Rhoades Am Rising

DCI A vice president with DCI Group, May 2007-Feb. 2010.

singer vulture

see am rising oppo

Education

In 1993 Rhoades graduated from Saratoga Springs High School. Rhoades received his B.A. at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1997 and his M.A. from the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University in 1999.^[6]

Career

After graduating from Syracuse University in 1997, Rhoades joined the Republican National Committee (RNC).^[7] In the 2000 presidential election, he worked as a research analyst for the Republican National Committee assisting in theFlorida recount.^[8] [BARBARA COMSTOCK? JOE POUNDER?]After the victory of George W. Bush, Rhoades worked for the White House as an associate director for presidential personnel[PROTO-MCENTEE? GINNI HERITAGE MEMO LIST?].^[7] In the2004 presidential election, Rhoades was director of opposition research for the campaign to re-elect President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. [SWIFT BOAT ~ KERRY?] In the 2008 presidential bid of Mitt Romney, Rhoades was director of communications.^[8]

From 2007 to 2010 Rhoades was a vice president of the public affairs company DCI Group in Washington, D.C.In 2010, he left the company and served as the head of Romney's political action committee.^[9]

Romney campaign 2012

As research director during the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign Rhoades became known for his opposition research.^[10] He was hired by Romney's 2008 campaign manager, Beth Myers,^[7] and served as the campaign manager for Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign for presidency.^[11] He deliberately kept a low profile, rarely traveled with Romney and tried to not appear on TV.^[10] According to The Wall Street Journal he "remains a bit of a mystery even to those who work with him daily".^[11] One of Rhoades early strategies regarding the state's caucuses was to leave out the Iowa straw poll in order to save resources. Rhodes worked with many advisers involved in the previous 2008 bid. In a heated GOP primary atmosphere Rhoades managed to secure the Republican nomination for Romney.^[11]

America Rising

The group, America Rising LLC, was launched in 2013 by Rhoades,^[12] former RNC spokesman Tim Miller and former RNC research director Joe Pounder.^[13] It was established as the Republican counterpart to the Democratic opposition research group, American Bridge 21st Century.^[14] The group is not only focused on opposition research but also engages in rapid response communications^[15] and sending video trackers.^[12] In 2014, America Rising helped derail Iowa Democratic candidate Bruce Braley's Senate bid by releasing a clip of the Democrat caught disparaging Iowa farmers and Senator Chuck Grassley.^[16] [VIDEO ^TRACKER?]

Definers Public Affairs

Definers Public Affairs is a private sector communications consulting firm^[17] which was launched by Rhoades and former RNC research director Joe Pounder^[18][19] in January 2015. After realizing that the corporate sphere faced similar challenges as Rhoades and Pounder had been confronted with at America Rinsing, the business idea for Definers was formed.^[20]

Defending Digital Democracy

In 2017, Robby Mook, Clinton's 2016 campaign manager,^[21] Eric Rosenbach, former defense secretary Ash Carter's chief of staff,^[22] and Rhoades launched the Defending Digital Democracy Project at Harvard University's**Belfer Center** for Science and International Affairs.^[23] The initiative looks at the problem of political organizations and election infrastructure being targeted by hackers. The initiative's objective, to find solutions for "election-related cybersecurity threats", is being supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.^[24] Rhoades and Mook launched this project in large part due to the hacking attacks both experienced during their times as campaign managers in 2012 and 2016, respectively.^[25]

Defending Digital Campaigns Project

In October 2019, Rhoades and Mook launchedDefending Digital Campaigns (DDC), a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization with the main focus on providing cybersecurity services to congressional and presidential candidates. DDC has received special approval from the Federal Election Commission to work directly with political campaigns while maintaining its non-profit status. Google, Microsoft, Cloudflare, and other tech companies have partnered with DDC for the 2020 election cycle.^[26][27][28]

CGCN Group

In September, 2019, Rhoades joined CGCN Group,^[5] an all-Republican issue advocacy and public affairs firm in Washington, D.C. with ties to GOP establishment and the party's conservative wing.^[29][30] He is currently serving as co-chief executive, along withGOP lobbyist Sam Geduldig.^[5]

Personal life

In June 2012 Rhoades married GOP communications strategist Jamie Loftus.^[31]

References

^ Jim Rutenberg (October 22, 2007). "Clinton Finds Way to Play Along With Drudge". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
^ Jason Horowitz (November 20, 2011). "Matt Rhoades, Romney campaign's under-the-radar chief". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
^ Weiner, Rachel (2013-03-21). "America Rising: Mitt Romney staffer starting opposition research group". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ Politico: Definers tries to reboot after Facebook oppo research controversy
^ :{Jump up to::(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-RC_5-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-RC_5-2) Roll Call (Congress): K Street’s CGCN Group picks up big names from Definers
^ "1993 Saratoga Springs High School graduate is Mitt Romney's campaign manager". Retrieved 2018-03-07.
^ :{Jump up to::(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-:1_7-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-:1_7-2) Horowitz, Jason (2011-11-20). "Matt Rhoades, Romney campaign's under-the-radar chief". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
^ :{Jump up to::(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-WPpolitics_8-1) "Matt Rhoades: Executive Director at Free & Strong America PAC". The Washington Post. July 17, 2012. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
^ "Top Romney aide to head political organization". Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ :{Jump up to::(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-:2_10-1) "Political operatives". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ :{Jump up to::(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-:3_11-1) ^c(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-:3_11-2) Murray, Sara (2012-05-25). "Team Romney's Relentless Driver". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ :{Jump up to::(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Rhoades#cite_ref-:4_12-1) "Romney campaign chief to lead new GOP research group". Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ Weiner, Rachel (2013-03-21). "America Rising: Mitt Romney staffer starting opposition research group". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ Parker, Ashley; Corasaniti, Nick (2015-05-16). "The Right Baits the Left to Turn Against Hillary Clinton". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ Blumenthal, Paul (2013-03-21). "America Rising, GOP Research Super PAC, Launches With Romney Campaign Manager At Helm". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ "America Rising comes into the spotlight". Washington Examiner. 2014-04-11. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ "Definers Public Affairs". Definers Public Affairs. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ Lipton, Eric; Friedman, Lisa (December 15, 2017). "Executive at Consultancy Hired by E.P.A. Scrutinized Agency Employees Critical of Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
^ Leber, Rebecca; Kroll, Andy; Choma, Russ (December 15, 2017). "The EPA Hired a Major Republican Opposition Research Firm to Track Press Activity". Mother Jones. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
^ "Definers Public Affairs". Definers Public Affairs. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
^ Nakashima, Ellen (2017-07-18). "Former Clinton and Romney campaign chiefs join forces to fight election hacking". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
^ "Eric Rosenbach | Harvard Kennedy School". www.hks.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
^ "Belfer Center Launches "Defending Digital Democracy" Project To Fight Cyber Attacks and Protect Integrity of Elections | Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs". www.belfercenter.org. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
^ Stafford, Dylan. "Clinton, Romney campaign chiefs team up". CNN. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
^ "Top state officials join bipartisan fight against election hacking". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
^ Bloomberg: Campaign Managers for Clinton, Romney Provide Help for Hacks
^ AP News: US firm offers free cybersecurity help to federal campaigns
^ The Wall Street Journal: Tech Companies Volunteer to Beef Up Presidential Campaigns’ Cybersecurity
^ The Intercept: GOP LOBBY SHOP COURTS BLACK AND HISPANIC DEMOCRATS IN VACUUM LEFT BY LIBERAL ESTABLISHMENT
^ Politico: K Street poised for big business in GOP-run Washington
^ "Political operatives". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-04-10.

