“Have no illusions. If Ukraine does not survive, we cannot be surprised if democracy fails next.”
These words, spoken by Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, came just days after over 100,000 Russian troops began a sweeping invasion into Ukraine on February 24th, 2022.
Kyslytsya’s speech was probably the most important one he will ever have to give, so it needed to be a home run. He needed to convey the threat Vladimir Putin posed not just to Ukraine, but also to broader global security, all while demonstrating a calm and steadfast demeanor. This required assistance from an elite public relations firm.
Thankfully for Kyslytsya, SKDKnickerbocker, a premier lobbying and PR firm with deep connections to President Biden, offered to help for free according to a recent FARA filing (p. 5).
SKDK’s relationship with President Biden goes back to the spring of 2019 when the firm’s co-founder, Anita Dunn, began advising the former Vice President prior to his announcement. She later joined Biden as a senior campaign advisor after his campaign officially began. There, according to a press release from SKDK, Dunn “helped with debate preparation and message coordination” while the firm focused on “the Biden campaign’s vote-by-mail program in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona.”
Although Dunn intended to go back to SKDK after the presidential transition period, she ended up finding a new role in Biden’s White House as a senior advisor. But because her role was branded as temporary, she was exempted from needing to file a public financial disclosure. This stood in contrast to senior advisors to previous presidents who had published theirs.
When it comes to SKDK’s work with Kyslytsya on his speech to the UN, it might seem obvious why the firm would offer pro bono work to a country victim to an unprovoked invasion. But this may also be personal for the firm’s leadership, which was targeted by Russian hackers during the 2020 campaign.
SKDK’s pro bono work with Ambassador Kyslytsya is certainly commendable during a time of crisis, but the firm has no qualms representing notorious organizations when money is involved. In the spring of 2019, SKDK was hired by NSO Group, an Israeli tech company, to provide PR and communications advice after it was reported that its flagship spyware, Pegasus, was being used to surveil political dissidents and journalists, including Hanan Elatr, the wife of murdered Washington Post journalist, Jamal Kashoggi.
That means SKDK was working with the Biden campaign while advising NSO Group on how to manage the fallout over its Pegasus revelations.
As the world becomes smaller and global capitalism penetrates all industries, firms like SKDKnickerbocker will inevitably end up accruing clients, both foreign and domestic, with conflicting ethical and moral backgrounds.
