People that have been following this thread may have gotten the impression I dislike Pat Cox...well the truth is, I do
American Rightwingers, Astroturfers, Pharmaceutical Companies, Irish Developers, Influence Peddlers and More...
There are about 6 stories to Pat Cox: the Public Pat, Pat the Builder (aka the Eastern Adventurer), Dr. Cox - Medicine Man, Our Friend in Washington, the Cox Crusader, and lastly, Forty-Hat Pat. Let's meet them all.
Fantastic Mr. Cox and Friends:
So far, we have all seen a basic, well airbrushed, glamour picture of Pat Cox: there are the resume fillers of the family man, the Irish and European politician - nay, statesman even - and the lobbyist for Michelin, Microsoft and others [1].
But if we look closer, there are several faces of Pat Cox, one overlapping with the next, but also relatively separate from others - like a series of interlinked Olympic rings. Cox's rich tapestry of political, "pro-bono" and commercial work has up until now remained relatively unappreciated by the general public - this article is just one humble attempt to rectify that injustice.
Unweaving the woven threads into discrete categories, we may see that there are about 6 stories to Pat Cox: the Public Pat, Pat the Builder (aka the Eastern Adventurer), Dr. Cox - Medicine Man, Our Friend in Washington, the Cox Crusader, and lastly, Forty-Hat Pat.
The Public Pat:There is a fairly standard boilerplate resume that accompanies Pat Cox: the Family Man, MEP from 1989-2004, European Parliament President from 2002-2004, European Movement leader, Smurfit Business School board member [2], that last refuge of politicians - corporate lobbying - and now perhaps a good chance of being a post-Lisbon Commission President.
Although it has been mentioned fairly widely that he has worked for Microsoft, Pfizer and Michelin, it's not really clear when he started with them, what he does - or how he does it. Lobbying is essentially paying a third party to influence the political system (ethically of course!) - although as Mr. Cox would put it, it is really about meeting industry stakeholders on behalf of clients to "help shape the telling of the story". [3]
We do know some specifics from the Financial Times: that from May 2005 to 2009 for example, Cox has served as Independent Member of the Supervisory Board of Michelin SCA (Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA) - and that he is also Member of the Company's Remuneration Committee - which presumably decides who gets paid what. [4]
Eastern Promise, and to Russia with Love - Pat the Builder:Mr. Cox is often praised for his pro-bono work, and rightfully so. And it would perhaps be a trifle bolshie to begrudge him networking opportunities based on such. Nonetheless, one has to admire the manner in which he seems to have consistently leveraged his charity work into paid employment and broadened financial opportunities.
In March of 2004, for example, Pat joined a kind of diplomacy-Thunderbirds team at "International Crisis Group", with suitably jet-setting offices in Washington, the EU - and Moscow. [5][6]
There he joined his fellow namesake - and fellow Anglosphere Liberal - Paddy Ashdown, who of course had previous political management experience in the Balkans (and even hands-on conflict management, so-to-speak, in Northern Ireland some time before that).
In October of 2004, Pat said that the EU's enlargement to 25 members was an "investment in solidarity." [7] In July of 2005, he made a public point of the moral "duty of care" the EU owed to the western Balkans. Within the former Soviet sphere of influence, to be sure, but not so gauche as to impinge on modern Russia's sphere of influence, we are glad to see.
Incidentally, about three months later, his new lobbying partner Dal Col was getting a bit of cash thrown his way to help shape the story of a Moscow-backed Ukrainian Prime Minister Yanukovych [8][9] in the US. Yanukovych's point man Kieslev (an Odessa-born US citizen who ponied up the cash) [10] explained it thus:
“Our message to [the West] is that the Regions Party program is based on real experience of real business people,” ...
“We want to build an economy which will reach EU membership through evolutionary steps rather than quick populist programs that will never get executed by [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yushchenko,” ...
A reporter for Kiev Post added:
"While Regions [Yanukovych's Group] may not want to spread word throughout its Russian favoring eastern Ukrainian electorate that the bloc supports Ukraine’s “gradual” European Union integration, its Kiselev’s job to spread this message in the West." [11]
By cosmic synchronicity, Pat once again got the chance to network with Paddy Ashdown in July 2007: he joined the EU-Russia Centre [12], with all their good stuff about encouraging social stability and international security in the shared relationships and hinterlands of Europe and Russia, using the best human-rights vocabulary. [13]
Then, about five months later in December of 2007 [14][15], Pat's ship came in, when he was invited to join the board at the memorably-named Tiger Developments (originally formed as joint venture between O'Flynn Construction & Goodbody Stockbrokers in 1999).
At about the same time that Irish roundabouts and country petrol stations had advertisements inviting the public to get in on the ground level with property expos for Romania, Bulgaria, and Spain, this Irish construction firm was doing their bit. As it happened, they had just opened an office in Riga, Latvia, and were seeking to expand into the former Soviet sphere of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States (after having conquered the UK and Germany.)
