White House Coordinated With GOP Consultant on US Attorney Scandal
By Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t | Report
Tuesday 22 May 2007
Emails released late Monday by the US Justice Department show the White House hired a well-known Republican operative to handle damage control in the aftermath of the US attorney scandal.
Mark McKinnon, a heavyweight strategist whose primary company, Maverick Media Inc., did almost $170 million in business with the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign, appears to have been hired by Peter Wehner, director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, which "plans, develops, and coordinates a long-range strategy for achieving presidential priorities," and "conducts research and assists in message development," according to the White House web site. Wehner worked with McKinnon in an official capacity, corresponding through McKinnon's company email account. It is unknown whether McKinnon was paid for his work.
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In what may prove to be telling advice, McKinnon's PR firm works with clients to "turn risky public situations to their advantage," and advises them to "pay as much attention to issues in the public arena as they do to running their day-to-day business," according to their mission statement. According to the firm's web site, political strategists make excellent public relations consultants because they "have the tenacity to stay the course, not just through Election Day, but well beyond."
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The emails clearly show that a request for talking points to respond to a critical column written by Joe Conason of Salon.com, was made by McKinnon as a consultant to the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives: " Do we have something off the shelf on this...?" referring to Conason's article. more at:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052207R.shtml