Rick Davis (political consultant)

Last updated
Rick Davis
Rick Davis.jpg
Born1957 (age 66–67)
Education University of Alabama (BA)
Political party Republican
Signature
Sig rickdavis 250 2.jpg

Richard H. Davis Jr. (born 1957) is an American political consultant. He previously served as a partner and chief operating officer of Pegasus Capital Advisors L.P., a private equity firm specializing in sustainable development projects. He was a managing partner of the business development and public affairs consulting firm Davis-Manafort, located in Alexandria, Virginia. [1] He was the national campaign manager of John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign (from July 11, 2007, to November 4, 2008 [2] ). In that capacity, he oversaw the development and implementation of all campaign strategy and policy development. Davis also served McCain as national campaign manager for his 2000 presidential campaign (April 6, 1999 to March 9, 2000).

Contents

Career

Born to a Navy family, Davis studied at the University of Alabama. After learning the campaign business in Alabama and Mississippi, he became national field director for the College Republican National Committee during Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential bid. [1]

Davis served on President Ronald Reagan's White House staff from 1985 until March 1987 as a Principal Associate Director in the Office of Cabinet Affairs and Special Assistant to the President. As the associate director, his responsibilities included the coordination and development of US domestic policy in the White House. He oversaw all policy planning and decision-making for issues related to Environment and Energy.

During his tenure at the White House, Davis served as Principal Director of the Domestic Policy Council, in the Office of the Cabinet Secretary. As such he coordinated policies and projects, which included the President's Catastrophic Illness Bill, the Omnibus Health Bill of 1986, the Privatization of Conrail, the President's Space Commercialization Policy, the Rogers Commission, and the President's Competitiveness Package of 1987. Davis was also a member of a number of the interagency working groups including the Special Interagency Working Group on Space, the Health Policy Working Group and the Working Group on Environment.

In addition to his service in the White House, Davis held appointments in the Department of Health and Human Services, the Commerce Department, International Trade Administration, the Department of Interior and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 1990, Davis served as Consultant to the White House Conference on Science and Economic Research Related to Global Climate Change. He managed agenda development and background research for the George H. W. Bush Administration. Over 20 countries participated in the first ever international conference hosted by a President dealing directly with climate change.

He left the Reagan White House to work with longtime lobbyist Paul Manafort, founding the lobbying firm Davis, Manafort. Between 1998 and 2008, the firm was paid at least $2.8 million for lobbying Congress, [3] promoting pro-Russian policies with regard to Ukraine. [4]

Davis serves on the Council on American Politics, which brings leaders from the forefront of today's political and communications arena together to address issues facing the growth and enrichment of GW's Graduate School of Political Management. [5]

Domestic political experience

International political experience

In addition to political campaigns in the United States, Davis has extensive experience as an international political consultant in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Through his firm, Davis Manafort Inc., he has coordinated Presidential, Parliamentary, Gubernatorial and Referendum campaigns in over a dozen countries. His activities also include developing and implementing democracy building campaigns in foreign countries.

2000 Presidential campaign

Davis served as Manafort's deputy in orchestrating the 1996 Republican National Convention; both would later join Bob Dole's presidential team. While working for Dole, Davis told a reporter that he was "blown away" by McCain's unconventional politics. He joined McCain's first election bid in 1999, as campaign manager. [1] [6]

Homeownership Alliance

In 2000, Davis became the head of a group called the Homeownership Alliance, a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advocacy group. Its website said that the organization was dedicated to "exposing and defeating trends that would harm consumer access to the lowest-cost mortgage option." [7] He was head of the group for five years, being paid more than $30,000 per month. At the end of 2005, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decided that Homeownership Alliance had outlived its usefulness, and it was closed. [8]

Reform Institute

When McCain started the Reform Institute in 2001 to promote campaign finance reform, he involved Davis. [9] In 2002, Davis was paid $120,000 as an institute consultant; in 2003, he was paid $110,000 in fees. In 2004 and 2005, when he was president of the non-profit institute, his salary totaled $165,000. Tax forms said he worked five hours a week or "as needed." [1]

