Definers Public Affairs was an American right leaning opposition research firm based in Arlington, Virginia. [1] [2] [3] [4] It performed media monitoring services, conducted research using the Freedom of Information Act and also created strategic communication to negatively influence the public image about individuals, firms, candidates and organizations who oppose their clients. [2] [5] [6] [7] Definers shared at least nine current and former executives, as well as its office space, with America Rising, a Republican-affiliated political action committee, and NTK Network, a digital news aggregator. [7]
Definers was founded by Republican Party political operatives Joe Pounder and Matt Rhoades in 2016. [2] [8] [9]
In 2017, Dentons formed a strategic partnership with Definers dubbed 3D Global Affairs. [10] [11] Among the services offered at 3D Global Affairs would be "governmental relations and lobbying support to shape the environment...campaign-style opposition research" and “communications and rapid response professionals to direct the narrative.” [12]
Definers established an office in San Francisco to provide opposition research to Silicon Valley clients. [13] In 2017 Definers opened an office in London called the U.K. Policy Group, headed by Andrew Goodfellow, the former head of research for the Conservative Party. [14] [15]
Definers often supports its clients by pitching stories to news outlets such as NTK Network and America Rising, which were sometimes picked up by larger media organisations like Breitbart [16] [17] and GotNews, which was owned by the alt-right activist Charles C. Johnson. [18] According to Definers' proposal to potential clients, the goal was to "create an echo chamber effect" among these various outlets. [18] An anonymous former employee for Definers called NTK Network its "in-house fake news shop". [19]
In December 2017, Definers Public Affairs was paid $120,000 in a no-bid contract from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for services which included searching for "resistance figures" opposing the agenda of Administrator Scott Pruitt, appointed to head the agency under President Donald Trump. [2] [8] [20] During the bid Definers listed itself erroneously as a "small disadvantaged business", which was corrected after receiving the contract. [21] [22] Allan Blutstein, a lawyer for Definers Public Affairs, lodged FOI requests on low-level bureaucrats who were perceived to be hostile to Pruitt's agenda. Definers' work was incorrectly listed in the contract to perform “media monitoring” services. [23] Definers cancelled the contract after receiving media scrutiny. [24] [25] [26]
William K. Reilly, the EPA administrator under President George H.W. Bush, criticized the hiring of Definers Public Affairs, saying that: "Mr. Pruitt appears not to understand that the two most valuable assets EPA has is the country’s trust and a very committed professional work force. This shows complete insensitivity, complete tone-deafness, or something worse." [7] John O’Grady, President of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents approximately 10,000 EPA employees, was the target of a Definers FOIA request, and called the firm a threat to EPA employees. [2] Charles Tiefer of the University of Baltimore argued that Definers is benefiting from politically motivated crony capitalism. [2]
In November 2017 Venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar filed a lawsuit against Definers Public Affairs, alleging that it orchestrated a smear campaign against him. [27] [28]
In October 2017, Facebook expanded its work with Definers Public Affairs, that had originally been hired to monitor press coverage of the company to address concerns primarily regarding Russian meddling, then mishandling of user data by Cambridge Analytica, hate speech on Facebook, and calls for regulation. [16] [19] Definers had established a Silicon Valley outpost earlier that year led by Tim Miller, a former spokesman for Jeb Bush. For tech firms, he argued in one interview, a goal should be to "have positive content pushed out about your company and negative content that’s being pushed out about your competitor." [29] Elliot Schrage, Facebook's Head of Communications and Policy stated in a blog post, that he asked Definers Public Affairs to open a file on Soros after the philanthropist called Facebook "a menace to society" in a speech earlier this year. [30] [31] [32] A research document circulated by Definers to reporters this summer, just a month after the House hearing, linked George Soros, a frequent subject of antisemitic conspiracy theories, to critics of Facebook. [33]
Following the public outcry from the New York Times article on the activity of Definers Public Affairs, Facebook cut ties with the agency. [29] George Soros' Open Society Foundation put a statement out that said the content was a "deliberate strategy to distract" from Facebook's own scandals and that the "methods threaten the very values underpinning our democracy." [34] Tim Miller defended the accuracy of Definers' work stating that "Definers shared a narrow document about an anti-Facebook group's funding. It was entirely factual." [35] BuzzFeed News published some of Definers' research on Soros. [36]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate.
Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a US-based grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the stated aim of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media. The group's name was inspired by Karl Popper's 1945 book The Open Society and Its Enemies.
Carol Martha Browner is an American lawyer, environmentalist, and businesswoman, who served as director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. Browner previously served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. She currently works as a Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm.
Hugh Hewitt is an American conservative political commentator, radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network, attorney, academic, and author. He writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is a former official in the Reagan administration, the former president and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, a law professor at Chapman University School of Law, a columnist for The Washington Post, and a regular political commentator on Fox News.
Edward Scott Pruitt is an American attorney, lobbyist and Republican politician from the state of Oklahoma. He served as the 14th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from February 17, 2017, to July 9, 2018, during the Donald Trump presidency, resigning while under at least 14 federal investigations. Pruitt denies the scientific consensus on climate change.