Pat the Builder with his networking skills and knowledge base of the Wild East, was thus able to practice what he preached about expanding opportunity and stability on the eastern frontier of the EU, by making a - literally - concrete investment in solidarity. Although, if Pat does not record this on his current resumé, it is possible he is just too humble to boast.
We might be forgiven for hoping, also, that the O'Flynn Construction buyout of Tiger shares from their previous Goodbody Stockbroker partners in 2006 - just as we were coming to the height of the Irish property bubble - did no harm at all to either Goodbody's or their private clients involved, whoever they were.
Our Friends in Washington:Upon Pat's assumption into the European Parliament Presidency, in February 2002 he employed Texan Ross Mandel as an advisor. Mandel was also former Internet and communications advisor to Nouveau Republican billionaire and corporate libertarian Steve Forbes, in his US Presidential bids of 1996 and 2000 (yes, you recognise that name from the magazine). Mandel would later introduce Pat to his other lobbying partner, Bill Dal Col - also a Steve Forbes advisor amongst other things [16] - in their lobbying partnership called European Integration Soutions.
Perhaps it was under his rhetorical influence that in December 2002, that Pat made the velvet-gloved comment that "Sometimes our friends in Washington are heavier handed than the situation might require" regarding Bush II's faux pas at pushing Turkey's accession into the EU [17] (a long-term US strategic interest.)
Then, during Ireland's Presidency of the EU Commission in January 2004, the American Chamber of Commerce in the EU - described as "sort of like our embassy" by the chamber vice president - (and with members such as Microsoft and Pfizer, as well as being the "most effective lobbying force in town" by The Economist [19]), called on the Irish Commission Minister to make the single market "function more effectively" with the upcoming enlargement. [20]
Certainly, Pat cannot be accused of neglecting his own part to play: in June 2004 [21], "AmCham EU" presented Cox with it's very first annual Transatlantic Business Award of the Year. Pat also received a "Polish Business Oscar" in 2003 [22] for promoting Polish business, from their finance minister (apparently, it is only one's own country that top EU leaders are not meant to promote.)
At the end of March and beginning of April 2005, Pat was one of two keynote speakers at The Executive Employer Conference, in Phoenix Arizona [23] (the other was that leftie George W. Bush's Secretary of Labour), along with other "top thought leaders", sponsored by the employment and labor law of Littler Mendelson. It was a nice gig, where these bosses of the world united, at "JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, where the world-class facilities and spectacular setting provide unparalleled opportunities to relax and network with your peers and senior Littler attorneys". They even had a highlight called "A Night in Casablanca, Dinner and Intrigue Under the Desert Stars." Zoww-wee!
Pat is obviously a safe pair of hands, and maybe even a fount of key information, as far as certain American and international elements are concerned. In July 2006 [24] he became senior counselor to APCO Worldwide international advisory council [25]. With APCO he also palled around with the founder director of the US Transportation Security Agency (formerly director of US Secret Service), along with the former national security advisor to Ronald Reagan, amongst others (such as key Bush II Neoconservative, Elliott Abrams [26]). They were later even joined in the fun by the former head of the Israeli Security Agency. [27]
APCO Worldwide is a "global communication consultancy" specializing in "influencing decisionmakers and shaping public opinion by crafting compelling messages and recruiting effective allies" according to SourceWatch's references. That sounds comfortingly familiar. Although, according to SourceWatch, APCO "was founded by the law firm of Arnold & Porter, one of Washington D.C.'s largest law firms, also well known as a tobacco industry law firm." In addition, "APCO specializes in helping corporations advance their goals by manipulating legislators, and drafting and advancing model legislation and regulations. Key tools... include the creation of business coalitions and fake, corporate-funded "grassroots" groups tailored to specific issues." This included, for example, Philip Morris hiring "APCO to organize the front group TASSC (The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition) in October, 1993 to help fight public health efforts to control Environmental Tobacco Smoke that occurred in the wake of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ruling that secondhand tobacco smoke was a Group A human carcinogen." It also includes work for Indonesia in cuddling up to the US. It's also a member of a group called Friends of Europe. [28]
Last - and certainly not least - in September last year (2008), there was mention of Pat being on the Advisory Board of an outfit called World Growth, founded by one Alan Oxley, which purports to be a "non-profit, non-governmental organization established to bring balance to the debate over trade, globalization, and sustainable development...". [29] Presumably, this would be balance in one particular direction - Oxley is also the founder of International Trade Strategies Pty Ltd, which advises cuddly governments like that of Indonesia on things like getting their banking issues in proper order. [30] Another person mentioned as being on the Advisory Board with Pat? Billionaire and one-time US Republican Presidential candidate, Steve Forbes. [31]
There is no current mention of either Pat or Steve being associated with World Growth.
Dr. Cox, Medicine Man:Not content to merely help rebuild Eastern Europe in the image of the EU, or fight the good fight for the little guy, Pat is also on the side of the Healers of this world.
