From the Warner for Senate campaign:
Gillespie’s ad leaves out details on his work as a self-described “partisan warrior” and multi-million dollar lobbyist for companies like Enron
Ed Gillespie today released a new television ad that attempts to hide from his long career as a partisan political operative and a multi-million dollar lobbyist for companies like Enron. Gillespie’s ad says that he was a Senate parking lot attendant and then rose to be counselor to “a President.” Gillespie mentions that he started three businesses. Missing from the ad? The fact that Gillespie spent his career as one of Washington’s top lobbyists, who made millions lobbying for companies like Enron. Also missing from the ad? The fact that Gillespie spent the rest of his career as a partisan operative, and even once called himself a “partisan warrior.”
“Ed Gillespie's ad attempts to hide the fact that he has spent his entire career working as a partisan operative and a top Washington lobbyist for companies like Enron,” said David Turner, a spokesman for the campaign. “If Ed Gillespie was elected to the Senate, he would contribute to the partisan gridlock, not make it better. Virginians want a problem solver, not a self-described 'partisan warrior.'”
Gillespie Himself Said He’s Only Had Lobbying And Political Work Since Working In The Senate Parking Lot. Gillespie’s own timeline of “every other job” he had after parking lot attendant in his memoir doesn’t list a single job that isn’t a partisan political position or a lobbying position. [Winning Right, p. xi-xiv]
Mid-1980s: Worked for Florida Rep. Andy Ireland
1985: RNC Fundraiser
1992-1996: Dick Armey's Communications Director
1996: RNC Communications Director
1998-2000: Lobbyist for Barbour, Griffith and Rogers
2000: Advisor to Bush Campaign
2000-2007: Founder of Quinn, Gillespie and Associates
2001: Lead Lobbyist for Enron
Feb. 2001: Bush Administration appointee in Department of Commerce
2002: Consultant to Elizabeth Dole Campaign
2003-2004: RNC Chairman
Dec. 2006 – June 2007: Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia
June 2007 – Jan. 2009: Advisor to President George W. Bush
2009: Chair, Bob McDonnell for Governor
2009: Founder, Resurgent Republic
2010: Co-Founder, American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS
2010: Chair of the Republican State Leadership Committee
2009 – 2013: Founder of Ed Gillespie Strategies
POLITICO On Gillespie: “He’s A Pioneer Of Modern Lobbying”. “He's a pioneer of modern lobbying: The opposition research binders will be thick, and general election ads write themselves. Gillespie co-founded the bipartisan lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates in 2000. Enron, the energy company that collapsed in scandal, was among his clients. He has not been a registered lobbyist since entering the Bush administration in 2007, but he continues to have corporate clients at his private firm. The Democratic Party of Virginia has been pressing for him to disclose his current clients and who paid him speaking fees in recent years.” [Politico, 1/13/14]
Gillespie Was Named DC’s #8 Most Influential Lobbyist: “This Former RNC Chair Has Turned His Relationship With President Bush Into An $18 Million Business.” “Number 8. Edward Gillespie, Quinn Gillespie & Associates. The Democrats may have won Congress, but the White House is still in Republican hands, and this former RNC chair has turned his relationship with President Bush into an $18-million business. A onetime aide to Republican House majority leader Richard Armey, Gillespie helped draft the ‘Contract With America’ that accompanied the GOP victory in 1994.” [Washingtonian, 6/1/07]
Enron Paid Gillespie & His Firm $700,000 To Lobby For Them, 10% Of The $7 Million They Spent On Lobbying Efforts Beginning In 1996. According to lobby disclosures, Enron paid Gillespie & his firm $700,000. According to USA Today, “Enron has spent more than $7 million since 1996 to run a Washington lobbying office and to hire dozens of well-connected insiders. Among those retained: (…) Ed Gillespie, former aide to House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.” [USA Today, 1/24/02; Lobby Amendment, 2/26/02; Lobby Disclosure, 1/1/01; Lobby Disclosure, 8/14/01, Lobby Disclosure 2/14/02]
Gillespie Said “American Crossroads And American Crossroads GPS Is A Group That I’ve Helped To Launch Along With Karl Rove” “And then the American Crossroads and American Crossroads GPS is a group that I've helped to launch along with Karl Rove to offset much of the activity on the left side” [Google and Politico Interview with Ed Gillespie, Citizentube, 9/27/10]
Ed Gillespie Strategies Represented A Wide-Range Of Corporations And “Overtly” Political Groups Seeking To Influence In DC Decision Makers. “The business roster for his now mothballed Ed Gillespie Strategies firm featured some of the most powerful and influential global industries, sectors such as energy, telecommunications, technology, and health care. Among them: America’s Natural Gas Alliance, American Petroleum Institute, AT&T, Bank of America, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, The Brunswick Group, DCI Group, Facebook, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USTelecom, Microsoft, RATE Coalition, Republican State Leadership Committee, Univision, and Walgreens…Two of the clients, Brunswick and DCI, operate in the perception and policy-shaping sphere. Another, RSLC, is overtly political, while RATE supports cutting corporate taxes, a right of center fiscal policy idea.” [Virginian Pilot, 4/14/14]
“Ed Gillespie's ad attempts to hide the fact that he has spent his entire career working as a partisan operative and a top Washington lobbyist for companies like Enron,” said David Turner, a spokesman for the campaign. “If Ed Gillespie was elected to the Senate, he would contribute to the partisan gridlock, not make it better. Virginians want a problem solver, not a self-described 'partisan warrior.'”