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https://climateinvestigations.org/dci_group_subpoena_exxon_climate_fraud/

no lnx docs etc

DCI Group Subpoenaed on Exxon Climate Denial Fraud Case

Kert Davies onApril 20, 2016

Now this is getting interesting…

PRWatch just revealed that DCI Group was subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands as part of the ExxonMobil fraud investigation.

This Climate Investigations post contains some things we know about Exxon and DCI Group and its work on climate change.

First, we know there was a contract. DCI Group was retained by ExxonMobil for many years for probably a range of services.

On OpenSecrets we find records of ExxonMobil retaining DCI Group for years, for example: 2005 $140,000 2006 $160,000

We also know ExxonMobil funded some of DCI’s specific work that was directly related to climate change (see Tech Central Station below). And we know DCI was involved in other efforts around the climate change policy and science ‘debate’.We don’t know how much of this was work that was under the ExxonMobil contract.

So what might turn up from the Virgin Islands subpoena? Answer, lots.

In an expose published several years ago over at PolluterWatch, we dug into Andrea Saul, then Senator McCain’s press secretary who used to work for DCI Group on the climate counter attack account. Lots of details on DCI Group are to be found in that blog.

Meanwhile, below are a few examples of climate denial episodes starring DCI Group…

Send us more if you have them. Any documents too!

The Penguin Army video

Screen_Shot_2016-04-20_at_4.58.06_PM.pngIn May of 2006,a YouTube video emerged, made to look like a spontaneous “viral” video, poking fun at Al Gore and his film “An Inconvenient Truth”.

The video was revealed to be the work of DCI Group by the Wall Street Journal, who sleuthed out that the video was produced on a computer at DCI Group and set up to look like it was made by a dude in his basement.

ABC News even covered the caper on Good Morning America

Wikipedia has a well sorted page on the Penguin Army caper with all the deets.

Was this done for Exxon? Maybe someday we will know.

Tech Central Station

Nicholas Confessore wrote in December 2003 Washington Monthly about a clever new paid journalism vehicle called Tech Central Station (TCS). Tech Central Station became a hub for climate deniers including Willie Soon, Patrick Michaels, Steve Milloy, Chris Horner, Marlo Lewis, Kenneth Green, Richard Lindzen, Sallie Baliunas, David Legates, Tim Ball, Bob Carter.

Screen_Shot_2016-04-20_at_4.39.38_PM.png

Coincidentally, we have an ExxonMobil Foundation grant in the records for 2003, the year TCS was launched. The grant is to the Tech Central Science Foundation for $95,000 for “Climate Change Support”. It will be very interesting to see the proposal, the contract and the report back on deliverables for this grant.

Here is an ExxonSecrets map of some of the people associated with TCS:

Screen_Shot_2016-04-20_at_4.24.08_PM.png

And here is a snapshot of the TCS firehose of counterattacks on climate policy and climate science.

See this article by Soon, Baliunas, Legates and Taylor October 2005, for example. Much more of this is available.

Hurricane Katrina counter science attack

In June 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina, Tech Central Station produced and distributed a Video News Release (VNR) that called into question the science linking hurricanes with climate change. Was this work on the ExxonMobil contract? Again, maybe now we will find out.

The VNR itself, along with a known newscast that used the piece, preserved by the Center for Investigative Reporting:

Dr. William Gray, the hurricane scientist and climate change denier in the video, passed away just last weekend at the age of 86.

VNRs are pre-produced news segments, contracted generally by corporations, edited and sent out to news stations in small markets in hopes of filling airtime within the actual newscast. And they often do. This one was aired on at least one station.

Materials sent to TV stations with the video listed “TCS Daily Science Roundtable” as the producer.

The press release for the VNR video said:

“Some scientists say it’s part of a naturally occurring cycle, while others have made the claim global warming is to blame. Two of the foremost weather and ocean scientists believe that this is all part of the cycle of nature.

The voiceover in the video included a similar message:

“There’s a lot of debate as to what’s been causing all of these hurricanes. Some scientists say it’s part of a naturally occurring cycle, while others have made the claim global warming is to blame.

“Dr. William Gray and Dr. James O’Brien, two of the nation’s top weather and oceans scientists, point to scientific data for the answer […].

“Gray and many of his colleagues believe it’s not global warming that’s creating these massive hurricanes, but the cycle of nature itself.”

DCI Coordinates Clean Air Act Counterattack Meeting for Exxon

More clues on DCI’s role as a coordinator for Exxon anti-regulatory campaigns, come from a useful document that was leaked to me by mail at Greenpeace. The three page document is the invitation on Heartland Institute letterhead includes the agenda and invitation list for a June 2006 meeting convened at the DCI Group Washington DC offices.

The meeting is titled “Strategic Discussion Regarding the Clean Air Act”…in other words, how to slow, stop or derail the implementation of the Clean Air Act’s health and environmental protection provisions.

The invitation was sent by Joe Bast and Sandy Liddy Bourne, the President and VP of the Heartland Institute.

The stated agenda is:

“to discuss public policy challenges related to the Clean Air Act. We are gathering approximately 50 experts from the free-market think tanks and industry to assist us in developing an action plan to address legislative concerns likely to arise this fall and next spring”

The letter details the threat of federal and state efforts to advance “National Ambient Air Quality Standards, greenhouse gas regulatory programs and new boutique formulas for biofuels”

“Expected outputs include ideas for white papers, identifying opportunities for testimony, outlining educational forums for elected officials and determining a communication strategy for media.”

The Invitation List includes a who’s who of climate deniers and many organizations who were being funded by Exxon at the time and in years prior to 2006.

Screen_Shot_2016-04-20_at_9.55.07_PM.pngExxonMobil funding in 2006:

Heartland Institute $115,000

National Black Chamber of Commerce $50,000

National Taxpayers Union $70,000

CEI $0

George Marshall Institute $85,000

Frontiers of Freedom $180,000

Manhattan Institute $30,000

American Enterprise Institute $240,000

ALEC $86,000

Science and Env. Policy Project $0

Cato Institute $20,000

ACCF $15,000

Exxon staffFour sessions on the agenda were to be presented by ExxonMobil staff:

Walt Buchholtz a key operative in Exxon’s DC offices

Don Clarke

Lauren Kerr

Scott Nauman

Robert Nolan

Heartland Institute staff:

Joe Bast

James Taylor

Sandy Liddy Bourne

Jay Lehr

DCI Staff

Diane Miller “DCI Group, Tech Central Station”

Justin Peterson, “DCI Group Tech Central Station”

“plus DCI field directors and staff”

Competitive Enterprise Institute staff (CEI had been dropped by ExxonMobil by this point after receiving over $2 Million in funding from 1997-2005):

Myron Ebell

Chris Horner

Marlo Lewis

Steve Milloy

Fred Smith

Additional people of interest

Harry Alford, NBCC

Daniel Simmons, ALEC

Margo Thorning, ACCF

George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom

Fred Singer, SEPP

David Montgomery, CRA International

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America Rising

America Rising and Affiliated Entities

America Rising LLC: The original for-profit opposition research company.
America Rising PAC: The political action committee.
America Rising Squared (aka, America Rising Advanced Research; aka, AR2 or AR2): The nonprofit 501(c)4.
Core News: A media platform published by America Rising Squared.
Definers Public Affairs: A public affairs agency launched by America Rising founders.

