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The assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has forced lobbyists and public relations professionals representing Saudi Arabia to reassess their relations.
Even though a handful of companies are canceling their contracts with the kingdom, dozens of them remain on the payroll of the Saudis.
At least 28 organizations are registered as foreign agents for the kingdom and its various non-profit and commercial entities, according to documents from the Ministry of Justice.
In total, the Saudis have spent $ 76.9 million on lobbying over the past decade. According to Bloomberg, at least 18 of its lobbyists stick to the relationship.
"To some extent, supply and demand are supply and demand," said Steve Schmidt, former vice president of public affairs for Edelman. "If you go back to the Russians, it was usually run by a single company.The Saudis spend so much money lobbying in Washington and for their public image they are literally full-employment clients. . "
PRWeek We have used a combination of media reports, public documents and agency staff to understand the extent of Saudi Arabia's spending on advocacy, but the situation remains fragmented.
The Foreign Agent Registration Act documents paint an incomplete picture. The disclosure requirements for FARA are only vaguely applied.
The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that Saudi Arabia spent $ 5.9 million on lobbying in the first half of 2018, relying solely on additional statements, filed every six months. These documents describe the payments received and the customers acquired and terminated.
Most FARA agencies have not reached the end of their six-month cycle, making it difficult to accurately assess Saudi Arabia's spending on lobbying and communications.
"The expenses can be declared in the initial contracts, so we know that these taxfilers are working for Saudi Arabia or have at least agreed to do so, but they have not yet received payment," he said. Anna Massoglia, researcher at the Center. for sensitive politics.
More than half of Saudi agencies did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment on the registration of this article.
Walkers
Only six organizations have moved away from the Saudis following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Harbor Group was the first to pull through, but it would not be the last major lobby to give up a lucrative deal with Saudi Arabia.
In the days and weeks that followed, Saudi blew more lobbyists, including: Gladstone Place Partners, Glover Park Group, BGR, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and, more recently, Portland Communications.
Portland is the only agency to have expressly stated that it does not renew relations with the Saudis.
After completing his work for Alwaleed Philanthropies on October 3, 2018, Portland terminated his contract, according to FARA.
Portland had to run as a foreign agent because Alwalweed's general secretary is Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud.
The partner, Noah Black, said the agency's decision was not based on the news of Khashoggi, which disappeared on 2 October. He explained that this was because Portland had already completed its work for Alwalweed by supporting its efforts at the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York.
Christopher Harvin co-founded Sanitas International, which represented the Hungarian government, the Azerbaijani government and other foreign entities.
"When you represent a foreign customer, you need to create a climate of trust with him," said Harvin. "All our customers, we project their brand and they have an impact on our brand, our reputation, [and] other customers. Some of these agencies have client companies that do not understand work abroad, which weighs on the choice of the recipient. "
Loyalists
Three agencies have publicly revealed that they stand alongside Saudi Arabia.
The Brunswick Group will continue to manage financial communications for ARAMCO, as the state-owned oil company prepares for an IPO valued at $ 100 billion, a spokesman said . This does not involve any government work, he added.
Brunswick took over the FTI Consulting IPO. A person familiar with the transaction said that FTI stopped representing ARAMCO in 2017.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck continues his representation from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, according to The Denver Post. The lobbyist group receives a monthly fee of $ 125,000 for its policy advice on the Terrorist Terrorism Justice Act.
This contract was signed in July 2018.
A spokesman for law firm Gowling WLG confirmed that he worked for the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia. "[It’s] advise exclusively on a possible agreement with the United States on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and on legal issues regarding the development of a commercial nuclear program in Saudi Arabia, "said a spokesman.
The expiry date of this contract is May 31, 2020.
Test the waters
Some foreign agents who have fulfilled their contracts have left the possibility of continuing to work for the Saudis.
SouthFive Strategies was outsourced to support the World World League conference in New York, which took place from October 4 to 5 this year.
"The agreement covered the period from September 27 to October 26," said SouthFive President Jason Epstein by e-mail. "A renewal of the agreement has not been discussed."
