President Trump distanced himself from “a man named Michael Esposito” in a series of tweets this morning.

The Washington Post notes Esposito’s soaring rise as a lobbyist is due to his claims to be “close to centers of power in the Trump administration.”

Contract bids says Esposito has “an open line of communication to the President of the United States” and is in “regular” contact with the president. The same proposals say Esposito worked with the president’s son Eric Trump and son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner on real estate deals. And the firm’s website calls Esposito “an integral part of the senior-most leadership” of the Republican National Committee.

Former White House counsel Greg Craig was acquitted by a federal jury on Wednesday on a felony false-statement charge, a major vindication for one of the most prominent lawyers in Washington, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The acquittal lifts a pall over Mr. Craig’s otherwise distinguished career at the upper echelons of law and politics, and represents a major setback for the Justice Department, which sought to make an example of Mr. Craig as it ramped up its enforcement of the laws governing work on behalf of foreign governments.”

“A business associate of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn was convicted on Tuesday in Northern Virginia of secretly lobbying for Turkey, a victory for the government after the judge considered dismissing the case because prosecutors lacked evidence,” the New York Times reports.

Axios: “At Mar-a-Lago, we’re seeing a whole new form of lobbying. People pay dues to the private club of the president of the United States, then try to influence him in person on government policy — all outside the normal watchdogs and strictures and surveillance of Washington. It’s a stunning situation.”

Trump is “in his happy place at his club or at the golf course. He is completely relaxed. And that’s when he’s most receptive to ideas. It’s this weird world where you’ve got him at the dining table people come up and talk to him and you get an invaluable piece of time with the most powerful person on earth.”

New York Times: “Initially slow to develop a presence in Washington, the tech giants — Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google — have rapidly built themselves into some of the largest players in the influence and access industry as they confront threats from the Trump administration and both parties on Capitol Hill.”

“The four companies spent a combined $55 million on lobbying last year, doubling their combined spending of $27.4 million in 2016, and some are spending at a higher rate so far this year.”

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, navigating dramatic cultural change that’s transforming the worlds of politics and business, plans to become less aligned with the Republican Party than it has been for decades,” the Washington Post reports.

“The largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in Washington is changing the way it evaluates lawmakers for the first time in 40 years, launching a $250 million capital campaign to remodel its headquarters and even rethinking its approach to regulation.”

“Several dues-paying companies have balked as the Chamber endorsed fewer and fewer Democrats over the past several election cycles. The GOP’s drift toward protectionism, nativism and isolationism since Donald Trump took over the party in 2016 is also at odds with the Chamber’s longtime support for expanding free trade, growing legal immigration and investing in infrastructure.”

“A previously unreleased invoice indicates that David Bernhardt, President Trump’s choice to lead the Interior Department, continued to lobby for a major client several months after he filed official papers saying that he had ended his lobbying activities,” the New York Times reports.

“A long-running federal investigation into a former White House counsel in the Obama administration is reaching a critical stage, presenting the Justice Department with a decision about whether to charge a prominent Democrat as part of a more aggressive crackdown on illegal foreign lobbying,” the New York Times reports.

“The case involving the lawyer, Gregory Craig, was transferred in January from federal prosecutors in New York to those in Washington. The previously undisclosed move was driven by Justice Department officials in Washington, and reflects an eagerness within the department to prosecute violations of lobbying laws after the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, focused on foreign influence in his investigations.”