In September 2004 he became a trustee of Friends of Europe [32] - roguishly described as a "corporate front group" by Corporate Observatory Europe - which helps to shape the story of the EU. It's sponsor members include: Pfizer - the world's largest drug company - and Microsoft (both members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the EU, which gave Pat the brand new prize barely three months before this, if you remember), the European Commission, and APCO Worldwide (which hired him later, too). [33][34]
Next year, in October 2005, he became Chairman of Initiative for Sustainable Healthcare Financing in Europe (ISHFE). This invitation-only conference was not only endorsed by the Ministry of Health of Luxembourg, and hosted by the European Investment Bank; coincidentally, it was also organised in collaboration with the global healthcare company Pfizer, Inc., who also had a non-voting board member.
It is not entirely clear, but it may also have been in 2005 that fortune shined doubly on Pat, becoming a paid lobbyist for Pfizer. That's when he launched his European Integration Solutions lobbying vehicle (and his Irish registered CAPA Ltd. it seems)
Then, in Feb 2007, Pat was not only Moderator of the Initiative for Sustainable Healthcare Financing in Europe, but gave his name to the four-in-one Cox Report issued by same. ISHFE was this time hosted in Helsinki & Strasbourg, and again sponsored by Pfizer. [35]
The Irish Examiner reported the following:
"Research by a range of medical and economic bodies, including the World Bank, for the report suggested that Europe’s ageing population would not be the major influence on how much Europe spends on healthcare in the future.
"The report points out that in Europe generally, how much a person costs the health service does not depend on their age as much as on how close to death they are.
“'New technology, including new forms of drugs, will be the main increased cost facing Europe’s healthcare services in the future,' Mr Cox said." [36]
Although, if we presume that Cox was working at this time to shape the story of Pfizer - the world's largest drug company - at the same time he was impartially moderating a pan-EU healthcare financing forum in which drugs were declared to be the key expense, this seems to have publicly gone unreported.
Two years later in February 2009 [37] - under auspices of Czech Presidency of EU, no less - Pat's name again graced ISHFE's sequel: Cox Report 2 ("the future of health technology assessment (HTA) in Europe"). Again, Pat's work for Pfizer - the fact that Pfizer not only had a public non-voting member, but that seemingly the chairmanship of the board was in the hands of one of it's paid lobbyists - seems to have gone unlauded.
In September 2009 Pfizer made something of a boo-boo, however, having to pay a record-setting fine to avoid prosecution for illegally promoting certain drugs in the unappreciative USA.
After all their selfless work in promoting the right kind of responsible healthcare spending by governments in the EU, we're glad that they have capable people like Pat on their side to shape their story here at least.
Fantastic Mr. Cox and the Cox Crusaders - European Integration Solutions:Philanthropist and statesman, Pat decided to develop a semi-secret identity and base of operations as a way to earn some butter and bread while fighting the good fight as Patman - Dark Knight-for-hire - for set-upon goodguys and defenceless innocents such as Pfizer and Microsoft. Possibly in late 2004, Pat's new pet project of European Integration Solutions - with the ink still wet on the drawing board - apparently got it's first customer in the form of European Information and Communications Technology Industry Association (EICTA - a member of which is Microsoft - but we don't know when Pat/EIS became a lobbyist for Microsoft specifically).
Pat is very big on the knowledge economy, and freeing it up - from anti-monopoly laws, not "free" as in actual money. Himself and Dick Armey - former US Republican House majority leader - railed unsuccessfully against the Open Source Protocol peasants storming the Windows Bastille; it was so "Soviet" said Pat, so "old Europe" said Dick. [38][39][40]
In Sep 2004 the domain name EU-IS.com was registered by Internet whiz Mandel [41]; this is referred to elsewhere as the website and email address base for Pat and EIS. Although the domain is still registered to Mandel [42], the actual site has, alas, disappeared down the memory hole - and someone who designed it apparently inserted code that prevented archival sites and search engines from caching copies of it's pages [43][44], so we may never fully know the ways of the Dark Knight. Tragically, like some expunged heretical creed, all we have are snippets of, and references to it from a scattering of other sources. [45][46][47]
In April of 2005 "Europe came to K-Street, to invite K-Street to Europe". K-Street is regarded as the physical centre of Washington D.C.'s lobbying industry, with the incestuously cosy insider feel in America of, say, "Dublin 4" in Ireland. Pat, Mandel and Dal Col did 20 meetings in four days, to promote EIS as a lobbying force in the EU on consumer issues, despite not even having leased office space in DC yet. [48]
Like the best superheroes, Fantastic Mr. Cox - has sidekicks with interesting backstories. The Cox Crusader's of the EIS Patcave (is it a moveable base? is it a Patmobile?) which is to say the founding and sole partners (that we know of) - are Pat, Dal Col and Mandel.