Background on America Rising

America Rising LLC andAmerica Rising PAC were founded in Spring of 2013, in response to perceived Democratic superiority in the field of opposition research. [1] The related but distinct corporate entities are both commonly referred to as America Rising, and the entities are often confused. Most popular mentions in the media and public refer to the activities of the PAC. As CNN described when the enterprises first launched: [2]

As a super PAC, [America Rising] will focus on digital campaigns and placing negative stories about Democrats in the news media. It does not plan to run television ads.

A separate wing of the group will incorporate as a limited liability company (LLC), which can coordinate directly with campaigns and political committees by sharing video and resources. [To avoid making illegal in-kind corporate contributions, the LLC needs to charge for access to the videos and resources.]

The America Rising joint enterprise was founded as an opposition research shop described by the Wall Street Journal as “the unofficial research arm of the Republican Party.” [3] America Rising PAC describes itself as “an organization on the right for the sole purpose of exposing the truth about Democrats through video tracking, research, and communications,” and spends its time attacking democrats, progressives and environmentalists. [4]

America Rising co-founder Matt Rhoades previously worked for DCI Group and was Mitt Romney's campaign manager for the Republican nominee's failed 2012 presidential bid. America Rising's other co-founder Joe Pounder is a long-time Republican strategist and opposition researcher, and a former research director at the Republican National Committee. Pounder resigned from America Rising to work on Marco Rubio's campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. After Rubio suspended his campaign, Pounder returned to the America Rising family as president of Definers Public Affairs. (More on Definers below.)

In early 2014, America Rising PAC's website AmericaRisingPAC.org relaunched as a “news site,” in order to easily publish and spread attack videos and blog posts about opposition targets. [5]

Hiding Donors and Running Attack Ads: The Various Corporate Entities of America Rising

3-4 SHUFFLE]

The various entities under the America Rising umbrella give the enterprise a flexible structure that can serve different purposes. The PAC can purchase research from the LLC and can sell or disseminate it to other organizations. The 501(c)4 nonprofit, AR2, doesn't have to declare its donors. (More on AR2 below.) All told, America Rising had a budget of $8 million for the 2014 elections and is seeking tonearly double this. [6]

The organization reportedly has more than 100 staff, including a large number of “trackers”who follow the group’s targets around the country and record their actions. Presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is the group's biggest target, but America Rising also undertakes a wide range of opposition research on Democrats and progressives, including prominent environmentalists, before disseminating it to other right-wing organizations and on social media.

America Rising is located in the same building as Definers, a public affairs agency “launched by” America Rising, which hosts many former AR staff and which undertakes similar research work for corporate clients, and which has received money from America Rising. [7], [8]

America Rising Advanced Research (aka, America Rising Squared, aka AR2)

America Rising Advanced Research (aka, America Rising Squared, aka, AR2), the nonprofit 501(c)4 arm of the family, was launched publicly in July 2015, although it appears in FEC filings as early as February 2014. [9]

As a nonprofit 501(c)4, AR2 doesn't have to disclose its donors, like the parent PAC does. The nonprofit is limited from running political attack ads, but can publish videos and news and advertise about issues themselves. The Washington Examiner explains: [10]

The issues-based 501(c)4 won't be able to run ads directly attacking political foes the way America Rising does. But the group is permitted to spend roughly half of what it raises on political persuasion, and can run critical spots urging someone like Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to take positions on particular issues.

America Rising Advanced Research has launched an aggressive social media campaign against leading figures in the US environmental movement, including creating the website Core News which features attacks on prominent climate policy advocates including Bill McKibben, Tom Steyer and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Brian Rogers, the executive director of America Rising Advanced Research, was briefly the research director for Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, where he worked on a campaign “to pass comprehensive energy and climate change legislation.” Rogers was also a longtime senior adviser to Republican Senator John McCain and held key roles in McCain's run for the US presidency in 2008. [11]

Definers, the corporation-serving, for-profit venture of America Rising

In 2015, America Rising founders Matt Rhoades and Joe Ponder launched Definers Public Affairs as a communications agency for corporate clients. Pounder describes: [12]

The formation of Definers actually began with the founding of America Rising LLC by Matt Rhoades and myself in 2013. I’ve known Rhoades since 2004 when I was his intern at Bush-Cheney ’04. We’ve worked together on and off for the next decade. After 2012 when he was the campaign manager for Mitt Romney and I was the research director at the Republican National Committee, we decided to start America Rising to focus on opposition research, rapid response communications, and video tracking for political clients.

As we built America Rising into a 60-person operation with employees across the country, we were actually turning away corporate clients so we could focus exclusively on our political mission. In 2015, we changed that and formed Definers.

Today, Definers Public Affairs shares the politically-linked leadership of America Rising and several staff members with other AR entities. For example, America Rising Advanced Research executive director Brian Rogers is also a Senior Vice President at Definers. Definers Public Affairs is also located in the same Arlington, Virginia office building as America Rising LLC. [13]

According to the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org database, two groups reported payments to Definers during the 2016 election cycle: Marco Rubio for President made five payments totalling $52,200; America Rising PAC made 6 payments totaling $42,500. The first of these payments was on 06-08-2015. [8]

In June, 2016, Definers :{expanded its reach to:(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}::{ Silicone Valley:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}: in Oakland, working with former Jeb Bush communications director Tim Miller. [36]

“Silicon Valley is a natural target for their so-called 'oppo' efforts,” Recode reported. In in interview, Miller told Recode, that the “spotlight that is on their industry,” meaning more investment is needed to ensure “you have positive content pushed out about your company and negative content that’s being pushed out about your competitor, or regulator, or activist groups or activist investors, that are challenging you.” [36]

“There might be some companies that are more willing to engage in that,” Miller said, but “increasingly, as [Silicon Valley] companies mature, I think they may recognize the need to do that.” [36]

In December, 2017, it was revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency had contracted Definers to provide “news analysis and brief service” to the EPA. According to *Mother Jones*, the $120,000 contract include use of the Definers War Room console that helps clients track media coverage and the output of opponents.:{ :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}:[39:{]}:

*The Washington Post* reportedthat the contract was cancelled almost immediately ,after criticism from Capitol Hill and with questions surrounding political work by Definers. While the EPA defended the contract, America Rising president Joe Pounder separately said the decision was mutual and that the firm would not be offering services to government agencies. [41]

In November 2017, it was :{announced that Definers had joined law firm :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}::{Denton’:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}::{s:(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}: to launch a global research firm called 3D Global Affairs.

Among the services offered at 3D Global Affairs would be “governmental relations and lobbying support to shape the environment” and “communications and rapid response professionals to direct the narrative.” [40]

America Rising Tactics

America Rising and AR2 send “trackers” – staff members with video cameras tasked with recording their targets – to follow top tier Democratic candidates on the campaign trails and key environmentalists and other opposition research targets. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Activism Boot Camp, America Rising hosted a seminar titled “We’re Watching You: How to Video Track 24/7.” [14]

America Rising LLC runs a website called AmericaRisingImages.com, from which they sell photos that have been taken at the hundreds of campaign events attended by the trackers. America Rising LLC describes: [15]

We have no control over the lighting at the events we film, often have less than cooperative subjects, and make no claim to being professional photographers. We offer them to you as a cost-competitive alternative to meet your digital and direct mail needs.

