Half-baked Kavanaugh alibi

PR firm helped Whelan stoke half-baked Kavanaugh alibi

CRC Public Relations, a powerhouse conservative firm, guided Ed Whelan on a bad Twitter adventure.

By ELIANA JOHNSON

It turns out that the Keystone Cops detective work by conservative legal activist Ed Whelan — which set Washington abuzz with the promise of exonerating Brett Kavanaugh, only to be met by mockery and then partially retracted — was not his handiwork alone.

CRC Public Relations, the prominent Alexandria, Virginia-based P.R. firm, guided Whelan through his roller-coaster week of Twitter pronouncements that ended in embarrassment and a potential setback for Kavanaugh’s hopes of landing on the high court, according to three sources familiar with their dealings.

After suggesting on Twitter on Tuesday that he had obtained information that would exculpate Kavanaugh from the sexual assault allegation made by Christine Blasey Ford, Whelan worked over the next 48 hours with CRC and its president, Greg Mueller, to stoke the anticipation. A longtime friend of Kavanaugh’s, Whelan teased his reveal — even as he refused to discuss it with other colleagues and close friends, a half dozen of them said. At the same time, he told them he was absolutely confident the information he had obtained would exculpate the judge.

The hype ping-ponged from Republicans on Capitol Hill to Kavanaugh’s team in the White House, evidence of an extraordinarily successful public relations campaign that ultimately backfired when Whelan’s theory — complete with architectural drawings and an alleged Kavanaugh doppelgänger — landed with a thud on Twitter Thursday evening.

The coordinated effort was a testament to the far-reaching but frenzied attempt among conservatives to save Kavanaugh, which appeared to have spun out of the White House’s control. Indeed, Whelan told associates that he had kept his friend Kavanaugh and those working with him in the White House in the dark about his plans.

Thanks in part to the anticipation Whelan ginned up, Republicans who had gotten excited by the prospect that he really did have information that would solve Kavanaugh’s problems drew attention to Whelan. They later insisted they were kept in the dark until he went public, and fled from any association with Whelan’s theory.

CRC, however, was right there with him all along.

On Friday, hours after Whelan called his decision to name and post photographs of Kavanaugh’s high school classmate “an appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment,” CRC helped organize a news conference featuring an array of women who dismissed Ford’s allegations.

Best known for its work with the Swift Boat Veterans in 2004, CRC bills itself as a full-service communications firm “specializing in media relations, social media and issues management,” according to its website. It has long been the go-to communications firm for conservative organizations in Washington and across the country. Its current clients include the Federalist Society and the Judicial Crisis Network, the chief outside groups working to help confirm Kavanaugh.

After unsuccessful attempts to persuade reporters to chase down a theory he put forward on Twitter — that the high school party described by Ford may have taken place at the home of a particular high school classmate of Kavanaugh’s, and that that classmate may have been the perpetrator of the alleged attack — Whelan worked with CRC's Mueller to devise a strategy that would draw attention to his theory, according to two sources familiar with his plans. That involved teasing the idea that he would make a big reveal but remaining mysteriously tight-lipped about what he had uncovered.

Neither Whelan nor the CRC's president responded to a request for comment.

In a series of Twitter posts on Tuesday evening, Whelan strongly suggested he had obtained information that would clear Kavanaugh’s name. “By one week from today, I expect that Judge Kavanaugh will have been clearly vindicated on this matter.” He continued, “Specifically, I expect that compelling evidence will show his categorical denial to be truthful. There will be no cloud over him.”

For 48 hours, he declined to share that “compelling evidence” with close colleagues or Kavanaugh allies. Several have said privately that they regret that decision because they would have advised Whelan against the course of action that CRC advised, and that he eventually took.

Kavanaugh himself, who largely remained cloistered in the White House preparing for a hearing since Ford went public with the allegations on Sunday, was also ignorant of Whelan’s plans, according to two sources close to him.

But Whelan’s tweets piqued the interest of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and inside the White House.

It is unclear to what extent Whelan was coordinating with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other Republicans on Capitol Hill.

A former CRC employee, Garrett Ventry, had been working for Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) until Saturday, when he resigned after news surfaced that he had faced accusations of sexual harassment in the past. NBC News first reported the resignation.

Ventry did not respond to an email seeking comment and said in a Twitter post that the Committee had no foreknowledge of Whelan’s plans. It is not clear whether Ventry remains an employee of CRC, where he worked as recently as July.

But Whelan was in communication with at least one Republican member of the committee this week, and that member told associates he was aware Whelan’s theory involved the home of a Kavanaugh classmate near the Chevy Chase Country Club.

Matt Whitlock, deputy chief of staff to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), directed people to Whelan’s Twitter feed on Wednesday in a tweet of his own and later deleted his tweet.

“Keep an eye on Ed’s tweets the next few days,” Whitlock wrote.

After Whelan unveiled his theory Thursday evening, Whitlock deleted the tweet, explaining that he “didn’t want to promote” anything that “dragged an unrelated private citizen into this unfortunate situation.”

“I had no idea," Whitlock added, "what Ed was planning.”