In addition to that interesting material already covered, here is some more:Bill Dal Col - aka "Billy D" from the 'hood, "Hired Gun" & "Insiders' Insider":
[Bill Dal Col] [49]
Resembling "a 15th century monk in a Renaissance painting," he has been a Republican strategist, [50][51][52] favourite of leading Republican Jack Kemp [53] and head of Reagonomics-oriented Empower America think tank (linked with seven Steve Forbes' Presidential campaign leaders ). Also known as a "hired gun", [54] a "Washington insider", and even an "Insiders' Insider" [55]. He was not only Steve Forbes' campaign wing-man, but friend - Forbes was the one who originally referenced him to Kemp. Once a local Republican politician (a thankless job) known as "Billy D" in his Long Island, New York neighbourhood [56], and later a senatorial campaign manager against Hillary Clinton. [57] This last collective effort was referred to, perhaps uncharitably, as "disastrous". [58]
In November 2004, Pat's new American best-friend in the lobbying business - still working with his own state-side Potomac Communications Strategies lobbying venture [59] - received US$40,000 to organise an op-ed and press breakfast for Moscow-favoured Ukrainian PM Yanukovych.
Dal Col was also a donator to DCI PAC [60][61][62] (in the US, a Political Action Committee is in theory to dispense funds [62] political programs rather than on partisan bases).
DCI PAC is associated with the lobbyist DCI Group - "one of the largest independently owned public affairs companies in the United States." They were involved in something of a scandal while working within the McCain Presidental Campaign at one point, since they like Dal Col's Potomac were also receiving funds from Yanukovych - a Kremlin-backed opponent of the McCain camp's "Orange-Revolution" favourites. [63] The funding for foreign consultants created a stir in Ukraine too. [64][65]
Presumably, Dal Col's earlier and smaller contributions to the McCain camp were not sent back because of any of this - since his later, and larger, donation was acccepted. And hopefully, Yanukovych's desire to tell the West his wish for gradual integration to the EU eased the conscience for our fellow.
DCI Group also "has close ties to Karl Rove, Bush's longtime political strategist," [66] one of the most notorious men in US spin-doctoring. Rove is the man who - during Bush II's competition with decorated war veteran John McCain for the 2000 Republican nomination - mounted a vicious campaign to spread a rumour that McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock. [67] McCain has an adopted daughter from Bangladesh with darker skin. It worked.
Doug Davenport, as one of DCI Group's founders "helped build and manage a 50 state grassroots network of political and policy experts to execute large scale public policy campaigns on behalf of the firm's Fortune 500 clients". He also was " a founding member of DCI's federal Campaign Political Action Committee (DCI PAC)." DCI Group's clients include Exxon Mobil, and PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America). [68][69][70] It "represents the country’s leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies."
Such as, of course, Pfizer Inc.
Pat's lobbying partner Dal Col is also friendly towards other American interest groups. Last year - from February to October 2008 - Dal Col contributed substantially to two Republican Senate and Congress contenders, a much lesser amount of to yet another Republican, then a chunk to Rudy Giuliani, the unfortunate John McCain, and of course to DCI PAC (see timeline below). [61]
Dal Col, as well as being a giver, was also a public media apologist for the disastrous Iraq War launched by George W. Bush - rolling his eyes on television at even the suggestion of a faulty casus bellum offered for it. [71] Definitely not an old-style conservative in the manner of Pat Buchanan - a political and intellectual opponent of Forbes. [72] Presumably this defence and his donation [73] made up for the time when he "trashed" Bush II's campaign via the New York Times in 2000. He's also a Facebook fan of Jeb "Florida Recount" Bush. [74]
His own pet state-side lobbying project is Potomac Communications Strategies - although it's not quite clear whether he is the President of, or just consultant for it, or both. Incidentally, Potomac's registration number is 5588 under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). FARA requires all entities lobbying for foreign entities in the US to register this officially, under pain of criminal sanction; [75] a state of affairs considerably less world-wise presumably than our own EU voluntary register, which both Patman and the gang at the EIS Patcave - amongst many, many others - have scrupulously avoided so far.
The Texas Kid: Ross Mandel - Corporate Astroturfers & Rightwing Teabaggers[Ross Mandel][76]
We know he ran the Internet campaign for and contributed to Steve Forbes. [77] He is the CEO of Human Capital Advisors, Limited Liability Corporation, Texas. [78] He's created some genuinely innovative and creative investing vehicles [79], and advises on similar matters to others.
We know he became an advisor to Pat near the start of his European Parliament Presidency, but not what he advised on, or how he was introduced.
He was on the Board of Advisors of Townhall.com [80] - a US media spinoff and political rallying point of of the corporate libertarian/right-wing Heritage Foundation.
Mandel has also been an active member of Freedom Works, which has been described as a "notorious rightwing advocacy group... a powerful PR organization headed by former Republican House Majority leader Dick Armey and funded by Koch [family] money." You remember Dick "old Europe" Armey of course - he was on the side of Pat, Microsoft and Apple Pie.