The Ameria Rising Advanced Research (AR2) runs a website called Core News, which features attacks onprominent environmentalistsincluding Tom Steyer, Bill McKibben and Leonardo DiCaprio, and was described by Buzzfeed as a “secretly funded propaganda site … [that] is publishing stories attacking environmentalists, scientists, and politicians who warn about climate change.” Stories range from “aggressively opinionated, to sort-of true, to demonstrably false,” according to Buzzfeed. [16]

America Rising has attacked Democrats who opposed the Keystone XL pipeline,and has a particular focus on billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer, hosting articles titled “Steyer Watch” and criticizing Steyer for spending more than $65 million on his super PAC races in the 2014 election. [17]

Who Funds America Rising?

Donations to America Rising Advanced Research (aka, America Rising Squared) are not declared, as it is incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)4.

While America Rising LLC is a business that can sell its services with no disclosures necessary,OpenSecrets.org reported the Republican National Committee spent at least $183,900 on America Rising in the 2016 election cycle, with an additional $45,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee.[32]

OpenSecrets also broke down known individual payments to the America Rising PAC for the 2016 election cycle: [23]

Donor	Total
Paul Singer	$250,000
Miguel Fernandez	$100,000
Ronald Weiser	$50,000
End Spending Action Fund	$50,000
Michael Vlock	$50,000
Keller Investment Properties	$25,000
Harol Brierley	$25,000
JJ Matthews	$25,000
LE Simmons	$25,000
CBI Ventures LLC	$15,000
Roger Enrico	$15,000
Allen & Kelli Questrom	$15,000
Brian France	$15,000
Edward Schutter	$10,000
Allen & KelliQuestrom	$10,000
Gregory Ciongoli	$10,000
Scott Sperling	$10,000
SJZ, LLC	$10,000
Keller Investment Properties	$10,000
Keller Investment Properties	$10,000
William Kunkler	$10,000
Paul Dickson	$5,472
Jerry Langer	$5,000
Andrew Puzder	$5,000
Andrew Puzder	$5,000
Jonathan Bullen	$5,000
Louis Chiavacci	$5,000
James Tozer	$5,000
Walter Schlaepfer	$5,000
Scott Keller	$3,442
LE Simmons	$2,102
LE Simmons	$2,101
Peter Huizenga	$2,000
Robert Beyer	$1,000
Michaelon Wright	$1,000
EPAY Business Solutions	$854
Robert Davis	$500
Allan Blutstein	$250

Network Map of the America Rising Family

view this map on LittleSis

Actions

June 2017

America Rising (AR Squared) wrotea white paperthat was **picked up by** **The Daily Caller**as evidence that “the materials required to build electric vehiclesand solar panels are produced under some of the most worst environmental and labor conditions on Earth.” [34]

“The inconvenient truth is that these ‘clean’ sources of energy are produced under the worst of labor and environmental rights violations,” the report, titled “The Human & Environmental Costs of 'Clean Energy'“ claims.[35]

April 2017

America Rising PAC said that it would target Sen. Elizabeth Warren with a strategy that includes opposition research, video tracking, Freedom of Information Act and public records requests, and communications to “make Warren’s life difficult” during her 2018 Senate reelection campaign. This was according to a memo obtained by Politico outlining the group's efforts. [37]

“We view book launch as the soft launch of her presidential campaign. We’ll do the same to her as we did with Hillary Clinton in 2014,” said America Rising executive director Colin Reed. [37]

The memo said that America Rising's goal was to “to damage her 2020 prospects.” While the emphasis was on Warren, others were also targeted by America Rising's efforts and include Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). [37]

*Politico* reported in September 2017that America Rising was coordinating with the pro-Trump America First Policies,the political nonprofit behind the America First Action super PAC. [38]

May 2016

In May 2016,America Rising PAC released an app that “arms users attending political events with adversarial questions to ask Democratic candidates.” Called “Grill,” the app also allows users to record video,which is uploaded to a private channel that can be accessed by America Rising employees, who evaluate and screen the footage for promotion. The app also lists candidate events for users based on geographical location. [21]

“Never before have attendees of political events had at their fingertips a set of pointed, incisive questions guaranteed to make news,” America Rising PAC communications director Jeff Bechdel told BuzzFeed News. [22]

March 2016

America Rising Advanced Research has announced that the group will conduct in-depth research on potential Supreme Court nominees. “Rogers said the group was using around 10 researchers to search the Internet, law libraries around the country and other sources to probe the backgrounds of several possible selections to replace the late Antonin Scalia,” the Associated Press reported. A later report by the Associated Press stated the RNC contracted with AR2 to help with research on a potential Supreme Court nominee. [19], [20]

February 2016

America Rising Squared on Democratic presidential candidatesBernie Sanders and Hillary Clintonwhich showed footage of Sanders agreeing with a statement that the greatest threat to national security is climate change while showing images of terrorists side-by-side with the melting Arctic.[18]

[pix]

no lnx:

August 2015

AR2 launched Missouri Rising, a regional affiliate to “[promote] conservative issues and [shape] the debate in Missouri.”

Staff of America Rising's Entities

Note that America Rising LLC and America Rising PAC share many staff members. Staff are listed below by how staffers describe themselves on LinkedIn, or how they have been described in news articles.

Matt Rhoades, Co-founder, America Rising LLC, America Rising PAC, America Rising Advanced Research, Definers Public Affairs

Matt Rhoades

“He founded America Rising in response to a recommendation contained in an autopsy of Romney’s failed presidential run that was ordered by the Republican National Committee. The group’s original goal was to compete with American Bridge, the Democratic opposition research group, but its focus under Mr. Rhoades has been to subject Mrs. Clinton to an ordeal similar to Mr. Romney’s.” [New York Times] - [24]

Joe Pounder, Co-founder, America Rising LLC, America Rising PAC, America Rising Advanced Research; Co-founder and President, Definers Public Affairs

Joe Pounder

One Republican who worked closely with Pounder credits him with revolutionizing the way the party does opposition research, ushering in an age where opposition research and rapid response are living, breathing things that move with the news cycle and social media. More importantly, a number of Republicans said, Pounder is more than a one-trick pony. He is a master of opposition research, but he also understands how best to put that information to use in other parts of a campaign, making sure that research and communications teams work in sync with each other. [National Review] - [25]

America Rising LLC

Raj Shah, Co-founder, Director, and Deputy Communications Director

Shah is now Research Director, GOP

Raj Shah most recently served as Co-Founding Partner and Managing Director of America Rising LLC, where he developed the organization’s Hillary Clinton opposition research book. He previously served as a Deputy Research Director at the RNCduring the 2012 presidential election cycle. A graduate of Cornell, he has also worked on Senate and presidential campaigns and served in the Office of Presidential Personnel during the administration of President George W. Bush. [GOP.com]

Byron Koay, Managing Director, Co-founder

Allan Blutstein, Vice President of Freedom of Information Act Operations

Allan Blutstein has joined the firm as vice president ofFreedom of Information Actoperations, placing him in charge of public records requests. Blutstein, who joined the firm after working at the government accountability firm Cause of Action, is a lawyer and public records expert. He previously worked as a principal legal adviser to the FOIA staff at the Treasury Department's Office of Financial Stability, as well as in the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy. [Roll Call] - [26]

