Kenneth B. Mehlman

Kenneth B. Mehlman is a lawyer, Republican activist and partner in the law and lobby firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. The Wall Street Journal described his Akin Gump work as providing "political intelligence" to corporate clients, while the firm said Mehlman will "focus on developing solutions for clients facing challenges in the legislative, regulatory, constituency, corporate and public relations arenas at the state, federal and international levels." 

Mehlman formerly chaired the Republican National Committee, was campaign manager for George Walker Bush's 2004 re-elected bid, and served as Deputy Assistant to President Bush and Director of Political Affairs on Bush's White House Staff, as well as chief of staff to Rep. Kay Granger (R., Tex.). Mehlman and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) were classmates at Harvard Law School. 

Profiles
"In January of 2001, Ken Mehlman was appointed deputy assistant to the President and director of White House political affairs. In this role, Mr. Mehlman oversees all aspects of the President Bush's political agenda by working with members of Congress, federal agencies, state parties, and community groups.

"During the general election, Mr. Mehlman served as national field director for Bush/Cheney 2000. In this role he was responsible for working with the campaign's leadership in all 50 states to build strong grassroots teams and execute winning political plans. Mr. Mehlman directed the campaign's operation, and worked closely with the Republican National Committee and state parties to develop and implement Victory and voter contact programs.

"Mr. Mehlman served as Midwest regional political director during the primaries. As part of the 10 states for which he was responsible, he managed the Iowa team and wrote and implemented the plan that produced Governor [George Walker] Bush's historic Iowa caucus victory (the highest percentage of votes for a Republican in the history of the caucus). The Iowa grassroots model was subsequently used in primaries in South Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia, Maryland, and other states.

"From 1996-1999, Mr. Mehlman was Rep. Kay Granger's (TX-12) chief of staff and he oversaw the political, legislative, and communications operations. Previously, Ken was Rep. Lamar Smith's (TX-21) legislative director from 1994-1996.

"In addition to running Granger's campaign, Mr. Mehlman worked on William Weld's successful 1990 campaign for governor of Massachusetts, Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine's 1994 campaign, and House races in Virginia, Texas, and Georgia. He worked on Sen. Bob Dole's 1996 campaign, the 1996 Republican National Convention and President George Herbert Walker Bush's 1992 re-election campaign.

"Mr. Mehlman practiced environmental law for three years in Washington, D.C. and is a member of the D.C. and Maryland bars. He is a 1991 graduate of Harvard Law School and 1988 graduate of Franklin and Marshall College."

Copied from the American Democracy Conference web site.

SourceWatch Resources

 * Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
 * Jack Abramoff
 * Karl Rove
 * Progress for America
 * Republican 'culture of corruption'
 * Susan B. Ralston

Profiles

 * Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman's Official Bio.
 * Ken Mehlman in the Wikipedia.
 * David Cook, "Ken Mehlman," Christian Science Monitor, September 18, 2006.