"If the Muslim League of the World is seeking additional assistance in promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue, SouthFive would be happy to help," said Epstein.
The main account agency, SAPRAC, could not be contacted for comment.
In 2017, Daniel J. Edelman Holdings helped the Saudi General Investment Authority "advance various Saudi economic development initiatives" and also managed the editorial content, according to FARA documents.
Edelman was trying to secure reports in the Boston medical media and national media to "highlight health reforms in Saudi Arabia, as well as to publish an opinion piece in the Saudi Minister's Site Selection magazine." of health, "says FARA.
A spokesman for Edelman said by e-mail that the work had been "completed in May of the same year." Activities in the Middle East continued to support SAGIA until December 2017 with internal communications ". He declined to say if the company would completely break ties with the kingdom.
"We evaluate each opportunity on a case-by-case basis and we can not really say what we would or would not do on the basis of a hypothetical question," he said.
On my way?
Saudi lobbyist Richard Hohlt plans to retire, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
Hohlt, who serves on the President's White House Scholarship Commission, said his 71st birthday encouraged him to begin "the process of reassessing my representation, participation and retirement."
He did not respond to a request for comment from PRWeek. Hired in 2016, he provided communications advice and government relations to the embassy and the government, according to information provided by FARA.
Qorvis Communications has been representing Saudi Arabia since the end of 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Of the 19 hijackers involved in the plot, 15 were Saudis.
Qorvis receives a monthly stipend of $ 279,500, in addition to project work involving research and event management.
MSLGroup told Bloomberg that it continues to monitor the situation: "We remain very concerned about the circumstances surrounding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Jamal Khashoggi, which is a pretty serious situation and we are following it closely." .
FleishmanHillard began working for the University of Science and Technology King Abdullah more than ten years ago, participating in global advocacy efforts even before the school's construction.
Diala Demashkieh, Senior Account Executive at FleishmanHillard, said she no longer represented the university after completing a project earlier in the year. Demashkieh helped coordinate the Innovation for Impact forum, which was held on March 24 at MIT.
For its work, the Omnicom agency received $ 132,050 for the communication activities it had undertaken from November 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018.
A spokesperson for FleishmanHillard declined to comment on the date on which the relationship officially ended or whether she wishes to continue working with the university and the Saudis.
Overseas
The shockwaves of Khashoggi's story have crossed the borders of US public relations agencies present in Europe, which has also been the reason for their work in favor of Saudi Arabia.
Prior to its merger with Burson-Marsteller, Cohn & Wolfe started to represent NEOM in 2017 as a global partner, while WPP's Y & R business units were responsible for branding and strategy, according to a source close to the folder.
NEOM is a $ 500 billion futuristic city project aimed at diversifying the country's economy.
That same year, politico According to Burson-Marsteller, the campaign of the Islamic Military Alliance, a counter-terrorism effort led by Saudi Arabia
Neither BCW nor WPP responded to requests for comment for this article.
A survey of The Guardian We have appointed Freud, CT Group, Pagefield Global Counsel, Milltown Partners, Kekst CNC and Consulum as public relations companies that have supported the Kingdom's communication initiatives.
Freud and Pagefield stated that they no longer worked with the country. Milltown will not confirm any past work for the Saudis, but says he has no current contract "in the region". Kekst CNC has said it has not worked with the Saudis since the beginning of this year.
Consulum is made up of veterans of Bell Pottinger, the firm behind the so-called "state capture" campaign in South Africa.
WPP's Richard Attias & Associates has been appointed head of the Future Investment Initiative, an annual investment forum held in Riyadh last weekend that saw an exodus of participants and partners as a result of Khashoggi's execution. The holding company was reviewed immediately.
In addition, politico appointed H + K Strategies and FleishmanHillard as former public relations operators for Saudi Arabia in Brussels. Fleishman said he was not managing any work for the Kingdom in Brussels. H + K, who won a contract for Riyadh-based ACWA Power, said the company did not represent the electricity company in Brussels either.
The APCO office in Brussels worked for the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information in 2017, according to Politico. APCO also opened an office in Saudi Arabia in May 2018. A representative of the agency did not respond to requests for comment.