Alexandra Angel, Vice President

Angel has one of the toughest jobs on the right: Finding new oppo research on Hillary Clinton, one of the most known-commodity candidates in U.S. history. Leading a team of eight analysts, Angel directs day-to-day research and rapid response operations focused specifically on the 2016 presidential race. Before going to America Rising, Angel spent two years as an account executive at DCI Group, where she tracked federal legislation. She’s also done a couple stints at the RNC and worked as deputy operations director on Steve Poizner’s 2010 gubernatorial run in California. She’s also put her research and analytical skills to use as an instructor for the Close Up Foundation, a group that promotes civic participation. [Campaigns and Elections] - [27]

Dan Knight, Vice President of House Research

Dan Knight, who was a senior research analyst in the 2014 cycle, will now serve as vice president of House research for the 2016 cycle. [Roll Call]

Daniel Knight is Vice President of House Research at America Rising LLC, where he manages a team of analysts engaged in research and rapid response on Democratic House candidates in the 2016 election. Prior to his work at America Rising, which he joined in 2014 as a senior research analyst, Dan worked at the National Republican Congressional Committee and at a DC-area conservative non-profit. [Red Alert Politics]

Aaron Baer, Vice President of Tracking and Video

Cooper Reves, Digital Director

Francis Brennan, Deputy War Room Director

“We’re the eyes and ears,” said Francis Brennan, 25, war room director at the conservative political action committee America Rising. “We try to just pump out as many facts as we can. Everything we do is fact-based. It’s not scrutinized or opinion-based. It’s all facts. We have to prove what we are saying. We can’t just say things.” [McClatchy] - [6]

Matt Vollenweider, Deputy Team Leader

Kyle Sisenstein, Deputy Senate Team Leader

Domenick Cocchiara, Research Analyst

Rocco Cavalluzzi, Research Analyst

Jillian Davidson, Research Analyst

Julia Hoy, Senate Research Analyst

Carter Reese, Analyst

Michael Berg, Research Analyst

Ari Schaffer, Presidential Research Analyst

Sam Montgomery, Office Manager

Scott Sloofman, Tracker

Ryan Powers, Research Analyst

Ryan Powers

LinkedIn, Twitter

Charles Lehman, Research Analyst

Charles Lehman

LinkedIn, Google+

Garrett Fulce, Director of Full-Time Tracking

Garrett Fulce

Travis Cady

Kevin Brinegar, Tracker/Field Analyst

Kevin Brinegar

Chris Malloy, Field Research Analyst / Tracker

Chris Malloy

Tim Wigginton, Tracker/Field Researcher

Tim Wigginton

Robert Rose, Tracker/Field Research Analyst

Robert Rose

LinkedIn, Twitter

Patrick Peterson, Tracker/Field Research Analyst

Patrick Peterson

Grace Nowak, Field Research Analyst

Grace Nowak

Nicholas Goeden, Tracker/Field Researcher

Nicholas Goeden

Nick Bolger, War Room Analyst

Nick Bolger

America Rising PAC Staff

Colin Reed, Executive Director

Colin Reed

Twitter

“Reed brings his recent experience as Sen. Scott Brown’s 2014 campaign manager… Previously, Reed served as deputy communications director for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, communications director for Scott Brown’s 2012 Senate race, and press secretary in Brown’s Senate office. Reed also has experience at the NRSC, and on the 2008 presidential campaigns of Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain.” [America Rising PAC] - [28]

Jeff Bechdel, Communications Director

Jeff Bechdel

LinkedIn, Twitter

Amelia Chassé, Press Secretary

Amelia Chass

LinkedIn, Twitter

Those who have worked alongside Chassé describe her as savvy and relentless—she “never gets outworked,” according to longtime McCain adviser Brian Jones. As vice president at Hynes Communications, Chassé manages the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and devises online strategy for many of the firm’s top clients, including American Crossroads. At the start of the 2012 cycle, Chassé helped Crossroads cultivate its relationship with online conservatives. Chassé also counts herself among the cadre of young GOP consultants pushing her party to more fully embrace the digital age. [Campaigns and Elections Magazine] - [29]

Joe Chaudoin, Research Analyst

Joe Chaudoin

LinkedIn, Twitter

America Rising Advanced Research Staff

Brian Rogers, Executive Director

Brian Rogers

Twitter

Brian Rogers is Executive Director of America Rising Squared (AR2). Prior to joining AR2, Rogers served as Communications Director to U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), and previously served as Deputy Communications Director and Research Director for McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, and held senior communications and opposition research roles on multiple statewide campaigns across the country, at the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. [ARSquared] - [30]

“Rogers is best known as the long-time spokesman for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). He was also McCain’s spokesman during the senator’s 2008 presidential campaign, during which Rogers made headlines for arguing that Obama, too, lived in “a frickin’ mansion“ and was an “arugula-eating, pointy-headed professor type….But Rogers was also, for a short time, the research director for former Vice President Al Gore’sAlliance for Climate Protection. Upon taking that job in May 2009, he said he would be “working on the Repower America campaign to pass comprehensive energy and climate change legislation.” [Huffington Post] - [11]

Jeremy Adler, Communications Director (previously, Research Analyst, America Rising LLC)

Jeremy Adler

LinkedIn, Twitter

Jeremy Adler is Communications Director of America Rising Squared (AR2). He previously served as a regional press secretary for Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. Before that, he worked as a member of America Rising’s Senate research team and also was a part of Scott Brown’s 2014 New Hampshire Senate campaign. [ARSquared] - [30]

Definers Public Affairs Staff

Matt Rhoades and Joe Pounder, below described above, are respectively Founder and President of Definers.

Jim Barnett, Chief Operating Officer

Jim Barnett

Jim Barnett’s experience spreads presidential, statewide, local, corporate and issue campaigns. Prior to joining Definers, Barnett served as Vice President for Political Affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform. Barnett is a veteran of Republican politics having managed Sen. John McCain’s comeback victory in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary and U.S. Senator Scott Brown’s $45 million 2012 campaign. He is a past chairman of the Vermont Republican Party and served as deputy campaign manager and communications director for Governor Jim Douglas’s 2002 upset victory. [Definers] - [31]

Brian Rogers, Senior Vice President

Brian Rogers

LinkedIn, Twitter

Tim Miller, Partner

Tim Miller

LinkedIn, Twitter

Tim Miller, former spokesman for Jeb Bush, joined Definers Public Affairs in September. Miller said the firm is going to go “more aggressively…directly after threats to our clients” and Definers will build digital platforms for the Washington fights. [33]

Julia Cotrone, Special Assistant

Julia Cotrone

Michael Chenderlin, Chief Digital Officer

Michael Chenderlin

Christy Paavola, Vice President

Christy Paavola

Twitter

Geoff Embler, Senior Vice President

Geoff Embler

Tim Killeen, Senior Vice President

Tim Killeen

Andrew Lautz, Research Associate

Andrew Lautz

LinkedIn, Twitter

Sara Pietsch, Art Director

Sara Pietsch

Mike Presutti, Research Associate

Mike Presutti

Will Schenkel, War Room Associate

Will Schenkel

Todd Scher, Research Associate

Todd Scher

Jasmine Sossa, Graphic Designer

Jasmine Sossa

Nick Zanetti, Research Associate

Nick Zanetti

Resources

David M. Drucker. “GOP dirt diggers dog Clinton,” Washington Examiner, April 15, 2015. Archived July 23, 2016. Backup archive url: http://archive.is/sZkWI

Peter Hamby. “Romney campaign chief to lead new GOP research group,” PoliticalTicker, March 21, 2013. Archived July 23, 2015. Backup archive URL: https://archive.is/fMEgo

Patrick O'Connor. ”Political Operatives Find Demand for Their Skills in Business World,” The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“About,” America Rising. Archived July 25, 2016. Backup archive URL: https://archive.is/QXjMc

Dylan Byers. “America Rising PAC relaunches as news site,” Politico, February 18, 2014. Archived July 24, 2016. Backup archive url: https://archive.is/YVJUa

Anita Kumar. “Step into war rooms planning Hillary Clinton’s defeat,” McClatchyDC, April 22, 2015. Archived July 25, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Danial J. Sernovitz. “Conservative research group America Rising lands in Rosslyn,” Washington Business Journal, November 11, 2014. Archived July 25, 2016.

