GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has named his national communications team, a group largely consisting of staffers close to the former Pennsylvania Senator.
John Brabender will lead the team as a senior advisor and media consultant. Having worked with Santorum for years, Brabender also worked for several GOP campaigns last cycle, including those of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Sens. David Vitter (La.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.). His résumé also includes work for the Republican Governors Association and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign.
Virginia Davis, also a longtime Santorum staffer, is serving as senior communications advisor and campaign spokeswoman. She was the press secretary for the Senator's 2006 Senate campaign and was a communications advisor for Santorum's America's Foundation PAC from 2007 to 2011. She also has press experience with GOP Sens. Richard Shelby (Ala.) and John Thune (S.D.).
Davis' deputy will be Matthew Beynon, who will serve as the campaign's primary media contact. Like Davis, Beynon is a former Santorum staffer, having worked as a legislative aide in the Senator's office from 2003 to 2007. He also was an adviser to Santorum's PAC in recent years and worked as a consultant for a Pittsburgh-based management firm.
And finally, emotive, llc, a firm led by Peter Pasi, will manage the campaign's new media operation. The company's previous Republican clients include Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), the Republican National Committee, the Club for Growth and the outside group American Crossroads.
Santorum said he was thrilled to have the continued support of a handful of longtime staffers. "I am confident that this group of tireless and trusted advisers will successfully advance and articulate our campaign's message of freedom and faith in the American people," he said.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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