TikTok hires firm with close Biden ties as Chinese company ramps up lobbying

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TikTok has hired a consulting firm with close ties to Biden’s White House. The Chinese government-linked company has ramped up its lobbying efforts amid largely Republican-led efforts to ban the social media app.

SKDK, a political consulting and public affairs agency whose founder is a top Biden adviser and whose former employees fill out key roles across the Biden administration, was reportedly hired by TikTok in the past few months, according to Politico. The news came as the heads of the top U.S. intelligence agencies united last week in warning about the national security threat posed by China-owned TikTok.

There are other SKDK veterans currently serving in the Biden White House, including Kate Berner and Herbie Ziskend, who are both deputy White House communications directors. The firm announced in November that it had hired Justin Goodman, a longtime communications director for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer , to be an executive vice president for the firm’s public affairs practice in the nation’s capital.

Biden officials emphasize a national security review of the app is underway. The National Security Council said last summer that a separate review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States “is ongoing.” ByteDance and TikTok spent a combined $550,000 on lobbying in 2019, $3.92 million in 2020, $6.54 million in 2021, and $5.91 million in 2022.

The Chinese parent company also paid Mehlman Consulting $80,000 in the fourth quarter of 2022 to lobby Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Commerce Department. ByteDance paid K&L Gates another $40,000 to lobby the House and Senate.

 

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Hunter Biden has to be involved in this someplace

ChinaOWNSJoe

To many corrupt politicians and greedy lobbyists on CCP payroll

This is exactly what happens when you politicize commerce. This was entirely predictable as soon as Republicans started attacking the app.

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