“Vendor/Recipient: Definers Corp,” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed July 24, 2016.

“Vendor/Recipient: Ar2 Inc,” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed July 25, 2016.

David M. Drucker. “America Rising launches nonprofit affiliate,” Washington Examiner, July 14, 2015. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/2FM1Z

Kate Sheppard. “One-Time Gore Staffer Leads Plan To Track The ‘Environmentalist Left’,” The Huffington Post, May 2, 2016. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/AlGsx

Joe Pounder. “Welcome To Definers,” Definers Public Affairs, July 5, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“Brian Rogers: Senior Vice President,” Definers Public Affairs. Accessed July 25, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“Today in Politics,” The New York Times, February 26, 2015. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“About Us,” America Rising Images. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gMjnw

Dan Vergano. “New Site For Climate “News” Shows The Future Of Oppo Research,” BuzzFeed News, June 7, 2016. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/LkdLZ

“Campaign Cash for Bad Energy Policy?” America Rising Squared. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/wRrpU

“The Democratic Socialist Party,” YouTube video uploaded by user America Rising Squared, February 11, 2016.

Alan Fram. “Capitol Hill Buzz: GOP research group targets court nominees,” The Big Story, March 1, 2016. Archived July 25, 2016.

Josh Lederman. “GOP prepares to fight Obama nominee, no matter whom he picks,” The Big Story, March 14, 2016. Archived July 25, 2016.

“America Rising Launches Video Tracking App, 'Grill',” AmericaRisingPAC. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is url: https://archive.is/q0UKD

Megan Apper. “GOP Opposition Research Firm Launches Candidate Tracking App,” BuzzFeed News. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Ogb4f

“America Rising PAC: Contributors, 2016 cycle,” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed July 25, 2016.

Ashley Parker and Nick Corasaniti. “The Right Baits the Left to Turn Against Hillary Clinton,” The New York Times, May 16, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Alexis Levinson. “Oppo-Research Ace Joe Pounder Joins Rubio Campaign,” National Review, November 6, 2015. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/8lISG

Emily Cahn. “America Rising Hires Three for 2016,” Roll Call, June 4, 2015. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Ix9cB

“2016 RISING STARS,” Campaigns & Elections, June 8, 2016. Archived July 25, 2016. Arhchive.is URL: https://archive.is/SF2fb

“America Rising PAC Announces New Executive Director Colin Reed,” America Rising. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.IS URL: https://archive.is/jNexd

“2013 Rising Stars,” Campaign & Elections Magazine, June 11, 2013. Archived February 7, 2014. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“AR2 About Us,” America Rising Squared. Archived July 25, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/FX5m2

“Jim Barnett: Chief Operating Officer,” Definers Public Affairs. Accessed July 25, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

“Vendor/Recipient: America Rising,” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed July 27, 2016.

Jake Sherman. “Former Jeb Bush spokesman Tim Miller joining Definers Public Affairs,” Politico, September 6, 2016. Archived September 9, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/dMcw3

“Report: Green Energy Products Produced Under ‘Worst’ Environmental Rights Violations,” The Daily Caller, June 9, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hVAz3

“The Human & Environmental Costs of 'Clean Energy',” Scribd document uploaded by AR Squared on June 8, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Tony Romm. “Republican political operatives want to sell the dark arts of opposition research to tech companies,” Recode, June 7, 2017. Archived July 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/xxk3s

Lauren Dezenski. “Conservative PAC takes aim at Warren during book tour,” Politico, April 17, 2017. Archived September 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/us4UY

“Trump's team gunning for potential 2020 reelection rivals,” Politico, September 18, 2017. Archived September 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/lVptU

“The EPA Hired a Major Republican Opposition Research Firm to Track Press Activity,” Mother Jones, December 15, 2017. Archived December 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/lQiPC

“Dentons announces strategic alliance to create 3D Global Affairs,” Dentons.com, November 30, 2017. Archived December 19, 2017. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/BVqR0

Brady Dennis. “EPA to end controversial contract with conservative ‘media monitoring’ firm,” The Washington Post, December 19, 2017. Archived December 20, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/2pcHu

TAGS: america rising squareddefiners public affairsamerica risingamerica rising llcar2America Rising PACdenierorgs

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/the-epa-hired-a-major-republican-opposition-research-firm-to-track-press-activity/

Using taxpayer dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency has hired a cutting-edge Republican PR firm that specializes in digging up opposition research to help Administrator Scott Pruitt’s office track and shape press coverage of the agency.

According to federal contracting records, earlier this month Pruitt’s officeinked a no-bid $120,000 contract with Definers Corp., a Virginia-based public relations firm founded by Matt Rhoades, who managed Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Following Romney’s defeat, Rhoades established America Rising, an ostensibly independent political action committee that works closely with the Republican National Committee and Republican candidates to mine damning information on opponents. Other higher-ups at Definers include former RNC research director Joe Pounder, who’s been described as “a master of opposition research,” and senior vice president Colin Reed, an oppo-research guru billed as “among the leaders of the war on [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren.”

This for-profit consulting firm offers a variety of public relations services such as digital strategy, political consulting, and media relations. According to its website, Definers’ clients include Fortune 500 corporations, political groups, and nonprofits. In the past, both Marco Rubio and John McCain used their services, and since the 2016 election so has Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.). The client list for America Rising includes the RNC, Republican candidates such as Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), and super-PACs such as the Mitch McConnell-linked Senate Leadership Fund and Karl Rove’s American Crossroads.

The company also specializes in using the press and social media to “validate your narrative.” According to the company’s website, one of the tools to help do this is its “Definers Console” media-tracking technology. Reed said his firm contracted with Pruitt’s office at the EPA, which is the first governmental client to pay for the Definers Console. The technology promises “war room”-style media monitoring, analysis, and advice, according to marketing materials. A brochure for the Console assures users that they will be able to “monitor for potential crises, as well as to track their message dissemination, relevant responses to their messaging, and what competitors’ actions have been.”

“Definers has been contracted to provide media monitoring services through our Console by the EPA,” Reed says. “We provide the same service to a number of corporate and non-profit organizations.” Besides monitoring media, users will get analysis and input from their employees whose experience in political campaigns and the business world helps create a unique approach “to intelligence gathering and opposition work. This experience informs the way we gather, synthesize, and disseminate information.”

In response to Mother Jones’ questions about the Definers contract, EPA spokesperson Nancy Granthamsaid, “The Definers contract is for media monitoring/newsclip compilation.” To a question on how the contract came about, she said, “The contract award was handled through the EPA Office of Acquisition Management.”

USASpending.gov, a website that tracks federal spending, shows that in early 2016 the EPA signed a $207,000 contractwith a firm called Bulletin Intelligence, requesting similar services. Bulletin is owned by public relations giant Cision, a well-known international PR firm. According to OpenSecrets.org’s expenditure data, Bulletin is not political and has not done any recent work for any candidates or PACs. The contract expired in February.

