I never, never, never want to hear you tell me that Talking Points doesn’t give you an utterly unique take on the news of the day!
Needless to say, things are sort of heating up today on the Condit-Levy front. You’ve got Mrs. Condit’s interview with authorities in suburban Virginia. Then you’ve got the DC police chief saying that the police consider it unlikely Levy committed suicide. They believe she was either the victim of foul play or simply went into hiding. And if you have a brain, of course, that sounds a lot like they think it was foul play.
Condit’s attorney Abbe Lowell issued this statement to the press and announced that henceforth Marina Ein will be handling press matters for the Condits, presumably to give a break to the hapless Mike Lynch, Condit’s press secretary who probably didn’t know quite what he was getting into when he signed on to handle media for the obscure California congressman.
Now, sitting here at my desk writing out a draft of my soon-to- be-published article on foreign lobbyists, I couldn’t help but wonder: Marina Ein? Marina Ein? Where do I know that name from?
Oh, right! She’s the one who signed on back in the Spring of 2000 to do media relations work for General Wiranto of Indonesia at the time when he was coming under intense scrutiny for his role in alleged crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.
According to Ein’s April 4, 2000 Foreign Agents Registration filing (reg.# 5369), she:
agreed to provide media outreach services — including editorial services — to General Wiranto. We are providing these services for a monthly retainer of $20,000 for an open-ended period …. We will draft editorial material for use in a “by-lined” or op-ed piece(s) and work to secure interviews and other speaking opportunities. We will seek such opportunities in print and electronic formats.
I guess the real question is, who will Ein have a harder time defending, Wiranto or Condit? And does Condit have to pay her 20Gs a month too?
P.S. Late Update: One TPM secret informant tells me Ein also used to do PR work for The New Republic. But I’ll bet you third world strong man-types pay better than center-left opinion mags. Trust me, I should know.
