Lobbying 2015: Chaos in Libya confounds Congress
Libya’s lobbying campaign can seem almost as chaotic as the country itself.
When it comes to Libya, even the lobbyists in Washington are part of the chaos.
On paper, the internationally backed government in the east spent about $265,000 last year seeking to build support in Congress and the BarackObama administration. In reality, the dueling influence peddlers and public relations operators are only adding to the confusion — when they’re not outright scam artists.
Even before they’d finished toppling Moammar Gadhafi four years ago, the Benghazi-based rebels hired the lobbying group of Patton Boggs and the Harbour Group public relations firm to convince the United States to recognize their interim transitional council as Libya's legitimate government. Since then, they’ve been trying to convince the United States not to throw up its hands as the country has splintered to pieces and fallen prey to Islamic State (IS) wannabes.
Success has been elusive.
