 Kimberley Fritts |
Podesta Group CEO Kimberley Fritts is leaving the embattled DC firm to launch her own shop.
The departure follows the Oct. 30 exit of PG founder and well-connected Democrat Tony Podesta in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his right-hand man Rick Gates for violating foreign lobbying laws.
PG had worked for European Centre for a Modern Ukraine in a PR push that was organized by Manafort.
The firm maintains it fully disclosed its representation of ECFMU and complied with FARA filing regulations five years ago within weeks of starting its work. “Any insinuation to the contrary is false,” a spokesperson told O'Dwyer's.
Fritts was expected to relaunch PG under a new brand, but told staffers yesterday of her plan to leave, according to a report in Politico.
She joined PG in 1995 as a veteran in Republican politics. Fritts had served as southern political director for the Republican National Committee, deputy campaign manager to Florida's former governor Jeb Bush and political director for former Florida senator Connie Mack.
Tricia McLaughlin, the combative spokesperson for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, is leaving her post.
While finding the right solution to a problem is still important, the work that differentiates effective communications leaders is problem-finding—identifying the real risk before it becomes visible, reputational or irreversible.
Orchestra has recruited Deepika Sandhu for the senior VP-legal & crisis communications slot.
Apologies are often seen as a weakness or as proof that a leader has lost control of the narrative. But Donald Trump's failure to apologize after he posted—and then deleted—a video with a racist clip of Barack and Michelle Obama shows how flawed this mindset is.
Tim Allan, communications director for embattled British prime minister Keir Starmer, has quit as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has engulfed Ten Downing Street.