2008 presidential campaign

Role

In 2006, Davis helped plan McCain's next White House run, envisioning a corporate-style campaign modeled after President Bush's 2004 bid. [1] He began McCain's 2008 presidential election campaign as the chief executive. In July 2007, with the resignations of campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver, he took the position of Campaign Manager. [10] In July 2008, Steve Schmidt was brought in to take charge of day to day campaign activities, although Davis retained the title of campaign manager. [11] [12]

Payments

In 2006, [10] Davis and Manafort formed the company 3eDC, an Internet firm, [13] which the McCain campaign selected to oversee the campaign's Web site and online fund raising. The company was paid $340,000 before the contract's cancellation in April 2007; in mid-June, the campaign reported that it still owed the company $721,000. [10] [14] In all, the McCain campaign paid $971,860 to the company. [15] In June 2008, Campaign Money Watch, a 527 independent political group, filed a federal complaint that the company had improperly reduced the amount the campaign owed it by $107,000. [16] This complaint was found to have no cause and dismissed by the FEC in June 2009. [17]

In April 2008, after McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee, 3eDC was paid $20,000 by the Republican National Committee (RNC). In June 2008, the RNC and 3eDC were negotiating a larger contract that could be worth $2 million or $3 million. [14] FEC expenditure reports for the RNC and the McCain campaign show that this never materialized.

Controversies

Payments from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

On September 21, 2008, the New York Times reported that during the period from 2000 to 2002 (while Franklin Raines was the CEO of Fannie Mae), Davis received nearly $2 million from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for consulting services. According to Robert McCarson, a former spokesman for Fannie Mae, "the value that he [Davis] brought to the relationship was the closeness to Senator McCain and the possibility that Senator McCain was going to run for president again." McCarson also claims that "while he worked [at Fannie Mae] from 2000 to 2002, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together paid Mr. Davis's firm $35,000 a month.". [8]

Three days later, the New York Times reported that Davis' firm, Davis Manafort, had been paid $15,000 per month by Freddie Mac, for "consulting", from the end of 2005, when Davis stopped being head of the Homeownership Alliance, until August 2008. Payments stopped when Freddie Mac was taken over by the federal government. The Times said that "Davis took a leave from Davis Manafort for the presidential campaign, but as an equity holder continues to benefit from its income." [18]

The McCain campaign responded on September 24 with a statement that Davis had separated from Davis Manafort in 2006, and that "As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis – weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual – since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006." [19] On September 28, Newsweek reported that Davis had joined the campaign in January 2007, not in 2006, and that he specified that his $20,000-a-month salary be paid directly to Davis Manafort. [15]

The Times reported that "No one at Davis Manafort other than Mr. Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac’s behalf, the people familiar with the arrangement said." [18] Newsweek reported that during the period of the payments, Freddie Mac had no contact with Davis Manafort other than receiving monthly invoices from the firm and paying them. [20] The only thing that Freddie Mac officials could recall Davis doing for the company, the Times said, was speaking at an October 2006 forum attended by midlevel and senior executives who contributed to Freddie PAC, the company's political action committee. [18]

Involvement with Oleg Deripaska

In 2005, Davis and his business partner, political consultant Paul J. Manafort, pitched a plan to Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska under which they would influence news coverage, business dealings, and politics in the former Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States "to benefit President Vladimir Putin's government." They eventually signed a $10 million contract that started in 2006, and maintained a business relationship until at least 2009. [21]

In January 2006, Davis arranged a meeting between McCain, Senator Saxby Chambliss, Senator John Sununu, and Deripaska at a private apartment near Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum. Deripaska's suspected links to anti-democratic and organized crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his entry visa in 2006. [22]

Later that month, Deripaska wrote to Davis and Manafort to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting to meet Senators McCain, Chambliss and Sununu in such an intimate setting." [22]