Definers also recently launched a new venture with the global law firm Dentons, which describes itself as combining “political intelligence, legal advisors, campaign-style tactics, lobbying, governmental affairs, research, and communications into one unique offering” to help clients.

The career of at least one of Pruitt’s staffers has overlapped with the Republican operatives at Definers. Jahan Wilcox, who previously worked for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign and in rapid response for the Republican National Committee, is now a spokesperson for the EPA.

Wilcox, along with other political staff in Pruitt’s EPA press shop, has had some contentious interactions with the press. In one case, when Eric Lipton from the New York Timeswas confirming facts for an investigation into the EPA’s industry-friendly approach to chemical regulation, EPA spokesperson Liz Bowman diverted the discussion to other outlets’ reporting rather than confirming his questions. Wilcox added, “If you want to steal work from other outlets and pretend like it’s your own reporting that is your decision.”

On another occasion, shortly after the Associated Press reported on the Superfund sites affected by Hurricane Harvey, the EPA went after one of the bylined reporters in a statement, and an unnamed official later admitted to removing one of the bylined AP reporters from the agency’s press list, saying, “We don’t think he’s a trustworthy reporter.” When Pruitt has faced criticism, the EPA highlights friendlier stories from conservative outlets—including *Breitbart.*

Pruitt has come under fire for a general lack of transparency at the EPA. The latest example is his trip promoting natural gas in Morocco. The public learned of his travels when his office posted a media release, causing confusion over why the EPA would not notify reporters ahead of time. This means that information on Pruitt’s activities in Morocco will be restricted to the EPA’s own spin.

The EPA’s work with groups affiliated with Pounder predate this contract. On a handful of occasions, the EPA has promoted positive coverage of Pruitt’s actions from the news-aggregation website Need To Know Network.Earlier this year, the websitewrote a series of stories designed to shed positive light on the controversial administrator. In one story, the site describes Pruitt as “busy racking up accomplishments that both protect Americans and save millions in taxpayer dollars.” Another congratulated Pruitt for moving ahead with plans to open Alaska’s Bristol Bay to mining, writing it was “a move that will prove to be a massive job creator for President Trump and Pruitt.”

The Need to Know Network was started by Pounder and other operatives connected to America Rising and Definers Corp.

ny post victory lap bs

The Clinton family foundation turned out to be a liability for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But it wasn’t foreordained. Here’s how it happened.

After serving as Mitt Romney’s campaign manager in 2012, I formed an outside political group called America Rising tasked with doing opposition research on Clinton. She left the State Department in 2013 with sky-high favorable ratings, but we knew that popularity (which might soon doom any 2016 GOP nominee) was the result of a general lack of scrutiny in the previous four years.

When we first started talking to reporters about the Clintons’ vulnerabilities, to their credit, they were almost always interested in the Clinton Foundation. Already, there were suspicions about the foundation unethically blurring the lines and bending the rules. The organization represented the intersection of politics and money, the favorite topic of any good political reporter.

In August 2013, the New York Post broke a story showing the Clinton Foundation had spent $50 million on private travel. Former President Bill Clinton had apparently become addicted to private jets. The general election was still more than three years away, and already the Clinton Foundation was transforming from a well-meaning charity to a private slush fund enriching the Clintons, making a mockery of Hillary’s claim the next year that her family was “dead broke.”

Uncovering this information was a challenge. Despite its lofty campaign promises about transparency, the Obama administration refused to cooperate with many of America Rising’s Freedom of Information Act requests.

Enter the conservative advocacy group Citizens United, whose president, Dave Bossie, went on to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s deputy campaign manager. When our public-record requests for Clinton’s State Department correspondence were denied, Bossie took legal action, arguing that the public had a right to see this information.

The courts agreed, and the State Department started complying with the requests. We immediately understood why the Clinton forces took such pains to keep the correspondence from seeing the light of day. One email chain showed Bill Clinton seeking permission from his wife to give a paid speech to the leaders of North Korea and Congo for a whopping $650,000 fee that would be donated to the Clinton Foundation. Another email showed a major foundation donor with no national-security experience getting appointed to a highly sensitive government intelligence board.

As the emails dripped out, it became clear the Clintons were using their foundation to keep big financial supporters in place while laying the groundwork for her 2016 campaign.

Secretary Clinton’s painstaking efforts to conceal this information from the American public led her to conduct all her business on a private email server. In another twist of irony, her attempts to avoid public scrutiny caused the exact opposite and the national scandal she couldn’t shake.

The last few days of Clinton’s campaign against GOP nominee Trump were marked by a slew of negative headlines, including a new FBI investigation partially induced by the Clinton Foundation. Onetime Clinton loyalists were caught accusing Chelsea Clinton of using foundation funds to pay for her own wedding. Another damaging memo surfaced from a key Clinton confidante about the convergence of Bill Clinton’s business activities and the foundation’s fundraising goals, even using the term “Clinton Inc.”

On Election Day, 54 percent of the American public had an unfavorable view of Secretary Clinton. All of her scandals and controversies fell neatly into the buckets of untrustworthy, unethical and failed leadership we had been driving. The voters did the rest.

Matt Rhoades was the campaign manager for Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, and founded the GOP super PAC America Rising and Definers Public Affairs.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/07/how-america-rising-ties-gop-stalkers-harassing-bill-mckibben-and-tom-steyer

He showed me a tiny video camera that had been hidden inside an Aquafina water bottle, and others embedded in a wristwatch and in an iPod Shuffle. A device in his shirt button, which used Bluetooth technology, could relay live audio to his control room. He argued, “What I do is the truest form of journalism there is. We hit the record button and show people what we found.”

The political left also outsources much of its dirty work to privately funded super PACs and dark-money groups. After the Democrats were eviscerated in the 2010 midterm elections—the first congressional campaigns after the Citizens United decision—an independently funded group namedAmerican Bridge 21st Century began supplying opposition research to Democratic groups and candidates. The network was founded by David Brock,a self-described former “conservative hit man” who became notorious in the early nineties for having described Anita Hill as “a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty.” In the aughts, Brock, who is gay, joined the Democratic Party—in part because he found the Republican Party homophobic—bringing with him an insider’s expertise in cutthroat politics. He describes American Bridge, which employs a hundred and fifty people, as a political “utility” for progressives.

The American Bridge network includes Media Matters, a watchdog operation that identifies what it sees as distortions by the right-wing press, andCorrect the Record, a rapid-response unit that focusses on defending Hillary Clinton. Brock’s group also oversees political action committees, dark-money nonprofit organizations, and at least fifty video “trackers,” who hound Republican candidates in the hope of recording politically damaging moments.Video trackershave been mainstays of campaigns since 2006, when a Democratic volunteer upended George Allen, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia, by releasing a video of him uttering a racist slur. In 2012, one of the trackers with Brock’s organization captured Todd Akin, a Missouri Republican running for the Senate, defending “legitimate rape.” With American Bridge’s success has come funding, largely from labor unions and wealthy liberals. One of the biggest contributors this year is George Soros—which may help explain why he was the object of an O’Keefe sting.

