• American Airlines signed up with upstart firm Capitol Strategies Partners, a new venture that was launched in January. The firm announced the client in an email; lobbying disclosure forms are not yet available. The bipartisan firm, founded by aides to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Republican leadership on a Senate Appropriations panel, now has six Fortune 500 clients. • Former Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) has resurfaced as a lobbyist for the first time since losing his congressional seat in 2012, registering as an advocate for a firm called Washington Navigators. He will be lobbying for Fairfax 2015, the organizing committee for the World Police and Fire Games, and will try to secure federal funding for the Olympic-style event. Lungren will be working on the account with Brian Lopina, a chief of staff to former Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.).
{mosads}• Law firm Thompson Hine has signed on to lobby for Falcon Global Capital, a bitcoin investment firm. It will be working on “education and advocacy of bitcoin and other crypto-graphic based currencies,” according to lobbying disclosure forms. Advocates are heading up to Capitol Hill to launch an offensive about the currencies, which only exist virtually.
• Mayer Brown is lobbying for Big Bus Tours, a company that offers sightseeing excursions. Lobbyists will be working on “issues related to sight-seeing tourism in the United States,” and specifically advocating on H.R. 4450, the Travel Promotion, Enhancement and Modernization Act. Among other things, the legislation would reauthorize Brand USA, an initiative to increase travel to the United States led by an 11-member board of directors from the public and private sectors.