Richard Hohlt

Richard F. Hohlt (born December 4, 1947, in Indianapolis, IN.) is a Washington D.C. lobbyist representing clients including Sallie Mae, Bristol Myers, Chevron, the Federalist Group, JPMorgan Chase and the Nuclear Energy Institute. He is also a major fundraiser for the Republican Party and reached the status of "Super Ranger" based on raising more than $500,000 for George W. Bush's reelection.

Hohlt is also the leader of a group of Washington, DC insiders called the "Off the Record Club" and is known as an "information broker" in political circles. Other members of this club include lobbyists Ken Duberstein, Charlie Black and Vin Weber. They have been known to host Karl Rove and Joshua Bolten on occasion at these social gatherings. Hohlt has been referred to as a regular background source of information for Robert Novak and other journalists. He was recently cited as an important contact in the perjury trial of Lewis (Scooter) Libby. Novak testified that after writing his article that outed Valerie Plame, he sent a preview copy to Hohlt. Hohlt has acknowledged that he then faxed it to Rove.

Hohlt graduated from Milliken University (B.S., 1970), he served in the Air Force Reserves, 1970-1976. He was appointed by George H.W. Bush as a member of the Board of Directors of the Student Loan Marketing Association, he also served as senior vice president of government affairs at the United States League of Savings Institutions in Washington, DC. Prior to this he served as executive assistant to United States Senator Richard G. Lugar. He is married to Deborah Lee Messick, a public relations specialist who has worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Republican National Committee as well as for several Washington public relations firms including the RTC Group, Daniel J. Edelman, Inc., Ruder Finn & Rotman, and Henry J. Kaufman & Associates, Inc.

During his testimony at the Lewis Libby trial, Novak named Richard Hohlt as a primary and often-used source. Newsweek contributor Michael Isikoff reported that Novak gave Hohlt an advance copy of Novak's article "outing" Valerie Plame, which Hohlt then passed on to Karl Rove in advance of the article's publication.

External resources

 * Profile of Richard Hohlt at the Revolving Door website (accessed February 18, 2007).