 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for companies and organizations .(February 2019) |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Government Relations |
| Founded | 1977 |
Key people | Gerald S. J. Cassidy, Founder |
| Website | Official website |
Cassidy & Associates is a Washington, D.C.-based government relations firm established in 1977 by Gerald S. J. Cassidy. The firm focuses on lobbying the United States government for corporations and organizations.
Cassidy & Associates worked to obtain Congressional support for the 1995 visit of Lee Teng-hui to the United States to speak at Cornell University. [1] Lee's statements during the visit led to the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. [1]
In 1999 and 2000, Cassidy & Associates led all lobbying firms in reported income. [2]
In 2004, Cassidy & Associates began representing Equatorial Guinean president Teodoro Obiang, labeled "one of Africa's most notorious dictators," according to Mother Jones magazine. [3] According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Obiang paid Cassidy & Associates at least $120,000 per month. [3] Mother Jones described the firm as almost "a shadow foreign ministry" for Equatorial Guinea. [3]
In 2007, The Washington Post reported, "Cassidy helped invent the new Washington" and had become the "creator and proprietor of the most lucrative lobbying firm in Washington." [4]
Kai Anderson, former deputy chief of staff to the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, serves as the firm's chief executive officer, and Barry Rhoads, former deputy general counsel to the 1991 Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), serves as its chairman. [5]
In 2015, the firm's founder and namesake, Gerald S. J. Cassidy, stepped down after 38 years of leading the firm. [6]
The firm reported earning $12.85 million in 2015, according to records filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate and Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.[ citation needed ]
In 2017, medias reports stated that the firm had been hired by Egyptian intelligence services. [7] The Egyptian government had been accused of human rights violations and had hired Cassidy & Associates and Weber Shandwick, the firm's parent company. [7] Weber Shandwick stopped working with Egypt in July 2017. [7]
In June 2017, Cassidy announced a management buyout from The Interpublic Group (IPG), returning it to an independent firm. [8]
In 2018, the company received $14,170,000 in income from various companies for lobbying the United States government. [9] According to The Washington Post, its founder, Gerald Cassidy, was once worth $125 million, possibly the richest Washington lobbyist. [4]
In December 2023, Cassidy & Associates announced hiring two new senior legislative and policy experts. Among them were James Sauls, former chief of staff to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Neil Kornze, former Bureau of Land Management Director. Both Sauls and Kornze joined the firm as senior vice presidents, bringing their experience in government and policy to Cassidy & Associates. [10]
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa, with an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location near both the Equator and in the African region of Guinea. As of 2024, the country had a population of 1,795,834, over 85% of whom are members of the Fang people, the country's dominant ethnic group. The Bubi people, indigenous to Bioko, are the second largest group at approximately 6.5% of the population.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is an Equatoguinean politician, dictator, and former military officer who has served as the second president of Equatorial Guinea since 1982. Previously, he was the Chairman of the Supreme Military Council from 1979 to 1982. As of 2024, he is the second-longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world, behind Cameroon's Paul Biya.
L-3 MPRI was a provider of private military contractor services with customers that included the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, law enforcement agencies, foreign governments, government agencies, and commercial businesses.
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Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue is an Equatoguinean politician who has served as the first vice president of Equatorial Guinea since 22 June 2016. He is a son of Teodoro Obiang, president of Equatorial Guinea, by his wife, Constancia Mangue.
The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) was a 1999 bill in the US Senate to ban Internet gambling.
Robin Lynn Raphel is an American former diplomat, ambassador, CIA analyst, lobbyist, and an expert on Pakistan affairs.
Lanny Jesse Davis is an American political operative, lawyer, consultant, lobbyist, author, and television commentator. He is the co-founder and partner of the law firm of Davis Goldberg & Galper PLLC, and co-founder and partner of the public relations firm Trident DMG. From 1996 to 1998, he served as a special counsel to President Bill Clinton, and was a spokesperson for the President and the White House on matters concerning campaign-finance investigations and other legal issues.
Lobbying in the United States is paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is often perceived negatively by journalists and the American public; critics consider it to be a form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion. Lobbying is subject to complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail. Lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since the 1970s, the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets has grown and become the focus of criticism of American governance.
The Arab lobby in the United States is a collection of formal and informal groups and professional lobbyists in the United States paid directly by Gulf Arab states and private donors on behalf of the Arab states.
Gerald "Gerry" Cassidy is a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He is the co-founder and CEO of Cassidy & Associates. Cassidy is a central figure in the 2009 book on lobbying, So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government.
Adolfo Obiang Biko is an author, politician and president of the National Liberation Movement of Equatorial Guinea (MONALIGE). He is known as an active participant and a leading freedom fighter in the struggle for independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain.
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The Pakistan lobby in the United States are the professional lobbyists paid directly by the government of Pakistan to lobby the public and government of the United States on behalf of Pakistani interests and/or on behalf of Pakistani American rights and interests.
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The Saudi Arabia lobby in the United States is a collection of lawyers, public relation firms and professional lobbyists paid directly by the government of Saudi Arabia to lobby the public and government of the United States on behalf of the interests of the government of Saudi Arabia.
Political corruption in Equatorial Guinea is high by world standards and considered among the worst of any country on earth. It has been described as "an almost perfect kleptocracy" in which the scale of systemic corruption and the rulers' indifference towards the people's welfare place it at the bottom of every major governance indicator or ranking, below nations with similar per capita GDPs.
Amos J. Hochstein is an American businessman, diplomat, and former lobbyist. He is a top national and economic security official in the Biden administration. Hochstein has worked in the U.S. Congress, has testified before congressional panels and has served in the Barack Obama administration under Secretaries of State Clinton and Kerry. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in 2011 and as Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs in 2013. In 2015, President Barack Obama nominated Hochstein to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources but the Senate did not act on the nomination.
General elections were held in Equatorial Guinea on 20 November 2022 to elect the President and members of Parliament, alongside local elections. Originally the parliamentary elections had been scheduled for November 2022 and presidential elections for 2023. However, in September 2022 Parliament approved a proposal to merge the elections due to economic constraints. The government announced on 26 November 2022 that Obiang had won the election by an overwhelming margin, as expected. It stated that provisional results showed him with 97% of the vote on a turnout of 98%. The elections were considered a sham by international observers.