The Wolves of K Street Podcast

Wolves of K Street Podcat #19: The Civil War Inside the DoJ

“If you don’t approve this settlement, I will destroy you. I will destroy your job at the DOJ.”
That’s what a top Republican fixer told Donald Trump’s chief antitrust enforcer last year, according to an explosive recent story in The Wall Street Journal.
In this episode of The Wolves of K Street podcast, Luke and I talk with one of the authors of the story – Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Rebecca Ballhaus – about how corporate lobbyists are influencing the government’s merger-review process.

Wolves of K Street Podcast #18: Opposition Research: The Content Creators for Political Campaigns

Geoff Embler joins us on The Wolves of K Street podcast to uncover the secretive world of opposition research.
Embler calls opposition researchers the ultimate “content creators” of political campaigns who are responsible for finding stories and developing narratives that define political opponents, business rivals and other adversaries.  
“Good opposition research is the mother’s milk of a successful election campaign,” Embler says.
In another analogy, Embler says the opposition research shop is like the “ammo factory” for a campaign, manufacturing the bullets that a campaign uses to blast opponents.

Wolves of K Street Podcast #17: Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer Explains Rise of Extremism

Former Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer joins us to talk about the unintended consequences of Jan. 6 for American businesses, the rise of super PACs and a new financial-services coalition he's running.
Luetkemeyer explains how key changes in how lawmakers pay fo their reelection campaigns has incentivized Republican and Democratic lawmakers to become more extreme – resulting in the fraying the pro-business center that had existed in since the 1970s.
“The right gets farther to the right – and left goes farther left,” Luetkemeyer says.
Most Republican and Democratic lawmakers once got the largest share of their campaign funds from corporate PACs. Today, they are relying on small donors and the support of super PACs.
That change was accelerated by the Jan. 6 riots and the vote to challenge the 2020 election results.
When companies and trade associations decided to stop donating to Republicans after Jan. 6, many Republicans – including Luetkemeyer – turned against the business lobby.
Luetkemeyer tells us how he blackballed lobbyists from companies who stopped donating to him.
Luetkemeyer also talks about his new coalition, the American Consumer and Investor Institute, and his effort to overhaul federal rules for proxy advisory firms.

Wolves of K Street Podcast #16: Don't Tell the President

Brody and Luke sit down with lobbyist-turned-author Tom Collamore to talk about his new book, Don’t Tell the President, which documents the highs and lows of the anonymous life of presidential advance men (and women).
Collamore tells us about his hilarious and insightful book – and shows how presidential advance underscores the importance of loyalty in politics.
He also describes the behind-the-scenes moments that led to some of the most unforgettable moments in presidential history, including what led Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis to strap on an oversized military helmet and ride around in a tank while TV cameras rolled.
He also described what it was like to be with President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, and discussed the emotional moment when President Barack Obama visited Sandy Hook after the mass shooting.
Plus, don’t miss the incredible story of the Queen of England’s famous “purple hat” speech in the White House.

Wolves of K Street Podcast #15: The Rise of Lee Atwater and Charlie Black

Brody and Luke introduce the final two members of the most success political and lobbying shop of the Ronald Reagan-era -- Black, Manafort, Stone & Atwater.
Charlie Black and Lee Atwater were two southern Republicans from the Carolinas.
What were they like?
Let’s hear it from Roger Ailes, the former Richard Nixon aide turned Fox News Chairman:
“Charlie’s the kind of guy who if he came home and found somebody making out with his wife on a rainy day," Ailes once said, "he’d break the guy’s umbrella and ask him to leave -- and he’d have him killed a year later."
What would Atwater do?
“Lee would blow the house up,” Ailes quipped.
Brody and Luke discuss how Black and Atwater rose from their middle-class roots in the Democratic South to the pinnacle of Republican politics as top strategists on Ronald Reagan’s 1980s presidential campaign.

Wolves of K Street Podcast #14: The Rise of Paul Manafort and Roger Stone

Brody and Luke dive into the making of Chapter 3 of The Wolves of K Street – the rise of Paul Manafort and Roger Stone.
We unpack the opening of the chapter at the funeral of Lee Atwater, an event that drew the glitterati of the Grand Old Party and demonstrated the importance their firm, Black, Manafort, Stone & Atwater.
We show how Paul Manafort and Roger Stone rose from their blue-collar roots in Connecticut, learned cut-throat campaign strategies at a young age and moved to Washington for their political educations.
Their paths to power then diverged.
Roger Stone mastered the art of dirty tricks while working on President Richard Nixon’s 1972 reelection (the same campaign that sparked the Watergate scandal), which later led to a humiliating fall from grace.
Meantime, Paul Manafort took an influential role in the White House for Nixon’s successor – only to face his own painful collapse.
Finally, we discuss the critical moment when Stone and Manafort realized their paths to political revival required an alliance with each other and a bold plan at the 1977 convention of the Young Republicans in Memphis, Tenn.

Wolves of K Street Podcast #13: Battling with Hostile Reporters

What’s it like for press secretaries working for Republicans in Washington who are constantly attacked by a hostile media? How do they get their message out when reporters are beating them of the head?
We talk with Jonathan Grella, former spokesman for “The Hammer” – Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas.
Grella tells us about being in the foxhole, sparring with reporters like John Bresnahan, Mike Allen and others while trying to defend and promote the infamous former Republican leader.
Anyone who deals with the press will benefit from Grella’s advice on dealing with beat reports, the “drive by” and a press corps that is trying to take your head off every day.

The Wolves of K Street Podcast #12: All the Worst Humans

“The scariest moment you will ever have in life is when the FBI knocks on your door and says they have some questions about your behavior.”
That’s Phil Elwood, a veteran of Washington's “dark arts” industry.
On this week’s edition, Elwood talks about helping Qatar kill the U.S.’s bid for the 2022 World Cup, partying with the son of Muammar Gaddafi (his client) in Las Vegas and hurrying his wife out of his apartment when the FBI came knocking as part the Mueller investigation.

The Wolves of K Street Podcast #11: How Populism Has Made It Difficult For Lobbyists

Lobbyists and trade association chiefs are supposed to have access to important policymakers in Washington, from key members of Congress to White House officials.
That's especially truewhen Republicans are in charge.
So what happens when you have a populist president in the White House who doesn't want to talk to lobbyists and trade associations?
Corey Rosenbusch, the president of The Fertilizer Institute, joins us on The Wolves of K Street podcast to talk about how his industry has succeeded even as the Trump White House tries to avoid engaging with lobbyists and trade associations.

Wolves of K Street Episode #10: The CEO as Chief Advocacy Officer

Donald Trump is forcing a fascinating change in corporate advocacy.
For decades, companies and industries relied on their Washington lobbyists and trade associations to lead their influence efforts.
But Trump doesn’t like talking to lobbyists and trade association chiefs.
Trump wants to skip the middleman and go right to the CEO.
That’s required CEOs to take on a new and sometimes uncomfortable role: Chief Advocacy Officer.
On this week’s edition of The Wolves of K Street Podcast, former Trump White House advisor Joe Grogan talks about Trump’s preference to talking directly to CEOs.
Grogan explains how the president’s direct outreach to CEOs – which often takes place after midnight on his cell phone – changes how the White House functions – and how the influence business works.