Lobbying shops with close ties to the White House are commanding eye-popping sums for influence work for foreign clients—some of whom were facing federal charges—according to disclosures filed last week.
International firms with roots in the finance, energy, and mining sectors were among those who shelled out lobbying retainer fees of well over half a million dollars apiece during the first three months of the year, making them among the most lucrative contracts.
K Street’s largest contract during the first three months of 2026 went to a DC newcomer, Checkmate Government Relations. The firm is led by Ches McDowell, a hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr. It opened its doors in Washington at the end of 2024.
The shop reported more than $11 million in lobbying revenue last quarter—with $1 million of that coming from Innovairrs & Co., a Pakistani startup consultancy that describes itself as “a premier venture studio” focused on the intersection of financial services and technology. Innovairrs retained Checkmate at the beginning of the year to lobby on unspecified “issues regarding finances.”
McDowell told Bloomberg Government that the massive contract represented an up-front payment for a year’s worth of work for Innovairrs. It was the only seven-figure contract disclosed on K Street last quarter.
Ballard Clients
Ballard Partners, another firm with ties to the Trump administration, held four of the 11 largest lobbying contracts during the first three months of 2026, due to pricey work for foreign clients.
Two of those clients faced charges before the Justice Department.
Ballard brought in $630,000 in lobbying fees last quarter, despite reporting no registrable work, from lawyers representing Julio Herrera Velutini, the founder of Puerto Rican Bancrédito Holding Corporation embroiled in corruption and money laundering scandals.
Bancrédito retained Ballard in November and paid the firm $630,000 during the final two months of the year, during which Ballard lobbied the White House on “banking regulatory restrictions and requirements,” according to disclosures.
Bancrédito scored a major victory a little over a week into 2026, when President Donald Trump pardoned Herrera and the former Puerto Rican governor he was accused of bribing.
Ballard also had a $600,000 contract last quarter for work on behalf of Roger Ver, an expat and crypto billionaire known as “Bitcoin Jesus.”
Ver, who was facing extradition to the US on tax evasion charges, paid Ballard $900,000 in the final six months of 2025, a period that included a deferred-prosecution agreement struck with the Justice Department in October that allowed Ver to avoid prison. During the first quarter of 2026, Ballard reported lobbying the Justice Department and the White House on US crypto enforcement policy.
Ballard’s work for both Ver and Bancrédito was performed as a subcontractor to Chris Kise, a former personal defense attorney for Trump.
Ballard’s alumni include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and ex-Attorney General Pam Bondi, and it brought in more than $30 million in total federal lobbying revenue last quarter, more than any other firm on K Street. Helping power that haul was a contract worth $750,000 to lobby the State Department and Treasury on behalf of Cyprus-based investment firm Nerobreeze Limited.
GOP megadonor and longtime Florida lobbyist Brian Ballard, Syl Lukis, and former Florida Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler began working on Nerobreeze’s behalf in November to “promote investments and transparency,” disclosure filings show. Though details about Nerobreeze are scant, the company has ties to the energy trading giant Gunvor Group, which recently reshuffled its leadership after the US scrambled its effort to acquire assets from Russian energy firm Lukoil PJSC.
Ballard also brought in $600,000 from South Korean mining giant
In the first quarter, Ballard reported lobbying the Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, and Energy departments as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Senate on issues related to critical minerals and metal development, according to disclosures.
Other Firms’ Deals
Trump-tied firms weren’t the only ones raking in six-figure contracts.
The second-largest lobbying contract in Q1 went to Jake Perry + Partners, which was paid $840,000 for lobbying on issues related to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund on behalf of Fay Law Group, a Virginia-based firm that specializes in pursuing claims for damages for American victims of terrorist attacks, such as the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.
The third most lucrative contract last quarter was held by Becker Law Firm, which took in $770,000 from Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Forman Corporation despite performing no registrable lobbying activities, according to disclosure filings.
There were also more traditional contract deals, including for domestic manufacturers and a Native American tribe. They include: Covington & Burling’s long-running work for semiconductor manufacturer
The Texas oil company Sable Offshore Corp., meanwhile, paid Holland & Knight $540,000 last quarter, during which the White House invoked the Defense Production Act to pave the way for one of its projects off the coast of California to resume production. The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association paid Bradley Arant Boult Cummings the same amount to lobby on issues related to water infrastructure, permitting, and supply chains.
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