1. HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE WANTS TO INTERVIEW TRUMP INAUGURATION PLANNER: The House Intelligence Committee is seeking to interview and obtain records from Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser to first lady Melania Trump and a key planner of President Trump’s inauguration. Associated Press: “The letter said that the House committee on March 19 requested Wolkoff provide unspecified records and also submit to a voluntary interview. It also showed that Wolkoff was subpoenaed to testify in early October before a federal grand jury in Manhattan, where federal prosecutors are investigating, among other things, whether foreigners illegally contributed to the inaugural events. … A spokesman for the House Intelligence Committee, Patrick Boland, declined to comment. Calls to Wolkoff’s residence seeking comment Wednesday rang unanswered. The person familiar with the matter said a sealed court order had prohibited Wolkoff from disclosing the federal subpoena she received for 180 days. The inaugural committee raised an unprecedented $107 million to host events celebrating Trump’s inauguration in January 2017 but has drawn mounting scrutiny in recent months.” 2. 'TIME' EXPANDS 100 LIST EVENT WITH ALL-DAY SUMMIT: Time magazine, which is under new ownership by Marc and Lynne Benioff, is expanding its Time 100 list celebration to a daylong event. The magazine announced the inaugural Time 100 Summit will take place April 23 in New York, leading into the annual gala that night. CNN: “Time, like virtually every other media company, wants to get deeper into the live events business. ‘This is what you'll be seeing from us throughout the year—expanding existing franchises and building out new ones,’ Time editor in chief and C.E.O. Edward Felsenthal said in an interview with CNN Business. … Felsenthal believes the list can live for more than a night. He described the alumni network as ‘hundreds and hundreds of people who form the world's greatest community of leaders.’ That's certainly part of the pitch to potential advertising partners. Time said that the inaugural summit will be sponsored by two blue chip companies, Cadillac and Citi.” 3. CANNES LIONS DRAWS CRITICISM FOR SELECTING CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA C.E.O. AS SPEAKER: The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity has drawn criticism for announcing Alexander Nix, founder and C.E.O. of data and political firm Cambridge Analytica, as a featured speaker for this year's festival, which honors marketing communications. Nix was forced out after his firm was tied to a data breach that exposed the private data of more than 80 million Facebook users in 2018. The firm later filed for insolvency. Adweek: "The panel, to be moderated by Financial Times U.S. managing editor Gillian Tett, will explore the topics of personal data and political agendas. While the Cambridge Analytica scandal alone is enough to raise eyebrows regarding Cannes’ selection of Nix, the former C.E.O. has drawn enough criticism for controversial comments he’s made in the past to attract scrutiny. ... Speaking to Adweek, several industry leaders questioned why Cannes would choose Nix as a speaker, given the accusations against him and the fact that he hasn’t provided any thoughtful discourse on the issue of data privacy in the past. David Gross, head of digital and performance and founding partner at Anchor Worldwide, called the decision 'tone deaf' on the part of Cannes. Others suggested that the festival is purposefully trying to create buzz around the event." |