The founders of Rokk Solutions, a new political consulting firm that serves corporate trade associations and other lobbying ventures, offer their clients an unusual value proposition: whichever party triumphs, they’ll have had a hand in a big-money group that can claim victory.
While bipartisan political consulting firms are a dime a dozen in Washington, D.C., what makes Rokk noteworthy is that it is comprised of campaign operatives with major roles in two big-money groups — one Democratic, one Republican — expected to play major roles in the 2016 elections.
Rokk co-founder Rodell Mollineau was the first president of American Bridge 21st Century, one of the primary Super PACs supporting the bid of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Though he stepped down as president of American Bridge last year, Federal Election Commission reports show that Mollineau is still the treasurer of the group — and his LinkedIn profile describes him as being on the group’s board. Mollineau is also on the board of Working America Education Fund, an organized labor-backed campaign group that helps to elect Democrats.
Rokk co-founder Brian J. Walsh, meanwhile, is leading a nonprofit campaign group called Our Next America, which was formed to support the Republican policy agenda in the Senate. Politico described the group as following in the footsteps of GOP Super PACs that have worked in recent years to elect congressional Republicans. Rob Jesmer, a partner with FP1 Strategies, a consulting firm retained by Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, will also advise Our Next America. Walsh is the former communications director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The other Rokk co-founder is Ron Bonjean, a Republican consultant who has worked for Koch Industries to help develop political attacks against company critics.
Rokk, which formally launched in May of this year, says it has already signed clients across a diverse range of industries, including the financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and retail sectors, according to a company press release. For clients, the Rokk team will use “campaign tactics to promote the interests of corporate clients,” according to a story about the firm in CQ Weekly.
Neither Bridge nor Mollineau responded to a request for comment.
The consultants, who fashion themselves professional spin artists, chose the name Rokk because it is Norwegian for “spinning wheel.”
Correction, August 21, 2015
Brian J. Walsh is one of the founders of Rokk, and leader of Our Next America. Brian O. Walsh is leading a new Super PAC called Future45, devoted to supporting the eventual Republican presidential nominee in the general election. An earlier version of this story mistook one for the other. As a result, it mistakenly reported that Rokk’s founders included founders of two rival Super PACs that would play key roles in the presidential election.
When the crackheads were coming to grips with the collateral of the damages they could produce, they realized they could GAIN from collectively bargaining with the devil. You can make money! Even off of the collateral!!
See, if all the oily refiners got together to cover their explosive asses with collective policies, there was less interest in blowing away each other’s capacities…”Everyone gets to make a fortune off the luckless little fucks who fuel our anger engines. We are a family, now.”
I feel so Lucky.
A family? Sounds a bit incestuous. Or maybe Shakespearean — kill the king, f*ck the queen? Obscene. Even nepotism has its limits when the Crown and its Court prefers the backstab to the Absolutely Fabulous, right? Lobster? Or crab? Silly con grab?
Wow, when they buy a pol, do they also get that protection coverage? What’s the vig on a Trump cds? I’m dumping!!! Just following the market!
That’s a terrible investment strategy. Why do people with inheritances tend to invest so utterly poorly?
Sorry, just messing with you. Your comments are funny. I had to attempt a retort. :)
I just wanted TI to know that it was really cowardly of you to close comments to the Nisman article. Like what was your concern? That someone might point out the absurdity of Nisman and his lies & Iran-bashing on behalf of Israel? Or the general glaring hypocrisy in what he was doing? I’m glad he’s dead. And I don’t give a fuck how it happened, tbqh. And btw, “troublemakers” in Argentina tend to be minions of the U.S. trying to oust Argentina’s government and create chaos like the fucking U.S. has now done in countless countries. So no sympathy from me regarding the surveillance in this context. Root em’ all out I say, until they stop betraying Argentina and doing their dirty work for the U.S.
Sorry to leave this comment here, Lee. Didn’t know where else to do it.
Hey — We don’t know yet how the comments got closed, we had a similar glitch recently involving another story. It was unintentional. They have been re-opened.
When did you first see them closed? We’re trying to figure out when it happened.
Hello Ryan – I hope you or someone reads this:
A couple more things about TI site:
1) stories STILL do NOT open in their own tabs. I have been told what to do by several other commenters and I still haven’t been able to get it to happen.
2) Just left a comment at the Nisman article… I absentmindedly forgot to put in my name and/or e-mail. I submitted and got a screen saying I hadn’t filled those in. But there seemed to be NO way to get back to the unsubmitted comment itself. I had to start from the beginning again. Maybe you folks could tweak this?
Thanks.
I’ve been getting knocked off my perch in mid-sentence, but I think it’s just KeyScore having a stroke. CRACKERS!
If you think this is cracked, you should see what the other guys overwrote, right GCHQ? I know you see all our flawed thinking, Q…whether we are stupid enough to use Facebook or not.
I’m not even a spy agency (imagine trying to fit a whole one of those into my shitty little apartment!) and I see it. I probably should be offered a job! There are psychic love letters strewn ALL OVER THE WEB! I saw it written like an apparition, stamped right there like the visage of Jesus upon my refrigerator, good God, yaw!!!
Facehook is a terrible place suitable only for masterbaiting and early warning systems: ‘It’s complicated’ is probably a true status for everybody on that damn site, eh?
There, there, Polly. Some birds are funny when they talk… I heard a song about that once! Are parrots any good on hunts?
J-Trig, you bid rigger!!!
It’s the injection-connection, conjunction-junction! What’s YOUR function?!