Barbour Griffith and Rogers International

Barbour Griffith & Rogers, LLC (BGR) is a Washington, DC-based lobbying company, which was described as "all-Republican" in 2007. It describes itself as "performance based" and that it can offer "a proactive, creative approach to solving problems and aggressively seeking results". ; and as 'a premier strategic consulting and government affairs firm in the United States and worldwide'.

Its sister company in Europe is BGR Gabara, based in London. It specializes in pan-European government relations services, principally in London and Brussels; media relations across Europe; political campaign management; and financial services communications.

History

The company was founded in 1991. On its website it states "our firm is actively involved in the shaping of public policy issues that dominate the American political and corporate agenda. We serve as advocates in federal government relations, a vital link to state governments, and an ally in business development anywhere in the U.S. and in markets around the world." .

In a profile on the company and its strong connections with the Republican Party, Thomas B. Edsall wrote in the Washington Post that "in less than a decade, the BGR lobbying shop has become one of the most profitable operations in Washington".

According to Haley Barbour, who was sworn in as the Governor of Mississippi in January 2004, the firm was sold to the Interpublic Group of Companies in 1999. Part of the sale deal was that the name remain the same even though Barbour no longer had a financial stake in the company.

However in June 2004 O'Dwyers PR Daily reported that BG&R was discussing buying a controlling interest in itself back from Interpublic. It reported that "the former Republican National Committee chairman has put his stake in BG&R into a blind trust. He has said that he isn't sure whether he will return to BG&R after he leaves office."

In a September 2003 article on his blogsite, Josh Marshall wrote that New Bridge Strategies - a company established to help clients win Iraq reconstruction contracts - "looks an awful lot like an outgrowth of Barbour Griffith and Rogers".

In June 2004, O'Dwyers PR Daily reported BG&R recorded $1.6M in fees in 2003, according to Roll Call.

Clients

Domestic (U.S.)

• In May 2002, BG&R indicated that on behalf of Virginia-based United Defense it would lobby in favour of the Crusader $11 billion artillery system. Despite attending a strategy session in mid-May 2002, BG&R subsequently decided to drop the account. "The White House contacted BG&R when it heard that the firm was going to represent the Crusader. That contact resulted in BG&R dropping the account," O'Dwyers reported.

• In October 2002, Haley Barbour headed up a team "on corporate governance issues" for Citigroup, with assistance with Jennifer Larkin, Dan Murphy and Loren Monroe. "Citigroup's Salomon Smith Barney brokerage house faces various probes concerning potential analysts' conflict of interest and how it allocated shares in initial public offerings. On October 14, Citicorp denied charges in a lawsuit filed by New York State Comptroller Carl McCall - who is also running for Governor - that its Travelers insurance unit made improper loans to Bernie Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom," O'Dwyers reported.

International

• In June 2002, 'O'Dwyers PR Daily reported that BG&R had gained a $30,000-a-month contract with the Embassy of Bolivia "to deal with tactical planning, trade and appropriations matters." The BG&R team was headed by Barbour and also included Keith Schuette, "a former president of the International Republican Institute, and Scott Barnhart. "Bolivia scored a coup on the trade front as Congress agreed to reduce tariffs on canned tuna, textiles and cut flowers to encourage it, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to fight the drug trade," reported O'Dwyer's.

• In July 2004, the Kurdish Democratic Party retained BG&R, "to ensure that Iraqi Kurdistan maintains its autonomy from Baghdad in the new Iraq Government" and for the "return of oil-rich Kirkuk, which Saddam Hussein had "Arabized" as the capital of the region, to Kurdistan."

• In February 2005, O'Dwyers PR Daily reported that the government of Qatar had "hired Barbour Griffith & Rogers to a $300K pact to smooth relations with the Bush Administration."

• In August 2006, the Washington Post reported that BG&R was working for the "National Dialogue Party of Lebanon and its chairman, Fouad Makhzoumi. The Republican shop registered to lobby for the Lebanese party in mid-June, with an effective start date of April 15." After armed hostilities between the Israeli government and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia began in July 2006, BG&R started promoting "Makhzoumi's message of support for a cease-fire and a diplomatic solution to policymakers in Washington." The contract totaled $300,000 over six months.

• BG&R had also registered with the State Department "to 'provide guidance and counsel' on foreign policy to the embassy of Eritrea. That contract, which paid $65,000 a month for six months, or a total of $390,000, expired last month," the Washington Post reported in August 2006.

