Marsh Copsey & Associates

Marsh Copsey & Associates (MCA; formerly Marsh, Copsey & Scott) is a Maryland-based "strategic communications firm" offering services in "political campaigns, issue advocacy [and] corporate re-branding." The firm brags about its "extensive hands-on experience with every facet of a Republican political campaign," adding that "we have an excellent track record of working together with the best Republican consultants, pollsters and direct voter contact vendors in the nation."

History
"In December 2004, IRI contracted with Tony Marsh and Lance Copsey of the media consulting firm Marsh, Copsey & Scott to set up a Baghdad Media Center on behalf of the U.S. State Department. Its stated purpose was to assist Iraqi political parties and candidates in the upcoming January elections," reported Muriel Kane in June 2006.

In January 2004, MCA "registered the domain name crushkerry.com, which was used throughout the 2004 election for an anti-Kerry blog run by their senior account executive, Patrick Hynes. The site was heavily involved in promoting both the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and CBS Memos stories. It also encouraged readers to suggest other ways of discrediting John Kerry, and claimed to have inside sources of information on the Kerry campaign."

"Until 2003, Tony Marsh and Lance Copsey had been associated with the firm of Russo Marsh & Rogers, which has since then become known for its sponsorship of a pro-Iraq War organization called Move America Forward. In 2004, MAF encouraged a campaign of intimidation to prevent theater owners from showing Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. In 2005, it launched a "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" caravan to demonstrate against Cindy Sheehan. It is currently running television ads calling for the censure of former President Jimmy Carter, in retaliation against calls to censure George W. Bush."

"Marsh and Copsey’s association with these actions is made more troubling by the closeness of their firm's ties to the Republican Party. They list among their clients the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial and Congressional Committees, and many state Republican organizations."

"Marsh Copsey's connection with IRI goes well beyond the Baghdad Media Center. IRI's annual report for 2003 lists both Tony Marsh and Lance Copsey among its volunteers for that year. After the 2005 Iraqi election, IRI's resident political director in Iraq became Marsh Copsey's director of international ventures."

Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy
The Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy (FDP) has a mission of promoting "freedom and further the principles of democracy, secularism, human rights and civil society," in Iran, the Ukraine and Iraqi Kurdistan. The FDP website was registered by MCA's Lance Copsey. MCA lists FDP among its clients.

International work
"MCA produced the first television commercials in the former Soviet Union," boasts its website. "We helped beat Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, the first Communist dictator ever to lose an election, and we created television ads for the campaign for independence of Ukraine, the first of the former Soviet Republics to achieve independence by means of a fair and free election."

The firm says it was" the first advertising agency to create commercials in support of democracy building in Iraq shot entirely on location. ... In advertising produced during November, 2005, designed to encourage voter participation in the December parliamentary elections; MCA wrote, directed, shot, and edited four new commercials for broadcast in Kurdistan, Iraq."

Clients
The firm's clients include:
 * Ronald Reagan for President, 1980 and 1984
 * Jack Kemp for President, 1988
 * Lamar Alexander for President, 1996
 * Republican National Committee
 * National Republican Senatorial Committee
 * National Republican Congressional Committee
 * Eli Lilly
 * Nichols-Dezenhall (now Dezenhall Resources)
 * Citizens for a Sound Economy (which merged with Empower America to become FreedomWorks)
 * Coalition for Open Competition on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge
 * Kivex.com
 * Planetfeedback.com
 * Adelphia Business Solutions
 * Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy
 * Agua Caliente Tribal Council
 * San Diego County Water Authority
 * National Federation of Independent Business
 * Empower America (which merged with Citizens for a Sound Economy to become FreedomWorks)
 * Referendum for Ukrainian Independence

According to the Center for Public Integrity, MCA was paid $7,861,199 for work during the 2003-2004 election cycle on the following Congressional campaigns and committees:
 * Goli Ameri
 * Tom Price
 * Shelley Moore Capito
 * Lynn Westmoreland
 * Phil Gingrey
 * William Manger, Jr.
 * National Republican Congressional Committee
 * Bev Kilmer
 * Jeff Fortenberry
 * Kevin R. Triplett
 * Jeanne Patterson
 * Thaddeus G. McCotter
 * John M. Shimkus
 * Mark Foley

Staff
From the firm's website:
 * Tony Marsh
 * Lance Copsey died in June 2010 at age 40
 * Sam Patten (resident political director for the International Republican Institute in Iraq from March 2004 through February 2005)
 * Brandon Moody
 * M. Marty Youssefiani, formerly with Balestra Group and Rollins International
 * Gil Humphreys
 * Shaun Ledgerwood

Contact
Marsh Copsey & Associates 8201 Corporate Drive Suite 15 Landover, MD 20785

Phone: 202.544.2900 Fax: 202.544.9103 Website: http://www.marshcopsey.com

SourceWatch resources

 * Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy
 * Move America Forward
 * Russo Marsh & Rogers

Articles

 * Muriel Kane, “GOP organization linked to dirty politics, attempted coups, 'building democracy' for US”, Raw Story, June 9, 2006.