BGR Group

BGR Group (Barbour, Griffith & Rogers) is a bipartisan lobbying and communications firm based in Washington, D.C., with offices in London, Beijing and Austin, Texas.[1] Founded in 1991 by former White House aides Ed Rogers and Haley Barbour, the firm initially focused on influencing the Executive Branch of the U.S. government. Another Executive Branch veteran, Lanny Griffith, joined them after the 1992 elections to form Barbour Griffith & Rogers, now shortened to BGR Group.[2] In 2019, BGR was recognized by both The Hill and Bloomberg as a "Top Performing Lobbying Firm".[3][4]

By 1998 — the year Fortune Magazine ranked BGR Washington's second-most-influential lobbying firm — BGR had expanded to lobby Capitol Hill, health care policies and state governments.[5] In 2001, BGR added specialists in telecommunications, financial services, and energy. That year it represented Microsoft in its antitrust battle with the U.S. Department of Justice and Fortune Magazine ranked it Washington's most-influential lobbying firm.[6]

In 2004, BGR created its international affairs practice to help global clients influence decision-makers. Four years later, the firm formed BGR Public Relations, which offers traditional and digital communications services. BGR went on to create practice areas in commerce, defense and financial services. Its newest practice area, litigation support, began in 2019.[7]

The firm's clients include Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments, trade associations, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, hospitals, and coalitions. BGR's staff includes former senior-level appointees in the White House, Congress and Executive Branch departments and agencies. BGR Public Relations’ staff has dozens of years of experience at top levels of journalism as well as in political, corporate, and international communications.[8]

The firm employs various former political figures including Ambassador Kurt Volker, Jeffrey Birnbaum, and Gov. Haley Barbour.[9]

  • In April 2015, the Government of South Korea retained BGR for public relations and image building.[15][16]
  • In 2016, BGR Group signed with Saud al-Qahtani to be paid US$500,000.00, providing "public relations and media management services for The Center [for Studies and Media Affairs at The Saudi Royal Court], which includes both traditional and social media forums".[18]
  • In 2018 BGR Group signed with Sami al Sadhan, the Deputy Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, to "provide public relations and media management services for The Embassy", at monthly fee of US$80,000.00.[20][21]
  • In 2019, former Republican representative and CNN political commentator Sean Duffy takes a senior position at BGR Group.[22]
  • In 2020, The American Conservative reveals the involvement of BGR in oil corruption.<ref>, fueling the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan against Armenians.

References
  1. BGR About page, https://bgrdc.com/about-bgr/
  2. "About BGR | BGR Group". 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  3. Perks, Ashley (2019-12-12). "The Hill's Top Lobbyists 2019". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  4. "Lead and Succeed: 2019 Top Performing Lobbying Firms". Bloomberg Government. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  5. "The Influence Merchants Lobbyists are a permanent establishment in Washington, and FORTUNE's Power 25 ranking is its undisputed "A" list. New to this year's survey: the best of the hired guns. - December 7, 1998". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  6. "Fat & Happy in D.C. Republicans are busting out all over, not just in Congress and the White House but also on FORTUNE's latest list of the capital's most powerful lobbyists. - May 28, 2001". archive.fortune.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  7. "BGR History | BGR Group". 2020-04-26. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  8. "About BGR | BGR Group". 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  9. "BGR Group About". BGR Group. BGR. Archived from the original on 2014-06-05. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  10. "BGR Group". Barbour Griffith & Rogers. The Center for Responsive Politics. Open Secrets. 2013.
  11. Blumenthal, Paul (18 Jun 2014). "Washington Lobbyists Pour Money Into Mississippi Senate Race To Fend Off Tea Party". Huffington Post.
  12. "Луизианская сага Абрамовича, Волошина, Николаева и Юрьева" [Louisiana saga of Abramovich, Voloshin, Nikolayev and Yuriev]. RosPress (in Russian). August 6, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  13. Добровольская, Лили (Центр «ТИ — Р»); Хаммер, Дэвид (WWLTV Channel 4) (August 2, 2018). "Как лоббировали газовый бизнес Александра Волошина в Луизиане и Техасе" [How did the lobbying occur for the gas business of Alexander Voloshin in Louisiana and Texas]. Transparency International - Russia: Russians in America (in Russian). Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  14. "Lobbying Registration for American Ethane". Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Section 4). April 15, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  15. Pace, Richard (21 Apr 2015). "BGR Public Relations Firm Hired By South Korea". everything-pr.com. EverythingPR.
  16. Gale, Alistair (21 Apr 2015). "South Korea Hires PR Agency Ahead of Abe Speech". Wall Street Journal.
  17. Dexter Filkins. "Was There a Connection Between a Russian Bank and the Trump Campaign? A team of computer scientists sifted through records of unusual Web traffic in search of answers". NewYorker.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  18. FARA registration, US department of Justice
  19. FARA registration, US Department of Justice
  20. FARA registration, US department of Justice
  21. Saudi Arabia's client roster
  22. Hananoki, Eric. "CNN's Sean Duffy joins leading lobbying firm, creating untold conflicts of interest for the network". Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
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