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Cassidy & Associates is a government-relations firm based in Washington, D.C. In 2018, the company received $14,170,000 in income from various companies for lobbying of the United States government. [1] According to The Washington Post its founder, Gerald Cassidy, was once worth $125 million, possibly the richest Washington lobbyist. [2] In 1999 and 2000, Cassidy & Associates led all lobbying firms in reported income. [3]
Beginning in 2004, the firm represented Equatorial Guinean president Teodoro Obiang, "one of Africa's most notorious dictators". [4] According to the United States Department of Justice the president paid Cassidy & Associates at least $120,000 per month. [4] Mother Jones has described the agency as almost "a shadow foreign ministry" for the country. [4]
In 2007, The Washington Post reported, "Cassidy helped invent the new Washington," and was "creator and proprietor of the most lucrative lobbying firm in Washington." [2]
Kai Anderson, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, serves as the firm's CEO, 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, the Associated Press reported that the firm had been hired by the Egyptian intelligence services.[ citation needed ] In late February, the U.S. State Department cataloged human rights abuses in Egypt in its annual report. The Egyptian government hired Cassidy & Associates and its parent company Weber Shandwick to improve Egypt's image in the United States.
In June 2017, Cassidy announced a management buyout from The Interpublic Group (IPG), returning it to an independent firm. [7]
James Steven "Steve" Griles was an American coal industry lobbyist and the United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior during the George W. Bush administration from July 12, 2001, until his resignation on December 7, 2004.
Thomas Milburn Davis III is an American lobbyist and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives who represented Virginia's 11th congressional district in Northern Virginia. Davis was considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by five-term incumbent and fellow Republican John Warner in the 2008 election, but decided against it. He announced on January 30, 2008, that he would not seek reelection to an eighth term. Davis resigned from Congress on November 24, 2008.
Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and 21 other people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.
Italia Federici, the former president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), a greenscam organization. Federici was also a political aide to Secretary of the Interior and CREA co-founder Gale Norton. She pleaded guilty in June 2007 to tax evasion and obstructing the United States Senate investigation into the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal and was sentenced to four years probation.
Robin Lynn Raphel is an American former diplomat, ambassador, CIA analyst, lobbyist, and an expert on Pakistan affairs.
Rupert "Rudy" Frank de Leon Jr. is an American former senior Department of Defense official, military adviser, lobbyist, and foreign policy adviser. He served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense, described as the "second-highest civilian defense position", from March 31, 2000 until March 16, 2001, and before appointed as Deputy Secretary he had served as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness from 1997 until 2000 and as Under Secretary of the Air Force from 1994 to 1997 in the administration of Bill Clinton.
The Jerry Lewis – Lowery lobbying firm controversy stems from the relationship between Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and a lobbying firm, known as Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White, where good friend and former U.S. Congressman Bill Lowery was a partner from 1993 to 2006.
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 describes 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 a highly controversial phenomenon, often seen in a negative light by journalists and the American public, with some critics describing it as a legal form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion. While lobbying is subject to extensive and often complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail, the activity of lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as constitutionally protected free speech and a way to petition the government for the redress of grievances, two of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Since the 1970s, lobbying activity has grown immensely in the United States in terms of the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets, and has become the focus of much criticism of American governance.
The Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal involved the efforts of Jack Abramoff, other lobbyists, and government officials to change or prevent, or both, Congressional action regarding the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and businesses on Saipan, its capital, commercial center, and one of its three principal islands.
The Arab lobby in the United States is a collection of formal and informal groups and professional lobbyists paid directly by Arab governments or Arab citizens in the United States that lobby the public and government of the United States on behalf of Arab interests and/or on behalf of Arab Americans in the United States.
The Podesta Group was a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left the firm in 1993, and Tony Podesta left the firm on October 30, 2017, after finding out about increased scrutiny of the firm. It has essentially ceased to exist since then. The firm reorganized in January 2007 after chairman Tony Podesta split with former business partner Dan Mattoon.
Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly was a lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C. and formed in 1980 by Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Charles Black.
Robert G. Kaiser is an American journalist and author. He retired from The Washington Post in early 2014 after a career of more than 50 years on the paper. During his career he served as managing editor (1991–98) and associate editor and senior correspondent (1998-2014). He is the author or co-author of eight books. After retiring he wrote a much-discussed article for the Post explaining his decision to move away from Washington after living there for most of 70 years.
Hogan Lovells is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. It employs about 2,400 lawyers across 40 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Qorvis Communications is an international Washington, D.C.-based public relations, advertising, media relations and crisis communications firm. It was acquired by the Publicis Groupe in January 2014, and became Qorvis/MSLGroup.
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.
Anthony Thomas Podesta is an American lobbyist best known for founding the Podesta Group. The brother of former White House Chief of staff John Podesta, he was formerly one of Washington's most powerful lobbyists and fundraisers.
BGR Group is a lobbying and communications firm based in Washington, D.C., with offices in London, Beijing and Austin, Texas. Founded in 1991 by former White House aides Ed Rogers and Haley Barbour, the firm was joined by Lanny Griffith to form Barbour Griffith & Rogers. In 2019, BGR was recognized by both The Hill and Bloomberg as a "Top Performing Lobbying Firm".
Axiom Strategies is one of the largest Republican political consulting firms in the United States. Founded in 2005 by Jeff Roe, who has been described as "Ted Cruz's Karl Rove", it has been described as a "mega firm" by industry professionals. Originally based in Kansas City, Missouri, it has thirteen offices across the country and approximately 150 full-time employees.