The Koch family in turn have been described - from the same admittedly hostile source - as "some of the craziest and sleaziest rightwing oligarch clans this country has ever produced... the multibilllionaire owners of the largest private corporation in America, and funders of scores of rightwing thinktanks and advocacy groups, from the Cato Institute and Reason Magazine to FreedomWorks. The scion of the Koch family, Fred Koch, was a co-founder of the notorious extremist-rightwing John Birch Society." [81]
For those unfamiliar with the John Birch Society: a previous leader once described the commanding General of the victorious Allied forces in Europe during World War II, and later Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower as: a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy." [82]
Furthermore, "Koch’s Freedom Works mega-beast... Freedomworks.org has drawn fire in the past for using fake grassroots internet campaigns, called “astroturfing,” to push for pet Koch projects such as privatizing social security" ("astroturf" is a common synthetic substitute for grass in US field sports). It has been funded by recreational drug-peddlers Philip Morris, and in a previous incarnation by MetLife, a major insurance company. You remember Philip Morris - they hired Pat's APCO friends for astroturfing too.
This organisation's network of friends has recently been linked to those high-profile Teaparty/Teabagging and Townhall "astroturf" protests against that notorious Communist conspiracy called Public Healthcare in the US. [83][84]
Phew - we're just glad this Texas Kid is on our guy's side!
Forty-Hats Pat, and his race to the top:Of course it's a rhetorical flourish to say that Pat wears forty hats in terms of how many jobs he has - we don't actually know how many jobs he has.
Sometimes in his enthusiasm, Pat seems to get his job methodology mixed up. As when he repeatedly talks about "selling" a treaty or entire Constitution [85][86] - as in: "If we [the politicians] can agree it, we can sell it [to the public]".
We do know that what those naive, wimpy and idealistic Americans call "Conflict of Interest" and "Full Disclosure" in politics and lobbying industries seems to be refreshingly unrestrictive, or at least ruggedly individualistic in the EU - you can register publicly as a lobbyist if you feel like it, and many like Pat just don't feel like it. [87]
Despite being described as a firm operating in DC and Brussels (and Dallas) [88], no apparent record of EIM [89] was found in Washington DC [90], Belgian [91], or Irish [92] company registers online as of August 2009. We haven't checked the county registers in Dallas or Denton, but do hope that they at least got the office in Washington.
At least Pat's other apparent vehicle, CAPA Ltd. (Cork), seems to show up in the Irish Company Registry Office around 2005 - although we're not actually sure what that does either, and no website exists for it.
EIM allegedly had an office in what was apparently a private Brussels apartment, with a Cyprus phone number (how cosmopolitan! [93]).
We are heartened that at least EIM's objective of lobbying the EU on consumer issues on behalf of US companies and others, has in no way prevented Pat from becoming the EU Commissioner on Consumer Affairs' "Special Adviser". Again, we don't know what what this actually means, what advice Pat will be giving, and how he separates this hat from his others without getting them all mixed up, and how everyone is held accountable either way.
If she asks him a question about how big companies operate, for example, does he have to interview himself in front of a mirror? Does he get to refuse to answer certain questions posed by himself? And in his work with major members of the American Chamber of Commerce, how does he decide to share about what she is up to - maybe each hemisphere of his brain compartmentalises each job? And if he can't share the details of either job with the other - what exactly does he get paid for? It's all very sophisticated.
It's nice too, that he and his various hats are not befuddled by being both impartial moderator and co-imprimator - along with governments and international institutions - of pan-European healthcare finance, while at the same time being storyteller for the world's largest drug company.
It's good of him to donate his time to campaigning for Irish referenda to get the right answer - and we hope he hasn't been too affected by the second-hand smoke, if you will, from any American rightwing astroturf pard'ners. [94]
And thank God that at least we are not in the Politically Correct USA, where someone might "make a Federal case out of it" all, so-to-speak.
It's also good to see that since Fantastic Mr. Cox's public pronouncements on the necessity of transparency and accountability [95], and previous actions from the high ground (he once participated vociferously in recalling a previous European Commission on grounds of financial hanky-panky), Europe knows he is a sound man and safe pair of hands too (not just the American and Israeli security agency types). Obviously it is out of line for us to demand him to conform to the highest standards of transparency and accountability, by declaring all his professional, commercial, political, personal and "pro-bono" interests and sympathies publicly - both past and present.
That sort of indignity is best reserved for the "No"-siders surely.
With the 2004 Charlemagne Prize given to Pat, they had this say: "This liberal Irishman is possessor of three key qualities: transparency, a popular touch and a pragmatic approach to politics. He demands that the other institutions and organs of the Union should demonstrate the same qualities. On the presentation to the Thessaloniki European Council of the draft constitution of the Convention, he made the following ringing declaration:
'Having the Treaty agreed well before the next European elections is important. Our citizens have the right to know what they are voting for..." [96]
Indeed.