After Mitt Romney lost the 2012 Presidential election, conservative operatives concluded that they needed their own putatively independent negative-campaign machine. Out of this partisan arms race grew America Rising—the unofficial oppo-research affiliate of the Republican Party—which was founded in 2013 by Matt Rhoades, the former head of Romney’s campaign. Based in Arlington, Virginia, it diverges from Brock’s network in one crucial respect: It is a limited-liability corporation. Instead of relying on charitable and political donations, America Rising serves as a for-profit vender to conservative clients, who pay it to conduct customized negative research.

Rhoades and others declined to respond to interview requests, but when I stopped by America Rising’s headquarters, on May 18th, the office was filled with young researchers bent over their laptops. The walls were decorated with photographs of conservative icons (though Trump’s portrait seemed to be missing). An office door was covered with bull’s-eye targets, and a sign reminded staffers of the “Research Checklist: Nexis, Google Alerts, Facebook, Twitter.”

Brock told me that his group had rejected the vender model. “We didn’t want to be under clients’ thumbs,” he said. “If you work for them, you’re subservient. We wanted to build an independent progressive infrastructure.” Recently, some donors wanted video trackers to trail the Koch brothers, but Brock turned them down. American Bridge does a huge amount of oppo research on the Kochs, but Brock says he believes that tracking private citizens is unethical. He claims that he has also rejected the use of subterfuge. “We’re not in that game,” he says.

By contrast, in late April the dark-money arm of Rhoades’s group, America Rising Squared, announced the creation of a negative campaign to target leading environmentalists as well as prominent donors to environmental causes and candidates. The campaign’s initial budget was a hundred thousand dollars, which, among other things, would cover the extensive use of video trackers. According to the political tip sheet The Hill, the campaign would subject environmentalists to “the same level of scrutiny . . . that opposition research firms apply to presidential candidates.” America Rising Squared’s executive director,Brian Rogers, told The Hill that his group planned to hold “the Environmentalist Left accountable for their epic hypocrisy and extreme positions which threaten America’s future prosperity.”

Almost simultaneously, in early May, the organization announced the launch of an affiliated venture, run by many of the same operatives, called Definers Public Affairs. Definers offers to wage political-style negative campaigns, for profit, on behalf of undisclosed private clients, including corporations. According to its Web site, Definers will “create dossiers” on opponents, monitor them from a “full-service war room,” and build both “grassroots” alliances and “a paid online presence.” This raises the possibility that undisclosed business interests are paying to choose the targets they want Republican operatives to attack.

Soon after the campaign against environmentalists was announced, Bill McKibben, who teaches environmental studies at Middlebury College, in Vermont, got an alarming phone call from a librarian at Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, who supervises a literary archive to which McKibben had contributed his research papers. McKibben has been an outspoken activist against the Keystone XL pipeline, and in 2008 he co-founded 350.org, a “global grassroots climate movement.” For many years, he was a staff writer for this magazine. (He is now a regular contributor to theNew York Review of Books, where he recently reviewed a book of mine.) He is a political thinker, but not a candidate, a major political donor, or a paid campaign operative.

The Texas librarian, Diane Warner, told McKibben that a man had shown up at the archive and requested copies of all his papers—fifty-four boxes of documents. The man identified himself as Aaron Goss, and said that he worked for Definers Public Affairs. Goss spent a week copying pages from McKibben’s archive. Meanwhile, as McKibben was getting ready to speak about the environment at a church in Durham, New Hampshire, an unfamiliar man aimed a video camera at him. The next day, a wordless two-second snippet of footage appeared online, showing McKibben looking at the camera and then turning away uncomfortably, to the accompaniment of the song “Show Me That Smile.” The video, which was titled “Bill McKibben: Ready for His Closeup,” was posted to the Twitter account of Corenews.org.

The site is another recent creation of America Rising Squared, as is an app called Grill, which enables users to track the location of ideological enemies, including Hillary Clinton, and lists hostile questions to ask at public events, such as “Will you drop out of the Presidential race if you are indicted?” Within days, another contentless video snippet of McKibben popped up, this time showing him in Australia. The threat was clear: wherever he went, his enemies would be recording him.

Who paid for a professional oppo-research team to mock an environmental activist? The answer is secret. One could argue that the campaign isn’t substantially different from that of a corporate lobbyist, but, unlike registered lobbyists, America Rising Squared doesn’t have to file public disclosures or pay taxes, because it purports to be a social-welfare organization.

McKibben told me, “I have no fear of debating these people on the issues, but this is just intimidation.” He added, “It’s bad enough to do this to anyone who runs for office. But to do it to anyone who dares protest?”

Tom Steyer,the retired hedge-fund billionaire who runs the environmental-action group NextGen Climate and has been one of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, is another target of America Rising Squared. Corenews.org has featured posts calling Steyer hypocritical, because he made a fortune investing in fossil fuels. America Rising Squared has accused him of self-interest in supporting green energy, as he has substantial investments in solar power. Steyer says that this is “complete and utter nonsense,” because his investments are held by trusts and structured in a way that any profits are transferred to charity. “They have to know they’re lying,” Steyer said. “It’s completely dishonest, unethical, and pitiful. And it’s creepy.” He says that the anonymously funded attacks won’t stop him, but he worries that such campaigns may deter others from engaging in activism. As he puts it, they “are another reason people are reluctant to get involved in politics.”

It may be that the shock value of such exposés is diminishing. A recent series of sting videos against Planned Parenthood, created by a group called the Center for Medical Progress, involved deceptions so devious—including an attempt by undercover operatives to buy fetal tissue—that the campaign backfired. Pro-choice activists united in anger at the sting’s perpetrators, and a Texas grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing and indicted the C.M.P. In Presidential politics, gaffes may be less damaging. As Brock notes, “In the year of Trump, people are more inured to the outrageous.”

O’Keefe promises that his covert documentary of the Hillary Clinton campaign will command attention. But on May 19th he publicly conceded defeat in the Open Society Foundations investigation. In an interview posted on Breitbart News, he confessed that he had “been forced to abandon an ambitious undercover investigation into billionaire left-wing financier George Soros.” O’Keefe acknowledged that he “forgot to hang up” the phone, but declined to be more specific about the operation, saying, “I don’t like to reveal the tactics of what we do.” He apologized to his supporters and promised that his many other investigations had not been compromised. “Unfortunately, I’m burned on this particular investigation,” he said, adding that he was “very disappointed,” because he believes that the influence of billionaires such as Soros is“the most important topic undermining democracy.” But he concluded, “If I wanted to be perfect, I would give up.” ♦

Matt Rhoades, Campaign Manager:

“(announced Feb. 15, 2010) A vice president with DCI Group, May 2007-Feb. 2010. Communications director on Romney's presidential campaign, Jan. 2007-March 2008. A deputy communications director in charge of research for the RNC during the 2006 election cycle. Research director for the 2004 Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. Deputy research director at the RNC, 2003-04. White House Liaison at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the Bush Administration, and earlier an Associate Director in the White House Presidential Personnel Office. B.A. from Syracuse University, 1997; and an M.A. from The George Washington University, 1999.”

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look at the network being built by Elliott Management founder Paul Singer. In 2014, Singer created the American Opportunity Alliance, a group of roughly 40 Republican financiers who gather regularly for secret meetings with candidates. This fall, Singer threw his weight behind Marco Rubio and urged his members to do the same. In the general election, Singer will be a player with America Rising, the opposition-research firm headed by Romney’s dark-arts wizard Matt Rhoades. Instead of funding TV ads, Rhoades’s group offers Singer more predictable returns: It is narrowly focused on digging up dirt on Democrats, for example by sending video trackers to events in order to build a library of unflattering material

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