How Saudi’s PR flack worked the WH press corps

From: POLITICO West Wing Playbook - Monday Jul 25,2022 10:16 pm
Presented by Connected Commerce Council:
Jul 25, 2022 View in browser
 
West Wing Playbook

By Max Tani , Hailey Fuchs and Alex Thompson

Presented by Connected Commerce Council

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. 

Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max

Several White House reporters staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to cover President JOE BIDEN’s highly-scrutinized visit were peppered by repeated calls to their hotel landlines, sometimes at odd hours.

The person on the other end wasn’t a hotel staffer offering room service or a late checkout. It was a highly-aggressive PR flack working on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government eager to shape the narrative of Biden’s trip to the kingdom.

The flack was NICOLLA HEWITT. She’s a longtime American PR expert who has worked for television networks, the Clinton Global Initiative, and media and business figures such as KATIE COURIC and RICHARD BRANSON. More recently, she was retained by the Saudis.

Working reporters is part of any public relations official’s job. But according to multiple people on the trip, Hewitt took it to a notable extreme. She was a roving presence at the Intercontinental, where reporters stayed during the Saudi leg of Biden’s Middle East tour. In addition to posting up in the lobby to chat up journalists, several people told West Wing Playbook that she called their hotel phone lines directly to offer guidance, pitch ideas, and dangle top Saudi officials who were giving on- and off-the-record chats.

Several reporters on the trip described the efforts, including the calls, as “aggressive.”

Hewitt is registered to represent the Saudi’s Ministry of Media and promote “the changing way of life in Saudi Arabia,” among a number of firms tasked with boosting the kingdom’s image in the U.S. In January, when she registered with the Department of Justice, she reported that she was paid a monthly fee of roughly $15,000, depending on the exchange rate, for her work. According to a filing, many of her early media contacts on the Saudis behalf centered around the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

Biden’s trip was an important moment for the Saudis. One administration official told West Wing Playbook that although it's not unusual for foreign countries to be concerned with U.S. press, top Saudi officials were particularly sensitive to the country’s portrayal in Western media outlets.

It didn’t all go smoothly. As the Washington Post reported, Saudi officials initially excluded the publication’s reporters from a media briefing during the weekend, with Hewitt saying that she “can’t engage with The Post on that,” adding, “Don’t kill me, I’m just the messenger.” U.S. intel has assessed that Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN was responsible for the country’s murder of Washington Post writer JAMAL KHASHOGGI.

But the aggressive Saudi pressure to see the government’s views reflected on American media had some results. Hewitt and others helped top Saudi officials get on Americans news airwaves all that week: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia ABDEL AL-JUBEIR sat down for high-profile interviews with PBS, CNBC and Fox News, while CNN interviewed Saudi Foreign Minister Prince FAISAL BIN FARHAN. As Fox’s JACQUI HEINRICH noted in a tweet, after Biden left the country, the foreign minister agreed to a second interview just two days later to push back on the president’s comments about confronting the Saudis over Khashoggi’s murder.

For its part, the administration declined to engage in tit-for-tat exchanges with the Saudis. Several television networks that interviewed Saudi officials reached out to the White House for an official response. But the administration instead worked to book officials like AMOS HOCHSTEIN, Biden’s energy security adviser, for separate appearances.

The Saudi Arabia PR effort around Biden’s trip wasn’t just targeted at those reporters who accompanied the president. Prior to the trip, the Saudi Royal Embassy also tasked LS2group, a comms and government affairs firm headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, with pitching the embassy’s spokesperson for interviews to local outlets. According to filings with the Department of Justice, the firm contacted a radio station in South Dakota, a television station in Iowa, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cleveland.com, The Detroit News, among others.

MESSAGE US — Are you RORY BROSIUS, executive director of the White House’s Joining Forces Initiative? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com .

A message from Connected Commerce Council:

Small businesses face big consequences from overregulating tech. By breaking up integrated services, it gets harder and more expensive for smaller shops to reach customers. That’s why 87% of small businesses are concerned that antitrust legislation is going to make digital tools more expensive and less useful. Say yes to supporting small business success. Vote NO on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S.2992).

 
POTUS PUZZLER

This one’s from Allie. Which president had a pet parrot that could whistle “Yankee Doodle?” Bonus points for knowing the name of the parrot!

(Answer at bottom.)

The Oval

LUCK OF THE IRISH: When Biden appeared virtually at an event today, reporters spotted a few books in the background of the White House  residence with a certain Irish theme . That included "JFK in Ireland” and "Newgrange: Archaeology, Art and Legend."

HARRIS LEANS IN: Vice President KAMALA HARRIS traveled Monday to Indiana, where she met with abortion rights advocates and state legislators as a special legislative session on abortion began. Our EUGENE DANIELS reports the move is part of a larger effort from the vice president's office to be more aggressive in the fight for abortion rights.