And a pity we can't actually vote for this transparent, popular, and pragmatic thought leader as our next Commission President - but we're sure they'll choose a safe pair of hands.
And, lest anyone cast aspersions on poor Pat, he did suspend his leadership in the European Movement during the Lisbon II campaign. Bless his heart!
=============== Fantastic Mr. Cox and Friends: Timeline===============1989-2004: Pat Cox MEP
1993-1996: Bill Dal Col a US "Republican strategist" heads Empower America think tank;
1996 & 2000: Bill Dal Col "hired gun", is twice Presidential campaign manager for (and friend of) Republican Steve Forbes;
Also 2000 Manager for "disastrous" NY Republican senate campaign against Hillary Clinton;
Ross Mandel Chairman of the Technology and Internet Committee of Steve Forbes Presidential Campaigns.
1999: Tiger Developments formed as joint venture between O'Flynn Construction & Goodbody Stockbrokers;
Primarily involved in UK and Irish markets at first;
2002-2004: Pat Cox EP President
Feb 2002: Ross Mandel, CEO of Human Capital Advisors, is advisor to Cox as EP President; active member of right-wing Koch family sponsored Freedomworks; on the Board of Advisors of Townhall.com, a spin-off of The Heritage Foundation. Mr. Mandel also advises several public and private companies.
Dec 2002: Cox: "Sometimes our friends in Washington are heavier handed than the situation might require" re: Turkey
Jan 2003: Bill Dal Col, publicly a "Republican strategist", and also President of Potomac Communications Strategies,
is a media apologist for Bush's disastrous Iraq campaign and highly questionable casus bellum
Dec 2003: Cox gets Polish Business Oscar
Jan-Mar 2004: William Dal Col donates $1,000 to Presidential elections for George W. Bush
Jan 2004: AmCham EU calls on Irish Commission Presidency to:
Make single market function more effectively with upcoming enlargement;
Mar 2004-2009: International Crisis Group, Cox elected in Dublin meeting as Member of the Board of Trustees "pro-bono";
"ICG's international headquarters are in Brussels, with advocacy offices in Washington DC, New York, London and Moscow. In addition, ICG's field analysts work in over 40 crisis-affected countries and territories."
in ICG Joins Paddy Ashdown, former leader UK Liberal Democrats, and
EU High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 until 2006
May 2004: International Charlemagne Prize, Aachen
Jun 2004: American Chamber of Commerce to the EU:
Presents Cox with inaugural Transatlantic Business Award of the Year
Sep 2004-2009: Listed as Trustee of Friends of Europe, (co-sponsored by Pfizer, Microsoft, APCO, European Commission; also Security & Defence Agenda (SDA), Shell International);
"an open forum for debate among EU and national policymakers, NGOs, business leaders, the media and civil society" (Friends of Europe) or
"a corporate front group" (Corporate Europe Observatory);
Sep 2004-2012: EU-IS.COM registered by Human Capital Advisors LLC Texas, administered by Mandel, Ross, Texas;
Oct 2004: Cox: EU's enlargement to 25 members is an "investment in solidarity".
Nov 2004: Potomac Communications Strategies, Inс, registration no. 5588 - Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)
“task was to provide media advice and to prepare an ‘op-ed’ piece”, arranging a press breakfast;
$ 40,000 to do it from an ”independent observer” Odessa born, US citizen Alex Kiselev; economic advisor on economic integration; go-between for PR firms in US, for Ukraine’s Russia-leaning Prime Minister Yanukovych;
Davis Manafort, of DCI Group, causes controversy while campaigning for McCain because of similar subcontracting of lobbying for the Kremlin-favoured Yanukovych, whose opponents were supported by McCain; DCI Group also has a Political Action Committee for distributing funds to politicians - DCI PAC, to which Bill Dal Col contributes;
2004?-2009: European Integration Solutions, "a Washington DC - Brussels based transatlantic consulting firm".
"
patcox@eu-is.com"; lobbies EU on consumer issues;
Cox is Managing Partner/Chairman and Managing Director (CEO);
"Late" 2004: 1st major client: European Information and Communications Technology Industry Association (EICTA);
Apr 2005: "Europe came to K Street last week to invite K Street to Europe."
Cox with his two American partners, Bill Dal Col - who was introduced by the other, Ross Mandel;
do 20 meetings in four days, sign lease for DC office space, although EIS not yet formally launched;
Dal Col "consults" for Potomac Communications Strategies;
APCO: "A lot of our clients are looking to build strong relationships with decision-makers across the parliament and commission";
May 2005-2009: Michelin SCA (Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA);
Cox serves as Independent Member of the Supervisory Board,
also Member of the Company's Remuneration Committee;
Oct 2005: Initiative for Sustainable Healthcare Financing in Europe (ISHFE);
one-day invitation-only Conference on Financing Sustainable Healthcare in Europe. Endorsed by the Ministry of Health of Luxembourg, and hosted by the European Investment Bank, it was organised in collaboration with the global healthcare company Pfizer, Inc.
