Saudi Arabia Continues Hiring Spree of Lobbyists, Retains Former Washington Post Repo

TheDemSocialist · Mar 21, 2016

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is adding more American lobbyists to its payroll by hiring BGR Government Affairs, a company founded by former Republican National Committee chair Haley Barbour, according to filings disclosed last week.The contract provides BGR with $500,000 annually to assist with U.S. media outreach for the Center for Studies and Media Affairs at the Saudi Royal Court, a government entity. The retainer includes the services of Jeffrey Birnbaum, a former Washington Post reporter who once covered the lobbying industry and now works as a lobbyist, as well as Ed Rogers, a former Reagan administration official who now lobbies and writes a column for the Post called “PostPartisan.”
The contract is the latest in a buildup over the last two years.
As The Intercept has previously reported, the Saudi government has brought on a dizzying array of American public relations experts and lobbyists to help spin reporters and influence policymakers. Since 2014, the regime has paid the Podesta Group, a lobbying firm run by a top fundraiser for the Hillary Clinton campaign; Norm Coleman, the former GOP senator who leads a major Republican Super PAC; H.P. Goldfield, a lobbyist with the law firm Hogan Lovells and vice chair of Madeleine Albright’s Albright Stonebridge Group; the public relations powerhouse Edelman; Targeted Victory, a consulting firm founded by former aides to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign; as well as two major law firms with a lengthy roster of former government officials on its payroll, DLA Piper and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
Saudi fees to Qorvis, its longstanding lobbying firm, have increaseddramatically. Last year, Qorvis billed the Saudi Embassy $7 million for its semi-annual filing, more than twice the amount charged the previous reporting cycle.

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Not only do they got an old reporter on their dime but also an old Republican National Committee chairs company. Nothing like lobbying for a country that is one of the worst human rights abusing countries in the nation!

Thrilla · Mar 21, 2016

Re: Saudi Arabia Continues Hiring Spree of Lobbyists, Retains Former Washington Post

it's not unusual.... most countries, even " bad ones" hire US lobbying firms for PR and relations here... China , Cuba, Saudi, etc, etc.

Sherman123 · Mar 21, 2016