Gillespie Himself Said He’s Only Had Lobbying And Political Work Since Working In The Senate Parking Lot. Gillespie’s own timeline of “every other job” he had after parking lot attendant in his memoir doesn’t list a single job that isn’t a partisan political position or a lobbying position. [Winning Right, p. xi-xiv]
Mid-1980s: Worked for Florida Rep. Andy Ireland
1985: RNC Fundraiser
1992-1996: Dick Armey's Communications Director
1996: RNC Communications Director
1998-2000: Lobbyist for Barbour, Griffith and Rogers
2000: Advisor to Bush Campaign
2000-2007: Founder of Quinn, Gillespie and Associates
2001: Lead Lobbyist for Enron
Feb. 2001: Bush Administration appointee in Department of Commerce
2002: Consultant to Elizabeth Dole Campaign
2003-2004: RNC Chairman
Dec. 2006 – June 2007: Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia
June 2007 – Jan. 2009: Advisor to President George W. Bush
2009: Chair, Bob McDonnell for Governor
2009: Founder, Resurgent Republic
2010: Co-Founder, American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS
2010: Chair of the Republican State Leadership Committee
2009 – 2013: Founder of Ed Gillespie Strategies
POLITICO On Gillespie: “He’s A Pioneer Of Modern Lobbying”. “He's a pioneer of modern lobbying: The opposition research binders will be thick, and general election ads write themselves. Gillespie co-founded the bipartisan lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates in 2000. Enron, the energy company that collapsed in scandal, was among his clients. He has not been a registered lobbyist since entering the Bush administration in 2007, but he continues to have corporate clients at his private firm. The Democratic Party of Virginia has been pressing for him to disclose his current clients and who paid him speaking fees in recent years.” [Politico, 1/13/14]
Gillespie Was Named DC’s #8 Most Influential Lobbyist: “This Former RNC Chair Has Turned His Relationship With President Bush Into An $18 Million Business.” “Number 8. Edward Gillespie, Quinn Gillespie & Associates. The Democrats may have won Congress, but the White House is still in Republican hands, and this former RNC chair has turned his relationship with President Bush into an $18-million business. A onetime aide to Republican House majority leader Richard Armey, Gillespie helped draft the ‘Contract With America’ that accompanied the GOP victory in 1994.” [Washingtonian, 6/1/07]
Enron Paid Gillespie & His Firm $700,000 To Lobby For Them, 10% Of The $7 Million They Spent On Lobbying Efforts Beginning In 1996. According to lobby disclosures, Enron paid Gillespie & his firm $700,000. According to USA Today, “Enron has spent more than $7 million since 1996 to run a Washington lobbying office and to hire dozens of well-connected insiders. Among those retained: (…) Ed Gillespie, former aide to House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.” [USA Today, 1/24/02; Lobby Amendment, 2/26/02; Lobby Disclosure, 1/1/01; Lobby Disclosure, 8/14/01, Lobby Disclosure 2/14/02]
Gillespie Said “American Crossroads And American Crossroads GPS Is A Group That I’ve Helped To Launch Along With Karl Rove” “And then the American Crossroads and American Crossroads GPS is a group that I've helped to launch along with Karl Rove to offset much of the activity on the left side” [Google and Politico Interview with Ed Gillespie, Citizentube, 9/27/10]
Ed Gillespie Strategies Represented A Wide-Range Of Corporations And “Overtly” Political Groups Seeking To Influence In DC Decision Makers. “The business roster for his now mothballed Ed Gillespie Strategies firm featured some of the most powerful and influential global industries, sectors such as energy, telecommunications, technology, and health care. Among them: America’s Natural Gas Alliance, American Petroleum Institute, AT&T, Bank of America, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, The Brunswick Group, DCI Group, Facebook, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USTelecom, Microsoft, RATE Coalition, Republican State Leadership Committee, Univision, and Walgreens…Two of the clients, Brunswick and DCI, operate in the perception and policy-shaping sphere. Another, RSLC, is overtly political, while RATE supports cutting corporate taxes, a right of center fiscal policy idea.” [Virginian Pilot, 4/14/14]
| On screen: Ed Gillespie, An Immigrant’s Son Gillespie: My dad was an Irish immigrant. |
2014: Gillespie's Campaign Said He Would Not Vote For The Bipartisan Immigration Bill. “Gillespie would not, Logan added, vote for the bipartisan immigration reform bill in the Senate that would put more than 12 million undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship.” [Richmond Times Dispatch, 6/13/2014] |
