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374 facts · 512 sources · updated 2026-09-30

Fact ppl-012

newrecordconfirmed Valar's six lobbyists: former congressional chiefs of staff and aides, and a former Pentagon AI-office liaison
2025-12-08 · ppl-012 · Atlas Crossing LLC, Sean Joyce, Alex Bolton, Christopher W. Eddowes, Alexis Oberg, Robert Parmiter, Bobby Cornett, U.S. Department of Defense

The 'covered official position' field of the Atlas Crossing filings for Valar (the law requires lobbyists to list government jobs held in the prior 20 years) names six lobbyists: Sean Joyce (chief of staff to Rep. Patrick McHenry; legislative, communications and military-legislative posts for Rep. Shuster); Alex Bolton (chief of staff to Rep. Nicole Malliotakis); Christopher W. Eddowes (senior policy adviser to Rep. Lloyd Smucker); Alexis Oberg (policy aide to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal); and, from Q1 2026, Robert Parmiter (general counsel of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and of the House Oversight Committee, deputy staff director of the House Judiciary Committee, and counsel posts on its crime subcommittee) and Bobby Cornett (head of legislative affairs at the Defense Department's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office; deputy chief of staff to Rep. Trent Franks). This is the ordinary 'revolving door' of Washington lobbying and is legal when disclosed; it is disclosed here. No lobbyist is listed with a past post at DOE, the NRC, or in Utah government, and none of the filings lists the Defense Department as contacted, although Valar's reactor was flown by the Defense Department (orig-030).

In plain termsThe people Valar pays to lobby Congress used to work for members of Congress, and one worked for a Pentagon technology office. That is normal in Washington and is legally disclosed. Nothing in the filings shows them lobbying the Energy Department, the nuclear regulator or Utah officials.
verified 2026-09-29: Re-read the LD-1 and both 2026 LD-2s. Holds. Fixed: Parmiter's listed posts were understated (the filings also list general counsel of the House Intelligence and Oversight committees and deputy staff director of Judiciary).

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