George Soros is a Hungarian-American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. As of October 2023, he had a net worth of US$6.7 billion, having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion has already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune. Forbes called Soros the "most generous giver". He is a resident of New York.
Elliot J. Schrage is an American lawyer and business executive. Until June 2018, he was vice president of global communications, marketing, and public policy at Facebook, where he directed the company's government affairs and public relations efforts. He then served as vice president of special projects at Facebook.
Dentons is the world's largest global law firm by number of lawyers and the 6th-largest law firm by revenue.
E&E News is an American news organization that covers energy, environmental policy, climate change, markets and science. As of 2020, the organization has more than 65 reporters and editors across 10 cities. It was acquired by Politico in December 2020.
Matthew “Matt” Rhoades is an American political and public affairs consultant. He is cited as a pioneer in messaging through less conventional outlets, such as the Drudge Report, and influencing the public image of candidates and organizations who oppose his clients. He was the campaign manager of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and a founder of America Rising. Rhoades is currently serving as Co-CEO at CGCN Group, a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm.
America Rising is a United States political action committee (PAC) that produces opposition research on Democratic Party members. It has been called the “unofficial research arm of the Republican Party” by the Wall Street Journal.
Hyperloop One, known as Virgin Hyperloop until November 2022, was an American transportation technology company that worked to commercialize high-speed travel utilizing the Hyperloop concept which was a variant of the vacuum train. The company was established on June 1, 2014, and reorganized and renamed on October 12, 2017.
The Internet Research Agency, also known as Glavset, and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino or Kremlinbots, was a Russian company which was engaged in online propaganda and influence operations on behalf of Russian business and political interests. It was linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Russian oligarch who was leader of the Wagner Group, and based in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Shervin Kordary Pishevar is an Iranian-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, super angel investor, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Hyperloop One and a co-founder and managing director of Sherpa Capital, a venture capital fund which has invested in companies including Airbnb, Uber, GoPuff, Cue Health, Slack, Robinhood, Munchery and Postmates.
The environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration represented a shift from the policy priorities and goals of the preceding Barack Obama administration. Where President Obama's environmental agenda prioritized the reduction of carbon emissions through the use of renewable energy with the goal of conserving the environment for future generations, the Trump administration policy was for the US to attain energy independence based on fossil fuel use and to rescind many environmental regulations. By the end of Trump's term, his administration had rolled back 98 environmental rules and regulations, leaving an additional 14 rollbacks still in progress. As of early 2021, the Biden administration was making a public accounting of regulatory decisions under the Trump administration that had been influenced by politics rather than science.
Andrew R. Wheeler is an American attorney who served as the 15th administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2019 to 2021. He served as the deputy administrator from April to July 2018, and served as the acting administrator from July 2018 to February 2019. He has been a senior advisor to Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin since March 2022. He previously worked in the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels, representing coal magnate Robert E. Murray and lobbying against the Obama administration's environmental regulations. Wheeler served as chief counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and to the chairman U.S. senator James Inhofe, prominent for his rejection of climate change. Wheeler is a critic of limits on greenhouse gas emissions and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
During his term as president of the United States (2017–2021), Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly politicized science by pressuring or overriding health and science agencies to change their reporting and recommendations so as to conform to his policies and public comments. This was particularly true with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also included suppressing research on climate change and weakening or eliminating environmental regulations.
Tim Miller is an American political consultant, political commentator, and writer. He was communications director for the Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign, and subsequently became a critic of President Donald Trump.
Kenneth Wagner is an American attorney who served as the Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment between 2019 and 2022.
Tim Miller is a partner at Definers Public Affairs, company that specializes in opposition research.
He and Matt Rhoades, his partner at Definers Public Affairs, also started America Rising. The two entities share several top executives, including Allan L. Blutstein, the lawyer who prepared the Freedom of Information Act requests aimed at the EPA employees.
Law and lobby firm Dentons has launched 3D Global Affairs as part of an alliance with strategic communications and political intelligence firm Definers Public Affairs, run by Matt Rhoades, the former campaign manager for Mitt Romney's presidential run in 2012 and former Republican National Committee research director Joe Pounder. 3D Global Affairs offers clients legal teams, lobbying and advocacy help, digital advertising, data analytics, opposition research and political intelligence, among other services.
Washington-based Definers Public Affairs will expand its operation to the U.K. later this year, and has appointed Andrew Goodfellow, a former director of research for the Conservative Party, as its vice president.
Recently at Definers, we opened our London affiliate, the U.K. Policy Group[...]
The Republican media monitoring firm Definers Public Affairs canceled its $120,000 contract with Environmental Protection Agency after a media backlash because of the company's links to GOP opposition research firm America Rising.
But an agency spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the EPA and the company had agreed to terminate the contract. In a separate conversation, the company's president, Joe Pounder, said the decision was a mutual one. "Definers offered EPA a better and more efficient news clipping service that would give EPA's employees real-time news at a lower cost than what previous administrations paid for more antiquated clipping services," Pounder said in an emailed statement. "But it's become clear this will become a distraction."
Pishevar filed a lawsuit last month against Definers Public Affairs, accusing the public relations firm of carrying out a "malicious smear campaign." Definers Public Affairs has denied any involvement in work related to Pishevar.