| On Screen: Jack & Connie Gillespie Gillespie: I grew up working in my parents’ grocery store. I helped pay for college as a Senate parking lot attendant, and eventually became a counselor to a president. |
Gillespie Himself Said He’s Only Had Lobbying And Political Work Since Working In The Senate Parking Lot. Gillespie’s own timeline of “every other job” he had after parking lot attendant in his memoir doesn’t list a single job that isn’t a partisan political position or a lobbying position. [“Winning Right” by Ed Gillespie, p. xi-xiv] |
| [On screen: Ed Gillespie, Successful Businessman] Gillespie: I started three successful businesses. |
Gillespie Was Named DC’s #8 Most Influential Lobbyist: “This Former RNC Chair Has Turned His Relationship With President Bush Into An $18 Million Business.” “Number 8. Edward Gillespie, Quinn Gillespie & Associates. The Democrats may have won Congress, but the White House is still in Republican hands, and this former RNC chair has turned his relationship with President Bush into an $18-million business. A onetime aide to Republican House majority leader Richard Armey, Gillespie helped draft the ‘Contract With America’ that accompanied the GOP victory in 1994.” [Washingtonian, 6/1/07] Richmond Times Dispatch: Gillespie “Made His Fortune” At Lobbying Firm That Worked For Enron And Other Big Name Clients. “Gillespie made his fortune as a partner with Democrat Jack Quinn in a lobbying firm that they reportedly sold for $40 million in 2004. Among the company’s clients were Enron, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Microsoft, Tyson Foods, Viacom, PricewaterhouseCoopers and DaimlerChrysler, according to the watchdog group Public Citizen.” [Richmond Times Dispatch, 1/17/14] |
| On screen: Create Jobs, Reward Work Gillespie: Like many parents, Cathy and I worry Washington’s policies aren’t just killing jobs, but destroying the work ethic. |
Enron Paid Gillespie & His Firm $700,000 To Lobby For Them, 10% Of The $7 Million They Spent On Lobbying Efforts Beginning In 1996. According to lobby disclosures, Enron paid Gillespie & his firm $700,000. According to USA Today, “Enron has spent more than $7 million since 1996 to run a Washington lobbying office and to hire dozens of well-connected insiders. Among those retained: (…) Ed Gillespie, former aide to House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.” [USA Today, 1/24/02; Lobby Amendment,2/26/02; Lobby Disclosure, 1/1/01; Lobby Disclosure, 8/14/01, Lobby Disclosure 2/14/02] “Some 20,000 People Lost Their Jobs When Enron Collapsed.” “Legions of people awaited Thursday's guilty verdict in the Enron fraud trial, and probably none more anxiously than Enron's victims. And you don't have to go far in Houston to find them. Some 20,000 people lost their jobs when Enron collapsed; Laurie Mayer is among them. ‘I was with Enron a little over three, three-and-a-half years,’ she said. ‘Lost my 401(k) pension, totalling a little over $100,000 at the time.’” [NBC News, 5/26/06] Gillespie Told Armey “I Make More Money By Knowing You Than You Make By Being You.” “It was a lucrative decision. As a lobbyist, Gillespie is said to have joked to his former boss Rep. Dick Armey, 'Dick, I make more money by knowing you than you make by being you.' (The remark has evolved in Washington lore, and it is a matter of dispute whether Gillespie made the point about himself or someone else.)” [Washington Examiner,1/24/14] |
| [On screen: Grow The Middle Class, Expand Opportunity] I’ll be a leader for policies that grow the middle class and expand opportunity. [On screen: Ed Gillespie, For Economic Growth] With the right policies, we can do better. I’m Ed Gillespie. I approved this message. | Gillespie: “I Don’t Believe In A Federally Mandated Increase In Minimum Wage” In response to a question about minimum wage, Gillespie said “Well I don’t – I think the states are making decisions about raising minimum wage. In Maryland for example, they just raised the minimum rage recently and in Virginia we have not. And you know we’ll see what the difference is relative to job creation and employment rates and unemployment rates in those two neighboring states. I don't believe in a federally mandated increase in the minimum wage.” [Gillespie on Morning Joe, 6/27/14] AP: States With Higher Minimum Wages Gained More Jobs. “Maybe a higher minimum wage isn't so bad for job growth after all. The 13 U.S. states that raised their minimum wages at the beginning of this year are adding jobs at a faster pace than those that did not, providing some counter-intuitive fuel to the debate over what impact a higher minimum has on hiring trends. […] “It raises serious questions about the claims that a raise in the minimum wage is a jobs disaster,” said John Schmitt, a senior economist at the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research.” [AP,7/19/14] |
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