Former Rep. Crowley registers as TikTok lobbyist

Former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), who was the No. 4 House Democrat before losing a primary challenge to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2018, registered as a lobbyist for TikTok as lawmakers weigh banning the social media platform. 

Crowley, a senior policy director at multinational law firm Dentons, lobbied on TikTok’s behalf in the first quarter of 2023, according to a disclosure filed Thursday. Former Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) was also part of Dentons’s lobbying team. 

That came as TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced a bipartisan grilling before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where numerous lawmakers said TikTok should be banned in the U.S.

Lawmakers cited privacy and national security risks stemming from the company’s ties to the Chinese government, along with harmful content on the app. 

Crowley and Denham helped Chew land meetings with lawmakers ahead of the tense hearing, Politico reported last month. 

In an effort to win Congress over, TikTok is aggressively expanding its roster of outside lobbyists, which now includes former top aides to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). 

The company also boasts links to the Biden administration. Its communications team includes Jamal Brown, who was Biden’s national press secretary in 2020 and a Pentagon spokesperson under Biden. 

TikTok is getting strategic advice from consulting giant SKDK, whose co-founder Anita Dunn is a top Biden adviser. The social media company hired another former Biden aide last month.

The Biden administration has said that TikTok is a national security threat and is pushing the company to break off from its Chinese parent company. But the administration said last month that a U.S. ban must come from Congress. 

Amid a flurry of lobbying and D.C.-area ads from TikTok, momentum for ban has appeared to slow for the time being. Progressive lawmakers, including Ocasio-Cortez, have come out against prohibiting the app. 

Chew told lawmakers last month that TikTok is not controlled by the Chinese government and that U.S. user data is stored with an American company. Still, the Chinese government has vocally opposed efforts to force a sale of TikTok.