• BG&R landed a $60,000 a month contract to represent Serbia. The contract, which was signed by Serbia's Minister for International Economic Relations, Milan Parivodic, runs until January 2009. Serbia has been criticised for being half-hearted in its coperation with investigations into war crimes committed during the 1990's.

• British PR consultant, Alan Kilkenny has also been a client of BG&R since 2005. According to the FT (US), he has paid the Washington firm $1.34m since 2005 to lobby the US Justice Department and lawmakers on "judicial procedure and policy". Kilkenny counts among his London clients Lord Ashcroft, and Stanley and Beatrice Tollman, who were branded fugitives in the US after they left the country following their indictment on fraud and tax evasion charges. The couple also faced the threat of being extradited to the US. In December 2008 it was reported that Stanley Tollman pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and agreed to pay a total of $105 million to settle various fraud charges related to the multimillion-dollar tax evasion scheme. The FT commented: "It is unusual for a firm such as BGR, which does not have any expertise in criminal justice matters, to lobby prosecutors or other officials on a criminal matter."
• Government of the State of Qatar has been a client since 2009. In 2013 Qatar paid a total of $332,286.06

$332,286.06 Information

Lobbying for India

The Washington Post on 30 September 2007 reports:

The nuclear deal has been pushed aggressively by well-funded groups representing industry in both countries. At the center of the lobbying effort has been Robert D. Blackwill, a former U.S. ambassador to India and deputy national security adviser who's now with a well-connected Republican lobbying firm, Barbour, Griffith & Rogers LLC. The firm's Web site touts Blackwill as a pillar of its "India Practice," along with a more recent hire, Philip D. Zelikow, a former top adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who was also one of the architects of the Bush administration's tilt toward India. The Confederation of Indian Industry paid Blackwill to lobby various U.S. government entities, according to the Boston Globe. And India is also paying a major Beltway law firm, Venable LLP.

Clients

Akindale Farms	Alliance For Quality Nursing Home Care	American Maritime Congress
American Network Of Community Resources	Antonov Aircraft Corporation	BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.
Better World Campaign	Bristol-Myers Squibb Company	Broadcast Music, Inc.
Brown & Williamson Corporation	Canadian National Railway	Camp Dresser & Mckee
Cobalt Corporation	CollectCorp, Inc	Commonwealth of Kentucky
Consolidated Contracting Company	Darden Corporation	Delta Air Lines
Embassy of Honduras	Embassy of Eritrea [17]	FM Policy Focus
GlaxoSmithKline	Grocery Manufacturers Association	Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation
I Can Learn, Inc.	JohnsonDiversey	Illinois State Board Of Education
Intelsat	International Building Systems, LLC	Lakeworth Drainage District
Lockheed Martin	Lorillard Tobacco Company	Lucent
MassMutual Financial Group	MedCath	The National Dialogue Party of Lebanon
Mortgage Insurance Companies of America	Norilsk Nickel	Orlando Regional Healthcare
Oxygenated Fuels Association	PhRMA	Pfizer, Inc.
Public Broadcasting Service	SAP Public Services, Inc.	Serbia
Southern Company	State Street Corporation	Triad
UnitedHealth Group	University Of Mississippi	University of Mississippi Medical Center
University of Southern Mississippi
As listed on the company website January 2004, except where referenced:

Former Clients

• Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs In April 2007, O'Dwyer's PR Daily reported that "Taiwan has ended its PR contract with Barbour Griffith & Rogers, a year before the three-year pact was set to expire."

Political contributions

Lanny Griffith, Chief Executive Officer of Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, is a Bush Ranger having raised at least $200,000 for Bush in the 2004 presidential election.

Barbour, Griffith and Rogers gave $73,603 to federal candidates in the 2006 election through its political action committee - 100% to Republicans.