Davis, McCain, and Deripaska dined together with others at a restaurant in Montenegro in August 2008. Davis had been assisting the ruling party with their successful independence campaign, which was bankrolled by Deripaska, the largest employer in Montenegro. McCain was visiting the country as part of an official Senate trip. After the dinner, a group including Davis and McCain traveled to a nearby yacht on the Adriatic Sea for a party celebrating McCain's 70th birthday. [22] [23]

DHL

In 2003, Davis and his lobbying firm were hired by German logistic company DHL and Airborne Express, to lobby Congress to approve a merger between the two firms. DHL Holdings was eventually successful in acquiring Airborne Express. [1] [24]

McCain and Davis have come under attack by the AFL-CIO for facilitating the deal, as DHL is now planning to quit using the Wilmington, Ohio freight airport as a hub. The airport and package-sorting facility in Wilmington was previously owned by Airborne Express. The move by DHL would cost an estimated 8,000 jobs at the Wilmington air park. [25] [26] At the time of the merger, the deal created an estimated 1,000 jobs for the Wilmington area. [26]

Fictional portrayals

Davis was portrayed by Peter MacNicol in the 2012 HBO film Game Change .

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fannie Mae</span> Government-backed financial services company

The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal, the corporation's purpose is to expand the secondary mortgage market by securitizing mortgage loans in the form of mortgage-backed securities (MBS), allowing lenders to reinvest their assets into more lending and in effect increasing the number of lenders in the mortgage market by reducing the reliance on locally based savings and loan associations. Its brother organization is the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), better known as Freddie Mac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Begala</span> American political consultant

Paul Edward Begala is an American political consultant and political commentator, best known as the former advisor to President Bill Clinton.

James A. Johnson was an American businessman, Democratic Party political figure, and chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae. He was the campaign chairman for Walter Mondale's unsuccessful 1984 presidential bid and chaired the vice presidential selection committee for the presidential campaign of John Kerry. He briefly led the vice-presidential selection process for the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Raines</span> American businessman and federal executive

Franklin Delano Raines, also known as Frank Raines, is an American business executive. He is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, who served as White House budget director under President Bill Clinton. His role leading Fannie Mae has come under scrutiny. He has been called one of the "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis" according to Time magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddie Mac</span> American government-sponsored enterprise

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia. The FHLMC was created in 1970 to expand the secondary market for mortgages in the US. Along with its sister organization, the Federal National Mortgage Association, Freddie Mac buys mortgages, pools them, and sells them as a mortgage-backed security (MBS) to private investors on the open market. This secondary mortgage market increases the supply of money available for mortgage lending and increases the money available for new home purchases. The name "Freddie Mac" is a variant of the FHLMC initialism of the company's full name that was adopted officially for ease of identification.

Thomas A. "Tad" Devine is an American political consultant. Devine was a senior adviser in Al Gore's 2000 and John Kerry's 2004 Presidential campaigns. He was also the chief strategist for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. He has worked on campaigns for president and Prime Minister in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as several U.S. Senate races. Devine is the president of Washington, D.C.-based media consulting firm Devine Mulvey Longabaugh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Poole (economist)</span> U.S. Federal Reserve Bank official

William Poole was the eleventh chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He took office on March 23, 1998, and began serving his full term on March 1, 2001. In 2007, he served as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, bringing his District's perspective to policy discussions in Washington. Poole stepped down from the Fed on March 31, 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles R. Black Jr.</span> American lobbyist and businessman

Charles R. Black Jr. is an American lobbyist and businessman, who is the Founding Chairman of Prime Policy Group, a public affairs firm which is now a subsidiary of Burson Cohn & Wolfe. Prime Policy Group was formed with the merger of Martin B. Gold's Gold & Liebengood with the Washington, DC-based lobbying firm he co-founded—BMSK—with Paul Manafort, Roger J. Stone, and Peter G. Kelly. In 2010, Black was inducted into the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Barr 2008 presidential campaign</span> American presidential campaign

