Covington & Burling
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Covington & Burling LLP is a well connected Washington DC law firm. The firm advises clients on significant transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters
Contents
History
Judge J. Harry Covington and Edward Burling founded the law firm of Covington and Burling in Washington in 1919.
Covington, a Maryland congressman, had been appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Washington D.C., by Woodrow Wilson as a reward for voting for the passage of the Federal Reserve Act. In 1918, Wilson appointed Covington as United States Railroad Commissioner. Covington was a director of Kennecott Copper and Union Trust. Wilson had also appointed Edward Burling chief counsel of the U.S. Shipping Board. He served in this post from 1917-1919, working closely with Herbert Hoover and Prentiss Gray, later of J. Henry Schroder Co.
Lobbying
Covington & Burling says its public policy and government affairs team employs 'more than 120 former government officials, diplomats, and regulators'. Its website lists a number of 'case studies' of work carried out by the team, including work for 'a global chemical company' facing a World Health Organization (WHO) classification of one of its key products as “probably carcinogenic,” but which other national regulatory bodies 'found to be safe'. Covington was asked to help 'develop a strategy to seek a public clarification from' the WHO.[1]
US lobbying
Its US lobbying clients include in 2017 (for a full list, see the Open Secrets website)[2] Qualcomm | Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America | Northrop Grumman | Wal-Mart | Celgene Corp | Microsoft | Bombardier | Consumer Healthcare Products Association | Eli Lilly | BAE Systems | BP | Johnson & Johnson | Wells Fargo | Merck | American Bankers Association
Brussels lobbying
Covington and Burling's Brussel's lobbying clients 2015-16:[3] Uber | Eli Lilly | Vertex Pharmaceuticals | Nike | IMS Health | Illumina | bluebird bio | European Tissue Symposium | General Electric | European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations | BSA The Software Alliance | Microsoft | Cubist Pharmaceuticals | Kosmos Energy | Akamai Technologies | Monster Energy Company | Merck | PJSC Myronivsky Hliboproduct (Ukrainian agro-industrial company, also known as MHP).
Brexit lobbying
In 2017 Covington & Burling set up a Brexit Task Force staffed by lawyers and advisors in London, Brussels, and Washington.
It says it is monitoring events for clients and advising them on the policy and regulatory impact and implications of Brexit, including around: employment and Immigration, data protection, and international trade.[4]
Political ties
UK political links
- Francis Maude: In October 2016, former government minister Francis Maude was taken on as a senior adviser. A spokesperson for Covington said that Maude 'will be assisting the firm and its clients as they navigate complexities around Brexit'. Maude's profile on Covington's website says: 'Lord Maude forms part of a key panel of senior advisors guiding clients through the evolving post-Brexit vote landscape.'
Other European political links
- Carl Bildt: in May 2016, Covington and Burling announced that Bildt, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, had joined the firm as a Senior Policy Advisor in its global Public Policy and Government Affairs practice. Most recently, Mr Bildt served as Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs between 2006 and 2014.[5]
- Peter Balás, senior advisor; Balas was recently Deputy Director General, DG Trade to the European Commission (2005-2014) and Head of the Support Group for the Ukraine in the European Commission (2014-2015); and before that Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Hungary to the World Trade Organisation.
- Jean De Ruyt, senior advisor; described as 'among the most experienced diplomats in Europe', De Ruyt was Permanent Representative of Belgium to the European Union and was chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives during the 2010 Belgian Presidency of the Council.
- Karel Kovanda, senior advisor; former diplomat who worked as Deputy Director-General of Relex (now the European External Action Service) in the European Commission.
- Erika Mann, Senior Advisor; former Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
- Sir Michael Leigh, became a senior advisor to the firm in Sept 2017; formerly Director-General of DG Enlargement at the European Commission from 2006 to 2011.
Known members
19 of the 78 of the members already have pages here:
| Member | Description |
|---|---|
| Dean Acheson | US deep state operative who was the 51st Secretary of State |
| Alan Bersin | U.S "Border Czar" who oversaw the operations of Customs and Border Protection’s 57,000-employee work force. |
| Carl Bildt | Swedish deep politician, serial Bilderberger and visitor to the MSC. Sitting on an impressive number of deep state related commissions. |
| John Bolton | Neocon US deep state operative who was Trump's National Security Advisor until September 2019 |
| William Bundy | Skull & bones deep politician and cold warrior who played a key role in the US side of the Bilderberg. |
| Michael Chertoff | A long-standing US Republican Party apparatchik and dual US/Israeli citizen who has held senior US legal and national security positions. |
| John Sherman Cooper | US lawyer who refused to sign the draft of the Warren Commission Report until a qualifying statement was inserted. |
| Joan Donoghue | A life-long US State Department apparatchik |
| John Douglas | Covington & Burling. Part of committee that arranged for the release of Cuban exiles who had participated in the Bay of Pigs Invasion |
| Stuart Eizenstat | US lawyer/diplomat and possible deep state operative |
| Donald Hiss | The younger brother of Alger Hiss. Donald Hiss's name was mentioned during the 1948 hearings wherein his more famous and older brother, Alger, was accused of spying for the Soviet Union, and two years later convicted of perjury before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). |
| Reed Hundt | Federal Communications Commission Chairman, then consultancy firm McKinsey and Covington & Burling |
| Karel Kovanda | Senior Czech diplomat |
| Jon Kyl | US lawyer whom Sibel Edmonds named as one of her "Dirty Dozen" |
| Robert Lighthizer | Georgetown lawyer, Covington & Burling, first Bilderberg in 2024 |
| Francis Maude | Spooky WEF GLT politician |
| David McGiffert | United States lawyer and Pentagon official. |
| Linda McMahon | Wrestling executive who was administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 under Donald Trump. |
| Charles Ruff | Prominent American lawyer best known as the White House Counsel who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in 1999. |
References
- ↑ Public Policy and Government Affairs, Covington website, accessed Nov 2017
- ↑ Covington and Burling, Open Secrets, accessed Nov 2017
- ↑ Covington and Burling, EU transparency register, accessed Nov 2017
- ↑ [https://www.cov.com/en/news-and-insights/insights/2016/07/brexit-task-force-provides-insights-on-latest-developments Covington's Brexit Task Force Provides Insights on Latest Developments], Covington & Burling website, accessed Nov 2017
- ↑ Former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt Joins Covington, C&B website, 19 May 2016
