SKDKnickerbocker
US Democratic-aligned public relations firm (SKDK), a Stagwell subsidiary, registered under FARA for Israel's Foreign Ministry in 2025
| SKDKnickerbocker LLC
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | SKDK |
| Type | Limited liability company (Delaware) |
| Founded | Organised 10 August 2015 (Wilmington, Delaware), per FARA registration |
| Headquarters | New York, Albany and Los Angeles offices listed in FARA registration |
| Industry | Public relations, political communications |
| Parent | Stagwell Marketing Communications LLC, a subsidiary of Stagwell Global LLC |
SKDKnickerbocker LLC (SKDK) is a US public relations firm aligned with the Democratic Party and owned by Stagwell. It registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) on 28 February 2025 to work for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[1] A schedule it filed in August 2025 committed it to "develop a bot-based program on various social media channels (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube) that 'floods the zone' with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' pro-Israel message". The schedule ran under a $600,000 contract with Stagwell "for HAVAS, on behalf of Lapam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs".[2] SKDK reported receiving $150,000 and ended the registration on 29 August 2025.[3]
FARA registration
SKDKnickerbocker (registration number 7552) named Doug Thornell as its responsible individual. It stated that it "is a subsidiary of Stagwell Marketing Communications LLC, a subsidiary of Stagwell Global LLC". Its initial exhibit gave an agreement date of 18 February 2025 and said it was "consulting with the foreign principal on media relations". Staff of Stagwell affiliates, including Alexis Williams and Aaron Renner Kwittken, were listed as providing media relations services to the ministry.[1][4]
Schedule #2: the "bot-based program"
Schedule #2 was filed on 29 August 2025. It is between Stagwell Global LLC, as "Service Provider", "for HAVAS, on behalf of Lapam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs". It set a fee of $600,000, paid at $50,000 a month from April 2025 to March 2026. Its scope covered recruiting and coaching three to five Israeli civil-society "spokespeople", outreach to outlets including the BBC, CNN, Fox and AP, and testing social media influencers. It also included the bot-based programme quoted above.[2]
Sludge reported the filing under the headline "Democratic PR Firm to Run Bot Army for Israel". It noted that SKDK co-founder Anita Dunn had been a long-time adviser to Joe Biden. It described Stagwell as "founded by longtime Likud ally Mark Penn", with a Republican-aligned affiliate, Targeted Victory, also subcontracting for Havas.[5] (Critical.)
Payments and termination
SKDK's supplemental statement reported three receipts of $50,000, on 3 June, 11 June and 8 July 2025, for "Earned Media services". The total was $150,000. The ministry was terminated as a principal on 29 August 2025.[3] According to Responsible Statecraft, SKDK cut the contract a day after the outlet Sludge reported on the bot programme, and a spokesperson told Politico that its work was "focused solely on media relations and nothing else".[6] (Critical.) Politico reported that "SKDK and Stagwell both said they did not work on a bot initiative".[7] (Journalistic.)
The Stagwell affiliate Targeted Communications Global kept working for Israel after SKDK withdrew. From August 2025 it served LaPam through Havas and received $9.9 million from Havas Media Germany in October–December 2025.[8] Responsible Statecraft also reported that Israel paid SKDK a total of $150,000, and that SKDK runs the 10/7 Project, a public relations initiative to promote bipartisan support for Israel.[6] (Critical.)
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 SKDKnickerbocker LLC, Registration Statement (FARA no. 7552) FARA eFile, US Department of Justice, 28 February 2025. FARA filing (primary).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 SKDKnickerbocker LLC, Exhibit B: Schedule #2 with Stagwell Global LLC FARA eFile, 29 August 2025. FARA filing (primary).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 SKDKnickerbocker LLC, Supplemental Statement FARA eFile, 26 September 2025. FARA filing (primary).
- ↑ SKDKnickerbocker LLC, Exhibits A and B FARA eFile, 28 February 2025. FARA filing (primary).
- ↑ Donald Shaw, Democratic PR Firm to Run Bot Army for Israel Sludge, 15 September 2025. Critical.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Nick Cleveland-Stout and Julian Cooper, Israel targets X users, right-wing media with $2 million ad push Responsible Statecraft, 22 July 2026. Critical.
- ↑ Daniel Barnes, Daniel Lippman and Caitlin Oprysko, SKDK jettisons Israeli government Politico, 16 September 2025. Journalistic.
- ↑ Targeted Communications Global LLC, Supplemental Statement for the period ending 31 March 2026 FARA eFile, 30 June 2026. FARA filing (primary).