Martin), will create even more favorable working conditions for the firm. Blinken in recent months has seemingly hinted that his stance on Turkey appears to have softened — albeit slightly — since his Obama administration days, telling the Hudson Institute in July: “We obviously want to find a way to have a more productive and positive relationship with Turkey, but that requires the Turkish government itself to want the same thing […] We obviously have some real issues and differences but we also have areas where it would make good sense for us to find ways to work more effectively together” — something Capitol Counsel, and their client, is banking on.