Pat Cox (Chairman) European Movement;
Jack Watters Vice President, Pfizer, Inc., New York (non-voting)
Mar 2005: CAPA Ltd founded (Number 397328, last report due - 04/08/2009) Cork, Ireland
Mar/Apr 2005: The Executive Employer Conference Phoenix, AZ;
Cox is one of two keynote speakers, the other is President George W. Bush's Secretary of Labour;
2005?-2009: Microsoft lobbyist
2005?-2009: Pfizer lobbyist
Jul 2005: Says Europe is better off without proposed software patent directive,
Says he would vote against it even if as elected representative rather than as EICTA lobbyist; also says:
Brussels has "duty of care" toward western Balkans, promoting stability through the accession process
Dec 2005: European Movement International elects him as President
2006: O'Flynn Construction completes purchase of outstanding equity in Tiger Developments owned by private Goodbody clients []
July 2006: APCO Worldwide’s International Advisory Council hires Cox as a senior counselor;
He joins John Magaw, founding director of Transportation Security Administration, former director of U.S. Secret Service; and Richard Allen, former national security adviser to President Reagan.
Sep 2008: joined by Doron Bergerbest-Eilon, founder, president and chief executive officer of comprehensive security consulting firm ASERO Worldwide, former head of the protection and security division and the most senior-ranking security official of the Israeli Security Agency (ISA);
Feb 2007: Initiative for Sustainable Healthcare Financing in Europe (ISHFE) 4 Reports in one; Cox Moderator & "Cox Report", Helsinki & Strasbourg, ISHFE sponsored by Pfizer;
July 2007-2009: EU-Russia Centre, Cox is Founding member and "Honorary Vice-President",
with Paddy Ashdown, President.
"an independent information and expertise resource for anyone interested in modern Russia, its democratic status and the future of EU-Russia relations.
It seeks to promote closer ties between the EU and Russia, to develop ideas about the future of the relationship, and to ensure that both sides adhere to international standards concerning the key elements of a civil society such as democracy, civil liberties and an independent judiciary."
Dec 2007: Tiger Developments - Cox joins, is Director of;
Already established in Germany;
Have recently opened office in Latvia, in pursuit of Baltic, former Soviet, eastern EU "neighbouring states" expansion
Feb-Oct 2008: Dal Col, William (A.) as "Potomac Comm. Str." - "P", "Pres." or "Consultant", donates:
$2,000 between two Republican contenders for US Congress and Senate (Feb);
$4,600 to Republican Rudy Giuliani (Sep)
$4,600 to Republican John McCain 2008 Inc. (Sep)
$5,000 to DCI PAC (Oct)
?-Sep 2008-?: Cox is allegedly on Advisory Board of World Growth, along with Steve Forbes;
Founded by Alan Oxley, described as "non-profit, non-governmental organization established to bring balance to the debate over trade, globalization, and sustainable development..."
Oxley is founder of International Trade Strategies Pty Ltd (ITS Australia), an international lobby/advisory group which has e.g. worked with the Indonesian government in regard to banking reform.
?-2009: Smurfit Graduate Business School at University College Dublin, board member
Feb 2009: Initiative for Sustainable Healthcare Financing in Europe (ISHFE) led by Cox, a Pfizer lobbyist,
with Pfizer Vice President (non-voting) on steering committee, under auspices of Czech Presidency of EU:
Cox Report 2 "Pragmatic Recommendations for Healthcare Policy Makers";
Program of regular meetings/consultations with EU Commission and various member state ministries.
ISHFE still sponsored by Pfizer
2009: EU Consumers Commissioner Meglena Kuneva hires Cox as a Special Adviser;
Cox in the running for Commission President.
