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Definers Public Affairs was an American right leaning opposition research firm based in Arlington, Virginia.[1][2][3][4] It performed media monitoring services, conducted research using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and also created strategic communication intended to negatively influence the public image of individuals, firms, candidates and organizations who opposed their clients.[2][5][6][7] Founded by Republican Party political operatives Joe Pounder and Matt Rhoades in 2016, Definers shared at least nine current and former executives, as well as its office space, with America Rising, a Republican-affiliated political action committee founded by Rhoades, and NTK Network, a digital news aggregator founded by Pounder.[7][8][9]

Organization and operations

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In 2017, the law firm Dentons formed a strategic partnership with Definers dubbed 3D Global Affairs.[10][11] Among the services offered at 3D Global Affairs would be "governmental relations and lobbying support to shape the environment...campaign-style opposition research" and “communications and rapid response professionals to direct the narrative.”[12]

Definers established an office in San Francisco, headed by Tim Miller, the former communications director for Jeb Bush's presidential campaign, to provide opposition research to Silicon Valley clients.[13] In 2017 Definers also opened an office in London called the U.K. Policy Group, headed by Andrew Goodfellow, the former head of research for the Conservative Party.[14][15]

Definers often supports its clients by publishing articles on their affiliate networks, NTK Network and America Rising, which were often picked up by larger conservative media organisations like Breitbart[5][16] and GotNews, which was owned by the alt-right activist Charles C. Johnson.[17] According to Definers' proposal to potential clients, the goal was to "create an echo chamber effect" among these various outlets.[17] An anonymous former employee for Definers described NTK Network as their "in-house fake news shop".[18]

Contract with Environmental Protection Agency

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In December 2017, Definers Public Affairs was paid $120,000 in a no-bid contract from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for services which mostly included investigating employees of the agency who were known to be critical of Donald Trump or who had questioned the management of the agency under Administrator Scott Pruitt. Their research was conducted in part by filing a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about such employees.[2][8][19] Allan Blutstein, the vice president of Definers, said he was targeting "resistance" figures in the federal government, "adding that he hoped to discover whether they had done anything that might embarrass them or hurt their cause", and specifically noted that he was looking for "anything that would be useful for Republicans."[2]

During the bid Definers listed itself erroneously as a "small disadvantaged business", which was corrected after receiving the contract.[20][21] Definers' work was also incorrectly listed in the contract as performing “media monitoring” services.[22] Definers cancelled the contract after receiving media scrutiny.[23][24][25]

William K. Reilly, the EPA administrator under President George H.W. Bush, criticized the hiring of Definers Public Affairs, saying that: "Mr. Pruitt appears not to understand that the two most valuable assets EPA has is the country’s trust and a very committed professional work force. This shows complete insensitivity, complete tone-deafness, or something worse."[7] John O’Grady, President of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents approximately 10,000 EPA employees, was the target of a Definers FOIA request, and called the firm a threat to EPA employees.[2] Charles Tiefer of the University of Baltimore argued that Definers is benefiting from politically motivated crony capitalism.[2]

Allegations by Shervin Pishevar

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In November 2017 Venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar filed a lawsuit against Definers Public Affairs, alleging that it orchestrated a smear campaign against him. Definers denied the allegation, calling it "delusional".[26][27] Pishevar dropped the lawsuit in February 2018, and said that he planned to "focus [his] full attention on those who should ultimately be held responsible" for the alleged smear campaign. No damages were paid, and the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice.[28]

Contract with Facebook

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In October 2017 Definers Public Affairs was hired by Facebook to manage the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved Russian meddling in the 2016 election and mishandling of user data, and had led to public backlash and a congressional investigation.[5][29][18] Definers subsequently began doing general communications work for Facebook, such as running conference calls.[30]

The firm wrote dozens of articles that criticized Apple and Google, while downplaying the impact of Russian interference on Facebook. These articles were then published on NTK Network, a conservative news site run by Definers, which was later described by a former Definers employee to NBC News as "our in-house fake news shop."[18] According to The New York Times, "While the NTK Network does not have a large audience of its own, its content is frequently picked up by popular conservative outlets, including Breitbart."[5]

Another part of their work for Facebook involved attempting to discredit opponents and critics of the company, particularly a group called Freedom From Facebook, by preparing and distributing to the press documents linking the group to financier George Soros. Soros—a frequent subject of right-wing and antisemitic conspiracy theories—had publicly criticized Facebook in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2018, calling the platform "a menace to society".[31]

Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s outgoing head of communications and policy, admitted the company had hired Definers Public Affairs, a decision he took responsibility for, in a blog post published in November 2018. In the post he wrote "Did we ask them to do work on George Soros? Yes".[32][33][34][35]

Following the public outcry from the New York Times article on the activity of Definers Public Affairs, Facebook cut ties with the agency.[36] George Soros' Open Society Foundation put a statement out that said the content was a "deliberate strategy to distract" from Facebook's own scandals and that the "methods threaten the very values underpinning our democracy."[37] Tim Miller defended the accuracy of Definers' work stating that "Definers shared a narrow document about an anti-Facebook group's funding. It was entirely factual."[38] BuzzFeed News published some of Definers' research on Soros.[39]

In 2019, in the aftermath of the reporting on their work for Facebook, Matt Rhoades left Definers to take a position as the co-chief executive of CGCN Group, a Republican lobbying group, reportedly "taking a number of Definers staffers with him". Definers co-founder Joe Pounder bought out Rhoades' stake in the company and rebranded the firm as Bullpen Strategy Group. It was also announced that he would stay on as chief executive of America Rising.[40]

References

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  1. ↑ "Facebook hired GOP consultancy that used anti-Semitic dogwhistles to smear protesters: report". Salon. November 14, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lipton, Eric; Friedman, Lisa (December 15, 2017). "Executive at Consultancy Hired by E.P.A. Scrutinized Agency Employees Critical of Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Why Didn't Allegations Of Trump's Sexual Misconduct Come Up Sooner?". National Public Radio. October 14, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Tim Miller is a partner at Definers Public Affairs, company that specializes in opposition research.
  4. ↑ Pounder, Joe (June 16, 2016). "An Opposition Researcher for the GOP Reveals His Secrets". Time. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook's Leaders Fought Through Crisis". The New York Times. November 14, 2018. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Searching for 'Resistance' E.P.A. Employees". The New York Times. December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 Lipton, Eric; Friedman, Lisa; Vogel, Kenneth P. (December 17, 2017). "E.P.A. Employees Spoke Out. Then Came Scrutiny of Their Email". The New York Times. Retrieved December 17, 2017. He and Matt Rhoades, his partner at Definers Public Affairs, also started America Rising. The two entities share several top executives, including Allan L. Blutstein, the lawyer who prepared the Freedom of Information Act requests aimed at the EPA employees.
  8. 1 2 Leber, Rebecca; Kroll, Andy; Choma, Russ (December 15, 2017). "The EPA Hired a Major Republican Opposition Research Firm to Track Press Activity". Mother Jones. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  9. ↑ Sherman, Jake (September 6, 2017). "Former Jeb Bush spokesman Tim Miller joining Definers Public Affairs". Politico. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Lobbying world". The Hill. December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Law and lobby firm Dentons has launched 3D Global Affairs as part of an alliance with strategic communications and political intelligence firm Definers Public Affairs, run by Matt Rhoades, the former campaign manager for Mitt Romney's presidential run in 2012 and former Republican National Committee research director Joe Pounder. 3D Global Affairs offers clients legal teams, lobbying and advocacy help, digital advertising, data analytics, opposition research and political intelligence, among other services.
  11. ↑ "Dentons announces strategic alliance to create 3D Global Affairs" (Press release). Dentons. November 30, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Dentons announces strategic alliance to create 3D Global Affairs". Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  13. ↑ Romm, Tony (June 7, 2017). "Republican political operatives want to sell the dark arts of opposition research to tech companies". Recode. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018.
  14. ↑ Cooper, Charlie (July 10, 2017). "Romney-linked lobbying firm to open London branch". Politico. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Washington-based Definers Public Affairs will expand its operation to the U.K. later this year, and has appointed Andrew Goodfellow, a former director of research for the Conservative Party, as its vice president.
  15. ↑ Paavola, Christy (July 14, 2017). ""Blood, Toil, Tears And Sweat"". Definers Public Affairs. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Recently at Definers, we opened our London affiliate, the U.K. Policy Group[...]