The 2008 presidential campaign of Bob Barr, former Congressman of Georgia began on May 12, 2008. He announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's president after months of grassroots draft efforts. Barr was criticized by Libertarians who opposed his efforts in Congress, which included sponsorship of the Defense of Marriage Act and votes in favor of the USA PATRIOT Act and authorization of the War in Iraq, but he was supported by others who accepted his regret for those positions. Barr won the party's nomination after six rounds of balloting at the 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention. Former contender Wayne Allyn Root was named as his running mate. Reason magazine senior editor Radley Balko called Barr "the first serious candidate the LP has run since I've been eligible to vote."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Manafort</span> American political consultant (born 1949)

Paul John Manafort Jr. is an American former lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort served as an adviser to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bob Dole. In 1980, he co-founded the Washington, D.C.–based lobbying firm Black, Manafort & Stone, along with principals Charles R. Black Jr. and Roger Stone, joined by Peter G. Kelly in 1984. Manafort often lobbied on behalf of foreign leaders such as former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, former dictator of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, former dictator of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko, and Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi. Lobbying to serve the interests of foreign governments requires registration with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); on June 27, 2017, he retroactively registered as a foreign agent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac</span> Action by the U.S. Treasury to lessen the subprime mortgage crisis

In September 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it would take over the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Both government-sponsored enterprises, which finance home mortgages in the United States by issuing bonds, had become illiquid as the market for those bonds collapsed in the subprime mortgage crisis. The FHFA established conservatorships in which each enterprise's management works under the FHFA's direction to reduce losses and to develop a new operating structure that will allow a return to self-management.

William Evan Timmons is a retired lobbyist who worked for all Republican presidents since Richard Nixon and for Democratic President Jimmy Carter. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign asked Timmons to conduct a study in preparation for the presidential transition if McCain won the presidential election.

Timmons & Company is an American lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C. After William Timmons left the Ford White House in 1975, he founded this company along with Tom Korologos, who had reported to Timmons as Richard Nixon's White House legislative liaison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter J. Wallison</span> American attorney

Peter J. Wallison is an American lawyer and the Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He specializes in financial markets deregulation. He was White House Counsel during the Tower Commission's inquiry into the Iran Contra Affair. He was a dissenting member of the 2010 Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, frequent commentator in the mass media on the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and wrote Hidden in Plain Sight (2015) about the crisis and its legacy.

RightChange.com was an American conservative political group. It was devoted to electing conservative U.S. Republican Party candidates, thus the reference to the political right in its name. It spent millions supporting Republican candidates in the 2010 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milan Roćen</span> Montenegrin politician

Milan Roćen is a Montenegrin politician who was the first Minister of Foreign Affairs in Government of Montenegro following independence in 2006 and the last ambassador of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro to the Russian Federation. He is currently active as political advisor of the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović.

This is a timeline of events related to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Gates (political consultant)</span> American political consultant (born 1972)

Richard William Gates III is an American former political consultant and lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States for making false statements in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. He is a longtime business associate of Paul Manafort and served as deputy to Manafort when the latter was campaign manager of the Donald Trump presidential campaign in 2016, and after under Kellyanne Conway.

