Mercury Public Affairs reports $20.6 million in 2026 lobbying revenue, led by Korea Zinc and a North Macedonian client

By Beatrix Holloway

WASHINGTON — Mercury Public Affairs, the bipartisan lobbying and strategy firm whose partners include former Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and former Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., reported $20.58 million in federal lobbying revenue in the first nine months of 2026, up about 5% from $19.63 million in the same period of 2025, according to its Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

The firm reported lobbying for 138 clients this year, compared with 131 in all of 2025. Forty-four of this year’s clients were new, accounting for about $5.3 million of the firm’s 2026 revenue. The figures are firm revenue, the fees clients reported paying Mercury for lobbying, and do not show what any individual at the firm earns.

Two of the firm’s three largest clients are based overseas. Korea Zinc, the South Korean metals producer, paid $1.08 million through September, after $1.33 million in 2025, on “issues related to critical minerals, recycling, clean energy subsidization,” with contacts at the Defense, Energy and State departments, the Executive Office of the President and Congress. Vitter and Bustos are both listed on the account.

Kocho Angjushev, a former deputy prime minister of North Macedonia, is listed as an individual client paying $990,000 this year, after $1.32 million in 2025, on “issues related to BonaFide Trade and Commerce.” The filings list contacts with the White House, Congress and the State Department. In December 2023, the State Department designated Angjushev under Section 7031(c) of its appropriations law, saying he was involved in significant corruption, a finding that makes him and his immediate family generally ineligible to enter the United States. The filings do not say whether the designation is among the matters lobbied.

Quarter by quarter

The team

Bryan Lanza, a Republican strategist who was communications director for President Donald Trump’s first transition team and deputy communications director of the 2016 Trump-Pence campaign, according to his firm biography, is listed on 44 clients this year, more than anyone else at the firm. Those engagements account for about $10.2 million in 2026 fees, including Angjushev, Webull, Camel Energy and TP-Link.

Bustos, who represented Illinois’ 17th District for five terms and chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to her firm biography, is listed on 26 clients worth about $4.7 million this year, including Korea Zinc, the Solana Policy Institute, the crypto-focused Cedar Innovation Foundation and the crane maker Manitowoc. The filings list her covered position as “US Senator”; she served in the House.

Vitter, who served two Senate terms and was the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, according to his firm biography, is listed on 19 clients worth about $3.8 million, including Korea Zinc, Denham Capital Management on mining and critical minerals financing, and Tencent America. Others with large client loads include Michael McSherry, a former Labor and Housing and Urban Development official, on 24 clients, and James Messner on 23.

The fees are what clients paid the firm for engagements on which each lobbyist is listed; several lobbyists are often listed on the same client, and the totals are not personal earnings. POLITICO Influence’s third-quarter rankings placed other firms, led by Ballard Partners, well ahead of Mercury in quarterly revenue. The Inquisitor has reported on former members of Congress who lobby at the largest firms.

Request for comment

The Washington Inquisitor asked Mercury Public Affairs about its client work, including the Korea Zinc and Angjushev engagements, and asked Korea Zinc, TP-Link Systems and Webull for comment. It also asked the Brennan Center for Justice and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, which tracks foreign influence in Washington, for comment. This story will be updated with any responses.