Heard on the Hill: Real-World Lobbying
Roll Call Staff
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To the great stars of reality TV — think catfighting roomies, weeping bachelorettes and scheming would-be survivors — add lobbyists. The Lifetime TV show now filming in Washington, “Blonde Charity Mafia,” features some scenes shot in the office of Georgetown lobby shop Pyle & Associates, HOH has learned.
Sophie Pyle, 21-year-old daughter of lobbyist Nick Pyle and granddaughter of firm founder Robert Pyle, is one of the show’s stars, and she tells us her father will appear on the show, too. “He was skeptical at first, but now he thinks it’s cool,” she
says. “He’s even bragging to his friends about it.”
Nick Pyle says the show’s crew shot two days worth of footage in his offices during the lull following the GOP convention this summer. And he hinted that the scenes might include some serious family drama between himself and his daughter, who was a vice president in the family business but who now works in a Georgetown shoe boutique. “There’s the firing scene, the you’re-in-late scene, and the make-up scene,” he divulges.
But he predicts that Sophie, a former intern in the office of former Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) who is taking time off from her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina, could have a future in the family biz — if Hollywood doesn’t come calling first. “She’s got great potential as a lobbyist,” he tells us.
We’ll just have to wait for details of the father-daughter dust-up until the show, which is being billed as “The Hills” set in Washington, debuts sometime early next year.
And clients of Pyle & Associates, fear not, your laundry (dirty or not) won’t be aired on the show: Nick Pyle says there aren’t any references to his clients in the show. He was paid a “location fee” for letting the crew take over his offices, which — in typical Washington fashion — “was eaten up by attorney’s fees.”
Name-Dropping. We all know the plight of the poor Congressional staffer: grueling work, peanuts for pay, and in the end, the boss gets all the credit.
So when the opportunity comes along for a longtime staffer to get his 15 minutes of fame, it’s exciting — unless, of course, the wrong guy gets the glory. That’s the case for Bob Russell, chief of staff to Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).
Russell is briefly featured in “The Way of the World,” the latest book by Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Suskind. In the tome, Russell appears alongside Benazir Bhutto, escorting the former Pakistani prime minister (who has since died) through the Senate during her September 2007 visit.
Only Russell is referred to as “Bob Bennett” in the book — and the last time we checked, neither the Utah Senator nor the famed attorney of the same name has ever served as Pryor’s chief of staff.
Suskind explained to HOH that the error was flagged during the editing process, but for some reason didn’t get fixed before the book went to print. But the author promised it would be corrected in subsequent editions.
Russell, for his part, isn’t too concerned. Pryor spokeswoman Lisa Ackerman said the staffer is taking the whole thing in stride, although “he’s been getting quite a bit of ribbing from his fellow chiefs of staff.”
And Ackerman said Russell doesn’t have any plans to demand an immediate reprint, joking: “Bob’s decided it’s easier to change his last name than get a correction.”
Ted Stevens, Hillary Clinton and Kevin Bacon. Picking the jurors who will decide the fate of embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) had to have been tough, especially when many of the folks in the jury pool had some kind of connection to Capitol Hill.
Take Juror 443.
During the interview process on Tuesday afternoon, the juror (who was not identified by name in court) mentioned her link to a certain Democrat from New York.
Taylor: Preventing Another Underwear Bomber
March 19, 4:09 p.m.
The intelligence community faces challenges daily. No example is more emblematic of the problems faced than the so-called underwear bomber of 2009. As threats emerge, the hunt for “persons of interest” must occur in a more reliable and efficient manner because the consequences of inaction can be catastrophic. Read Full Article
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