Personnel

Current staff:

• Elliot S. Berke, General Counsel, Former Counsel to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert
• Robert D. Blackwill, President, Former Deputy Assistant to George W. Bush and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Planning
• Eric Burgeson, Vice President, Former chief of staff at the Department of Energy and in several high-level positions in the White House under George W. Bush
• Bryan Cunningham, Former Senior Technology Policy Advisor and Legislative Assistant to Senator John Ensign (R-NV)
• Todd Eardensohn, Chief Financial Officer, served as deputy treasurer of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and assistant controller for the Bush-Quayle ’92 campaign
• Lanny Griffith, Chief Executive Officer
• Ingrid Belton Henick, Vice President, Former Deputy Executive Director for the U.S.-India Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Brant Imperatore, Principal, Former legal and policy advisor to Congressman Richard Baker (R-LA)
• Jennifer A. Larkin, Principal, Former top aide to former Rep. Bob Dornan (R-CA), a nationally known leader of the conservative movement who sometimes filled in as a guest host for Rush Limbaugh
• Loren Monroe, Chief Operating Officer, Former legislative aide to Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
• Dan Murphy, Principal, Former Chief of Staff to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Mel Martinez in the George W. Bush administration
• Andrew Parasiliti, Vice President, Former Foreign Policy Advisor and Personal Staff Representative to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
• Stephen Rademaker, Vice President, Former Policy Director for National Security Affairs and Senior Counsel for former Senate majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN)
• Mary Lacey Reuther, Vice President, Former Special Assistant to the Administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• Walker Roberts, Vice President, Former Deputy Staff Director under Chairman Henry J. Hyde (R-IL)
• Ed Rogers, Chairman, founded the firm with Haley Barbour in 1991, Former Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States under the first Bush administration
• Shalla Ross, Vice President, Former Policy Director to the House Republican Conference Committee under Chairman Deborah Pryce (R-OH)
• Bill Viney, Director of Legislative Affairs
• Bob Wood, President, Former Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tommy Thompson in the second Bush administration
• Philip D. Zelikow, Senior Advisor, Former Counselor to the U.S. Department of State 2005-2006

Former staff

• Haley Barbour - former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• Bradley A. Blakeman, Vice President
• Richard Burt, International Director
• Raissa H. Downs, Vice President
• Keith E. Schuette, Director of International Affairs
• Bill Stiers, Associate

Connections

Ed Rogers is vice-chair New Bridge Strategies and Diligence. He is also the co-founder of Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, the initial funder of Diligence and shares their floor with New Bridge in their DC office four blocks from the White House.

Allegations of Criminal Activities

BGR is reported to have been 'embroiled in litigation involving allegations that the firm and Diligence LLC, one of BGR's offshoots, engaged in corporate espionage on behalf of the Alfa Group, one of BGR's biggest clients'. Diligence stood accused of impersonating intelligence agents to illegally obtain information on an IPOC audit.

References, Resources and Contact

Contact information

Barbour Griffith & Rogers

Tenth Floor 1275 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20004

Tel: (202)333 4936

Fax: (202)833 9392

Email: information@bgrdc.com

Web: www.bgrdc.com

See also

• Diligence
• New Bridge Strategies
• Freedom's Watch

Resources

• "BG&R Shoots Down Crusader After Two Days", O'Dwyer PR Daily, 21 May 2002.(subscription required).
• "Bolivia Inks Deal with BG&R", O'Dwyer PR Daily, 6 June 2002.(subscription required).
• "Citigroup Hires BG&R", O'Dwyers PR Daily, 17 October 2002.(subscription required).
• Josh Marshall, "Crony-palooza!", 26 September 2003.
• Thomas B. Edsall, "Another Lobbyist Emerges From the GOP Trenches", Washington Post, 13 January 2004, Page A15.
• Emily Wagster Pettus, "Barbour's name to remain with his former Washington lobbying firm, Associated Press, 15 January 2004.
• "BG&R Nears Buyback", O'Dwyers PR Daily, 1 June 2004. (subscription required).
• "Kurds Want To Be Left Alone," O'Dwyer's PR Daily, 16 July 2004. (subscription required).
• "Qatar hires BG&R", O’Dwyers PR Daily, 1 February 2005. (subscription required).
• "PBS Relies on BG&R," O'Dwyers PR Daily (subscription required), 22 June 2006.(subscription required).
• "BG&R Reps Lebanese Party", O'Dwyers PR Daily, 19 July 2006. (subscription required).
• "BG&R Buffs Serbia's Image", O'Dwyers PR Daily, 28 September 2006.
• Christina Davidson, Fmr Bush Iraq Envoy Helping Undermine Maliki. As Bush Voices Support for the Iraqi PM, Republican Lobbyists Aid Top Maliki Foe, IraqSlogger, 23 August 2007.