Konstantin Viktorovich Kilimnik is a Russian–Ukrainian political consultant. In the United States, he became a person of interest in multiple investigations regarding Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, particularly due to his ties with Paul Manafort, an American political consultant, who was a campaign chairman for Donald Trump.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mosk, Matthew (June 26, 2008). "Top McCain Adviser Has Found Success Mixing Money, Politics". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  2. ↑ Balz, Dan; Kornblut, Anne E.; Murray, Shailagh (July 11, 2007). "Top Aides Leave McCain Camp". The Washington Post .
  3. ↑ Lerer, Lisa (July 11, 2007). "Ex-reformer McCain depends on lobbyists". Politico .
  4. ↑ Shubert, Atika; Naik, Bharati; Dewan, Angela (March 22, 2017). "Paul Manafort faces fresh accusations in Ukraine after document find".
  5. ↑ "About | The Council on American Politics". GW's Graduate School of Political Management. Archived from the original on 20 December 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Frankel, Glenn (August 27, 2006). "The McCain Makeover". The Washington Post .
  7. ↑ Wolgemuth, Liz (September 19, 2008). "McCain's Campaign Manager Was for It Before He Was Against It". U.S. News & World Report . Archived from the original on February 18, 2009 – via Internet Archive.
  8. 1 2 Kirkpatrick, David D.; Duhigg, Charles; Harwood, John (September 21, 2008). "Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million". New York Times.
  9. ↑ Silverstein, Ken (May 2008). "My Lobby, Myself: How John McCain's hypocrisy is laundered as reform". Harper's Magazine . Archived from the original on July 15, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2008– via Internet Archive.
  10. 1 2 3 Calmes, Jackie (July 23, 2007). "McCain Manager Roils Campaign: Davis Returns After Ouster Amid Questions on Spending, Ties". Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ Balz, Dan; Shear, Michael D. (July 2, 2008). "McCain Puts New Strategist Atop Campaign". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  12. ↑ Martin, Jonathan (July 2, 2008). "Schmidt takes control of day-to-day operation". Politico.com . Retrieved September 7, 2008.
  13. ↑ Pound, Edward T. (May 20, 2007). "Troublesome Résumés". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009 – via Internet Archive.
  14. 1 2 Mosk, Matthew (June 6, 2008). "A Well-Connected Campaign Firm Resurfaces". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on January 11, 2019.
  15. 1 2 Isikoff, Michael; Bailey, Holly (October 6, 2008). "A Freddie Mac Money Trail Catches Up With McCain". Newsweek . Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2008– via Internet Archive.
  16. ↑ Jacoby, Mary (June 10, 2008). "McCain Faces Challenge Over Campaign Links to Lobbyists". The Wall Street Journal .
  17. ↑ "Weekly Digest Week of June 29 – July 2". Federal Election Commission . FEC Digest. July 2, 2009. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009 – via Internet Archive. John McCain 2008, Inc. and Joseph Schmuckler, in his official capacity as treasurer; Rick Davis; The Loeffler Group, LLP; Susan Nelson; 3eDC, LLC. The Commission found no reason to believe the respondents violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended
  18. 1 2 3 Calmes, Jackie; Kirkpatrick, David D.; Bennett, Kitty (September 23, 2008). "McCain Aide's Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac". New York Times.
  19. ↑ Goldfarb, Michael (September 24, 2008). "Statement by McCain Campaign: A Partisan Paper of Record". www.johnmccain.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved September 24, 2008.
  20. ↑ Isikoff, Michael (September 23, 2008). "Freddie's Friend: Freddie Mac continued checks to McCain campaign chief's firm". Newsweek.
  21. ↑ Horwitz, Jeff; Day, Chad; Gillum, Jack; Tucker, Eric; Pace, Julie; Bridis, Ted; Braun, Stephen; Bykowicz, Julie; Mathur, Monika; Vasilyeva, Nataliya; Pearson, Jake (March 22, 2017). "AP Exclusive: Before Trump job, Manafort worked to aid Putin". Associated Press . Retrieved April 6, 2018. We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success.
  22. 1 2 3 Birnbaum, Jeffrey H.; Solomon, John; Baker, Peter (January 25, 2008). "Aide Helped Controversial Russian Meet McCain". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  23. ↑ Shuster, Simon (September 20, 2018). "How Putin's Oligarchs Got Inside the Trump Team". TIME . Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  24. ↑ Drogin, Bob (August 8, 2008). "DHL deal gone sour haunts McCain in Ohio". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008– via Internet Archive.
  25. ↑ "200 jam legislative DHL meeting". cleveland.com. Associated Press. August 20, 2008.
  26. 1 2 Koff, Stephen (August 6, 2008). "John McCain had role in original Wilmington DHL deal". cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on August 31, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008– via Internet Archive.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.