===============References================
The Public Pat:[1]
http://www.corporateeurope.org/lobbycracy/content/2009/...ioned[2]
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:F5whIX8v8egJ:www.s...fox-a[3]
http://euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=19528[4] markets.ft.com/tearsheets/businessProfile.asp?s=FR:ML
Eastern Promise/Pat the Builder:[5]
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=2553&l=3[6]
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1139&l=1[7]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3474267.stm[8]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4038803.stm[9]
http://blog.kievukraine.info/2006/03/ukraines-parliamen....html[10]
http://www2.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2004/11/14/4642.htm[11]
http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/24141/[12]
https://www.zoominfo.com/people/Cox_Pat_6210807.aspx[13]
http://www.eu-russiacentre.org/we/people/founding-members[14]
http://oflynngroup.com/press_releases/pat_cox.html[15]
http://www.tigerdevelopments.com/press/20071204.html
Friends in Washington:[16]
http://www.buyingofthepresident.org/index.php/archives/.../658/[17]
http://www.cypriot.org.uk/Documents/Haber/Open-your-gat...s.htm[18]
http://www.eucommittee.be/AboutUs/members.htm[19]
http://www.eucommittee.be/[20]
http://www.eucommittee.be/Press/2004/jan202004.htm[21]
http://www.eucommittee.be/Press/2004/june12004patcoxawa...d.htm[22]
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache%3AaPsvqL3cZJ0J%3Aw...gl=ie[23]
http://www.reg4.com/home/Samples/littler05/home.asp[24]
http://www.apcoworldwide.com/uk/content/newsroom/press_...6.cfm[25]
http://www.apcoworldwide.com/content/aboutapco/internat....aspx[26]
http://www.apcoworldwide.com/content/international_advi....aspx[27]
http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page...e=Cox[28]
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=APCO_Worldwide[29]
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pat_Cox[30]
http://web.archive.org/web/20030201234108/www.tradestra...m.au/[31]
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=World_GrowthDr. Cox, Medicine Man:[32]
http://www.friendsofeurope.org/Aboutus/Whoweare/Praesid....aspx[33]
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:vXAsdaFK2BIJ:www.f...fox-a[34]
http://www.friendsofeurope.org/Partners/tabid/516/Defau....aspx[35]
http://www.sustainhealthcare.org/navigation/helsinki.html[36]
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2007/02/14/story25...5.asp[37]
http://www.sustainhealthcare.org/The Cox Crusaders:[38]
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2007/g...index[39]
http://dotnet.sys-con.com/node/359254[40]
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9836948-16.html[41]
http://www.domaincrawler.com/domains/view/eu-is.org[42]
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/eu-is.com[43]
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.eu-is.com/pdf/EIS_WhoWeAre.pdf
[44]
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.eu-is.com/
[45]
http://pipl.com/directory/people/Bill/Dal%2520Col[46]
http://www.meas.ie/page.php?intPageID=338[47]
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:H33L7WynU5EJ:europ...fox-aThis is the html version of the file
http://europa.eu/50/docs/programme_070307_en.pdf.
[48]
http://www.spinwatch.org.uk/latest-news-mainmenu-10/159...uropeBilly D:[49]
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/jan-june00/hamp....html[50]
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/05/sm.01.html[51]
http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/19/nation/na-prez1...?pg=1[52]
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/p...x.htm[53]
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/jan-june00/hamp....html[54]
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2000/06/10/200....html[55]
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjcxMzE2MGM2NGU5Nz...5MjQ=[56]
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984147....html[57]
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=lazios_drea...tmare[58]
http://slate.msn.com/?id=1006510[59]
http://www.potomacsolutions.com/http://www.potomacsolutions.com/newwhat.asp[60]
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=&zip=...lliam[61]
http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/wi...le=08[62]
http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/dci-p...le=08 and information to politicians based on specific
[63]
http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/08/mccain_watch_wi_1.php[64]
http://blog.taraskuzio.net/2008/07/07/western-consultan...ties/[65]
http://www.archives.gov.ua/Sections/Ukraineomni/ukrelec...b.htm[66]
http://www.colemanfiles.com/associates/dcigroup[67]
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080128/banks[68]
http://www.colemanfiles.com/associates/dcigroup[69]
http://www.thetrailblazergroup.com/davenport.html[70]
http://www.thetrailblazergroup.com/about.html[71]
http://www-cgi.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0301/23/ltm.06.html[72]
http://www.slate.com/id/1003675/[73]
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=n...earch[74]
http://www.facebook.com/billdc?_fb_noscript=1[75]
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fara/Ross Mandel:[76]
http://www.preclick.com/photogallery/display.php?str_qu...D=46f[77]
http://www.city-data.com/elec2/00/elec-CARROLLTON-TX-00....html[78]
http://www.spoke.com/info/p6QjuPT/RossMandel[79]
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2007/05/28/st....html[80]
http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page...andel[81]
http://exiledonline.com/exposing-the-familiar-rightwing...ll/1/[82]
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Birch_S...ciety[83]
http://exiledonline.com/washington-post-links-freedomwo...vine/[84]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...02700Forty Hats Pat:[85]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3821305.stm[86]
http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page...e=Cox[87]
http://www.corporateeurope.org/lobbycracy/content/2009/...ilure[88]
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2006/01/22/story111...6.asp[89]
http://www.marketvisual.com/de/0c0b6714-07ec-4f7f-ac5c-...t+Cox[90]
http://mblr.dc.gov/corp/lookup/results.asp?algorithm=mt...3E%3E[91]
http://kbo-bce-ps.mineco.fgov.be/ps/kbo_ps/kbo_search.j...st=ST[92]
http://www.cro.ie/search/companyresultse.asp[93]
http://blog.brusselssunshine.eu/2009/06/former-parliame....html[94]
http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_40/b3649019.htm[95]
http://brusselsbubble.blogspot.com/2009/05/mep-turned-l....html[96]
http://www.aachen.de/EN/sb/pr_az/karls_pr/laureates/dec....html
