Thread: Texas firm hired by Chinese oil company

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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... ss/3262111

July 12, 2005, 6:07AM

Texas firm hired by Chinese oil company
Friend of Bush is vice chairman of agency enlisted in fight for Unocal
By BENNETT ROTH
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - An Austin-based consulting firm whose vice chairman, Mark McKinnon, has close ties with President Bush has been tapped by the China National Offshore Oil Co. to wage a public relations campaign in its controversial bid to buy Unocal Corp.
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The Chinese oil giant, which is controlled by the Beijing government, has hired Public Strategies as part of its effort to shape opinion in the United States about a proposed acquisition that has drawn sharp opposition from many in Congress.

The high-stakes battle between Chevron and the Chinese company for Unocal has involved a number of politically connected firms, including a lobbying team retained by Chevron that includes Drew Maloney, a former top aide to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

Aside from holding an influential position at Public Strategies, McKinnon has served as Bush's media consultant for the past two presidential campaigns.

Bush's 'biking buddy'
In the 2004 election, the Bush campaign and the Republican National Committee paid McKinnon's separate media firm, Maverick Media, more than $177 million for developing political advertising, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The New York Times in April described McKinnon as the president's "biking buddy" who selected the songs that Bush listens to on his digital music player while riding his mountain bike at his Crawford ranch. At Public Strategies, McKinnon is not overseeing the China account, a job that is being carried out by Mark Palmer, the firm's managing director of media relations and former spokesman for the Houston-based Enron Corp.

Palmer characterized McKinnon's role in the China oil deal as "zero" although he acknowledged that McKinnon could benefit financially "if this turns out profitable."

Palmer would not give details about Public Strategies' contract with the oil company, known as CNOOC, or discuss how the Texas firm was selected.

"They needed media relations help. We are doing it," he said.

'Just getting out the facts'
The Chinese bid for California-based Unocal has created a stir in Congress. The House has approved a resolution, by a 398-15 vote, condemning the proposed sale on grounds it would "threaten to impair the national security of the United States."

CNOOC has offered $18.5 billion for Unocal, topping Chevron's bid of $16.8 billion. The Unocal board, which initially approved the Chevron bid before the Chinese made an offer, is scheduled to decide Aug. 10 whether to reject the Chevron bid.

Palmer said he views his job as "just getting out the facts about this offer," and to respond to criticism that the sale would present a threat to national security.

Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., who sponsored the resolution criticizing the CNOOC bid, said that any public relations effort on behalf of the Chinese company will be uphill.

"I would say they are definitely going to earn their fees. I think public opinion is decidedly against this kind of merger," Kennedy said.

White House spokesman Dana Perino said the administration had not taken a position on whether the Chinese firm should be able to buy an American-owned oil company.

If Unocal's board accepts the CNOOC bid, it must then be approved by the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Both sides lobbying
A former songwriter and Democratic consultant who helped craft ads for Bob Lanier in his 1991 Houston mayoral campaign, McKinnon switched political allegiances in 1998 when he was hired by Bush to work on his gubernatorial re-election campaign.

McKinnon did not return phone calls, and his office referred inquiries to Palmer.

To lobby Congress, the Chinese oil company also has hired prominent lawyers with the firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, whose co-founder is Robert Strauss, a Texas native and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Lobbying for Chevron is the Federalist Group, whose chief executive is Wayne Berman, a Republican Party fund-raiser who served in the administration of Bush's father.

bennett.roth@chron.com

The New York Times in April described McKinnon as the president's "biking buddy" who selected the songs that Bush listens to on his digital music player while riding his mountain bike at his Crawford ranch. At Public Strategies, McKinnon is not overseeing the China account, a job that is being carried out by Mark Palmer, the firm's managing director of media relations and former spokesman for the Houston-based Enron Corp.

Is this nauseating? Until 3 months ago, I thought we had elected a Man to fill the position of President of the United States. He's a baby, a psychopath, that goes to bed at 9 pm; a cold-hearted SOB that didn't think he needed to do anything except "run to the skies" and hide out during 9/11, that without his "groupies" can't even find a station on this CD Player ridin' his bike like some teen-ager without a driver's license.

The man is nauseating both in his public and private life.

Impeach the Fool and Try him for Treason.

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Why does this not surprise me?