Articles & Commentary

 * "VF: Ex-Lobbyist Abramoff Dishes on Ex-Friends," TPM Muckraker, March 8, 2006: "RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, who said he didn't really know Abramoff - it turns out he had Sabbath dinner at Abramoff's house, did him political favors, and even offered to pay Abramoff's tab at Signatures, the lobbyist's restaurant."
 * "Ken Mehlman Killed State Department Nomination on Abramoff's Behalf," TPM Muckraker, March 13, 2006.
 * David Margolick, "Washington's Invisible Man," Vanity Fair, March 20, 2006: "As the lobbyist who has ignited what might be the biggest government scandal since Watergate, Jack Abramoff—now sentenced to 70 months in jail for conspiracy and fraud—became notorious for tossing around money, much of it from the casinos of his Indian-tribe clients, to influence key lawmakers. As he talks (and talks) to the feds, Washington is waiting to see whom he'll take down with him."
 * Paul Kiel, "Abramoff Had Access to DoJ, Ashcroft," TPM Muckraker, July 5, 2006 : "The recent IG report also disclosed that Abramoff's buddy Ken Mehlman in the White House's Office of Political Affairs made an effort to keep Abramoff up to date on issues related to his client."
 * "'NYT' Sunday Preview: Ken Mehlman is 'Anal-Retentive, Man!' Says Karl Rove," Editor & Publisher, September 22, 2006.
 * Justin Rood, "White House Ties to Abramoff Stronger Than Reported," TPM Muckraker, September 28, 2006.
 * Joel Seidman, "Abramoff's ties to Mehlman extensive. Report shows close ties between lobbyist and White House official," NBC News, September 29, 2006.
 * Susan Schmidt, "Abramoff Put White House Contacts at 400," Washington Post, September 29, 2006.
 * Paul Kiel, "Emails Suggest Mehlman Arranged Fed Funds for Abramoff Contributions" and "Ken Mehlman, Abramoff's 'Rock Star'," TPM Muckraker, September 29, 2006.
 * James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt, "Report Says Rove Aide Accepted Abramoff Gifts," Washington Post, September 30, 2006.
 * Richard Wolffe, "In Rove's Footsteps. They learned from the master, and are applying the lessons in the hottest races ahead. Meet the architect's protégés," Newsweek (MSNBC), October 2, 2006. re Karl Rove, Scott Howell, Todd Olsen, Terry Nelson, Sara Taylor
 * Elana Schor, "Abramoff report reveals ties to GOP, Democratic members," The Hill, October 3, 2006.
 * Editorial: "'No Further Fallout'. White House stonewalling and the Jack Abramoff scandal," Washington Post, October 8, 2006.
 * Paul Kiel, "Interview: Heist Author, Peter Stone," TPM Muckraker, October 9, 2006.
 * Patrick Martin, "White House aide resigns in influence-peddling scandal," WSWS, October 12, 2006: "In the course of at least 69 documented contacts with Abramoff, she served as a go-between to bring his most urgent requests to the notice of Rove and his then-deputy, Ken Mehlman, now chairman of the Republican National Committee." re Susan B. Ralston
 * Peter Wallsten, "Displease a Lobbyist, Get Fired. E-mails show Jack Abramoff's ability to influence White House staffing decisions through his highly placed friends," Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2006.
 * Transcript: "CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," CNN, October 15, 2006.
 * John Aravosis, "Bush White House reportedly worked in support of sexual slavery in Asia as favor to Jack Abramoff," AMERICAblog, October 16, 2006. re trafficking in human beings
 * Billmon, "Ken and Jack," Whiskey Bar, October 16, 2006.
 * Joe Sudbay, "Is there a Rove-Mehlman power struggle for control of the GOP campaign operation?" AMERICAblog, October 16, 2006.
 * "Ken Mehlman concedes that Republicans 'cut & Run' from Afghanistan and terrorists took over," Crooks and Liars, October 22, 2006.
 * John Amato, "Is Ken Mehlman kidding? We should ask Harold Ford," Crooks and Liars, October 24, 2006.
 * John Aravosis, "Republican National Committee regularly takes contributions from gay porn 'king'," AMERICAblog, October 29, 2006. re Nicholas T. Boyias
 * John Aravosis, "CBS's Bob Schieffer calls GOP head Ken Mehlman 'lame'," AMERICAblog, October 29, 2006. Nicholas T. Boyias
 * John Aravosis, "GOP porn scandal widens: In addition to accepting donations from gay 'porn king,' GOP also took money from 'porn queen' Mary Carey," AMERICAblog, October 29, 2006. re Mary Carey
 * John Amato, "Bob Schieffer calls Mehlman out on the Harold Ford ad," Crooks and Liars, October 30, 2006. re Harold Ford
 * John Aravosis, "Bill Maher just outed Republican party chair Ken Mehlman as gay on Larry King Live," AMERICAblog, November 8, 2006. YouTube link on page.
 * Lindsay Beyerstein, "Video: Bill Maher outs Ken Mehlman on CNN," AlterNet, November 9, 2006.
 * Noel Sheppard, "Bill Maher Tells Larry King That RNC Chair Ken Mehlman is Gay," NewsBusters, November 9, 2006.
 * "Republican party leader Ken Mehlman to leave post in January," Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), November 9, 2006.
 * John Aravosis, "CNN censors Bill Maher, deletes Larry King Live segment where Maher outs GOP party chair Ken Mehlman as gay," AMERICAblog, November 9, 2006.
 * John Aravosis, "CNN tells YouTube to pull down video outing GOP party head Ken Mehlman ," AMERICAblog, November 9, 2006.
 * "RNC chairman a closet 'gay,' charges Bill Maher. HBO star plans to out other top homosexual Republicans," WorldNetDaily, November 9, 2006.
 * Dan Balz, "Mehlman Won't Seek Another Term as Republican Party Chief," Washington Post, November 10, 2006.
 * Chrish, "Ken Mehlman out(ed), Bill Maher censored," News Hounds, November 10, 2006.
 * Klaus Marre, "Mehlman to rejoin Akin Gump," The Hill, March 1, 2007.
 * John Harwood and Brody Mullins, "Bush's Ex-Campaign Manager To Give Firms Political Advice," Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), March 1, 2007.