  16. ↑ Wong, Julia Carrie (November 15, 2018). "Facebook reportedly discredited critics by linking them to George Soros". the Guardian. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  17. 1 2 Nicas, Jack (November 21, 2018). "How Facebook's P.R. Firm Brought Political Trickery to Tech". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  18. 1 2 3 Cappetta, Michael; Collins, Ben; Kent, Jo Ling (November 18, 2018). "Facebook hired firm with 'in-house fake news shop' to combat PR crisis". NBC News. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  19. ↑ "DEFINERS CORP EP18H000025". Office of Management and Budget. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017.
  20. ↑ @ProPublica (December 19, 2017). "1. A GOP-affiliated oppo research firm won a no-bid EPA contract. 2. They gave themselves a leg up by listing themselves as a "small disadvantaged business." 3. Except they're not one—a fact they corrected...after they got the contract" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ↑ @EricLiptonNYT (December 19, 2017). "So when Definers--the GOP-affiliated oppo research and PR firm--applied for its no-bid EPA contract to do media monitoring for the agency, it told the federal government it was a "small disadvantaged business," a standing that can help secure a contract" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ↑ "Scott Pruitt's Dirty Politics". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  23. ↑ Holden, Emily (December 19, 2017). "GOP firm ends controversial media monitoring contract with EPA". Politico. The Republican media monitoring firm Definers Public Affairs canceled its $120,000 contract with Environmental Protection Agency after a media backlash because of the company's links to GOP opposition research firm America Rising.
  24. ↑ @PounderFile (December 19, 2017). "Below is my statement regarding the EPA contract..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ↑ Dennis, Brady (December 19, 2017). "EPA to end controversial contract with conservative 'media monitoring' firm". The Washington Post. But an agency spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the EPA and the company had agreed to terminate the contract. In a separate conversation, the company's president, Joe Pounder, said the decision was a mutual one. "Definers offered EPA a better and more efficient news clipping service that would give EPA's employees real-time news at a lower cost than what previous administrations paid for more antiquated clipping services," Pounder said in an emailed statement. "But it's become clear this will become a distraction."
  26. ↑ Musil, Steven (December 14, 2017). "Silicon Valley VC quits firm amid reports of sexual misconduct". CNET. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Pishevar filed a lawsuit last month against Definers Public Affairs, accusing the public relations firm of carrying out a "malicious smear campaign." Definers Public Affairs has denied any involvement in work related to Pishevar.
  27. ↑ Mac, Ryan (December 6, 2017). "Silicon Valley Investor Shervin Pishevar Accused Of Spreading False Information To Cover Up Alleged Sexual Misconduct". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  28. ↑ Bort, Julie. "VC Shervin Pishevar, who resigned after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, has dropped a lawsuit alleging a smear campaign". Business Insider. Retrieved October 2, 2026.
  29. ↑ Reilly, Claire (November 21, 2018). "Facebook's outgoing VP of comms defends using PR firm to dig up info on critics". CBS News.
  30. ↑ Nicas, Jack; Rosenberg, Matthew (November 16, 2018). "A Look Inside the Tactics of Definers, Facebook's Attack Dog". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018.
  31. ↑ Wong, Julia Carrie (November 22, 2018). "Facebook policy chief admits hiring PR firm to attack George Soros". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 2, 2026.
  32. ↑ "Facebook's outgoing policy chief takes the fall for smearing George Soros". VICE News. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Elliot Schrage on Definers | Facebook Newsroom". Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  34. ↑ "'I regret my own failure': Departing Facebook comms chief Elliot Schrage takes blame for missteps". Business Insider. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  35. ↑ Frier, Sarah. "Facebook Morale, Hurt by Share Drop, Suffers Another Hit". Bloomberg.
  36. ↑ Isaac, Mike; Nicas, Jack (November 15, 2018). "Facebook Cuts Ties With Definers Public Affairs Following Outcry". The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  37. ↑ McKay, Tom. "George Soros Foundation Calls Facebook 'Vile,' 'Reprehensible' for Pushing Conspiracy Theories". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  38. ↑ Feinberg, Ashley (November 16, 2018). "What Did 'Pod Save America' Expect?". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  39. ↑ Mac, Ryan; Bernstein, Joseph; Warzel, Charlie; Honan, Mat (December 1, 2018). "This Document Is Some Of The Research Facebook Commissioned On George Soros". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  40. ↑ Meyer, Theodoric (September 4, 2019). "Definers tries to reboot after Facebook oppo research controversy". Politico. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019.
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