“An individual should be able to choose based on their personal beliefs and the dictates of their faith. But the government should not be telling an individual what to do, especially as it relates to one of the most intimate and personal decisions a woman could make,” Harris said in remarks Monday.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: All the local news stories about gas prices coming down. DHARA NAYYAR, the White House’s regional communications director, shared stories from Jacksonville , Fla.; Hattiesburg , Miss.; Atlanta , Ga.; Tyler , Texas; Columbia, S.C.; and more.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This Reuters investigation on the large number of rescues, emergency calls, and deaths border agents are seeing along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Last year was the deadliest for migrants crossing the border, with 728 fatalities recorded by the United Nations, which started counting in 2014,” the reporters write. “The U.N. has counted 340 more this year, a pace with 2021’s grim record.”

GOOD DOG CONTENT: The president tweeted a picture of himself working next to his dog Monday afternoon, staying consistent with White House messaging that he’s doing fine and hard at work despite his having Covid. He also appeared at a virtual meeting with CEOs and labor leaders to discuss the importance of passing the Chips Act, during which he took a couple Qs from reporters and said he’s on the mend.

Tweet from Joe Biden

Twitter

Earlier in the day, Biden’s doctor, KEVIN O’CONNOR, said the president’s “symptoms are now almost completely resolved ... His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal. His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear.” Our MOHAR CHATTERJEE has more details .

PUNDIT IN CHIEF: Biden told reporters today: “We’re not gonna be in a recession in my view.”

 

STAY UP TO DATE WITH CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO’s platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android . CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.

 
 
THE BUREAUCRATS

FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: THOMAS WINSLOW, a longtime aide to White House deputy chief of staff JEN O’MALLEY DILLON, will be leaving his position within the next week, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. Thomas plans to take the rest of the summer off and plan a wedding with his fiancé BRENNA WILLIAMS before announcing his next gig. KATIE FRICCHIONE , who most recently served as the political director for Building Back Together, will take over Winslow’s post. In a statement, O’Malley Dillon described Thomas as “one of a kind. He’s a leader, a sharp strategist, and my right hand partner these past ten years.”

KAILASH SUNDARAM is set to leave the infrastructure team next week to pursue joint MBA/JD degrees at Stanford. He previously worked in the White House Counsel's Office and the Biden campaign legal team.

 

A message from Connected Commerce Council:

Advertisement Image

 
Agenda Setting

MONKEYPOX UPDATE: The Washington Post’s DAN DIAMOND reports “the Biden administration is weighing whether to declare the nation’s monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency and also plans to name a White House coordinator to oversee the response.”

Dr. ASHISH JHA, the White House’s COVID task force coordinator, also defended the administration’s response on Monday. On the criticism of testing availability, Jha said the goal right now is to make testing “easy, widespread and available.”

What We're Reading

Kamala Harris Is Stuck (NYT’s Jeffrey Frank)

Sharp Contrasts With Other Jan. 6 Inquiries Increase Pressure on Garland (NYT’s Michael S. Schmidt)

A Conversation With The President’s Chief Economic Advisor On The Future Of American Competitiveness, Innovation, And How Passing The Chips Act For America Is Part Of The Solution (Forbes’ Rhett Buttle)

Exclusive: U.S. Energy Department set to loan GM battery joint venture $2.5 bln (Reuters’ David Shepardson)

 

INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY .

 
 
The Oppo Book

Talk about misreading a room!

While a staffer on Capitol Hill,  ZACH BUTTERWORTH, now the White House’s director of private sector engagement, walked into what he thought would be his first Democratic whip meeting.

“About five minutes after checking in and taking a spot in the back of a packed room, I looked around and thought to myself, ‘I sure would like to see what a Republican whip meeting looks like,’” he told The Hill back in 2011 about his most embarrassing Capitol Hill moment.

But he was already looking at it.

“Just then, someone politely tapped me on the shoulder to inform me that this was the Republican whip meeting, and that I needed to leave immediately,” he said.

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

President WILLIAM MCKINLEY had a pet parrot named Washington Post and it was a patriotic one. According to the Presidential Pet Museum , the parrot could whistle the tune, “Yankee Doodle.” Cute!

A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your best on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.

A message from Connected Commerce Council:

Small businesses run on tech. Integrated digital tools help Frank DiCarlantonio at Scaffidi’s Restaurant reach customers, scale up, and compete. In fact, 75% of small business leaders say digital tools are important to their operations. But Congress is aiming to break up the digital tools and services that small businesses rely on—making them more expensive and harder to access. It could be the difference between success and closing their doors for good. Don’t forget about small businesses. Vote NO on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S.2992).

 
 

Follow us on Twitter

Alex Thompson @AlexThomp

Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani

Allie Bice @alliebice

 

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Listen on Apple Podcast
 

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to .

More emails from POLITICO West Wing Playbook

Jul 22,2022 09:45 pm - Friday

How do you solve a problem like Manchin-ia?

Jul 21,2022 09:22 pm - Thursday

Breaks, Biden can’t catch ‘em.

Jul 20,2022 09:49 pm - Wednesday

Really Biden his time

Jul 19,2022 10:01 pm - Tuesday

Baby, you can drive my car

Jul 18,2022 09:55 pm - Monday

Always Tweet

Jul 15,2022 09:02 pm - Friday

Chris I., The Cyber Guy

Jul 14,2022 10:00 pm - Thursday

What about Bill?