{"id":580140,"date":"2021-07-02T16:06:24","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T20:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=580140"},"modified":"2021-07-02T16:06:27","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T20:06:27","slug":"biden-education-department-buys-training-from-dem-consulting-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-education-department-buys-training-from-dem-consulting-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Education Department Buys Training From Dem Consulting Firm"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-education-department-buys-training-from-dem-consulting-firm%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=580140&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1228094078.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>The U.S. Department of Education spent $18,000 on media training provided by a Democratic strategy group that partakes in some of the most contentious political and cultural battles in America, including abortion rights, LGBT rights, and gun control.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In April, the Department of Education spent $9,000 on a month-long contract with SKDKnickerbocker for \u201cexecutive media training,\u201d federal spending <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/search\/?hash=8c8273b5dccd648e05b9c6e6f80db0d5\"><span>records<\/span><\/a><span> show. On June 9, the Education Department entered into a separate $9,000 contract with the company for \u201cmedia training and hearing preparation.\u201d The second contract is set to expire on August 31.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>SKDKnickerbocker worked directly with the Biden campaign during the previous election. Its <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skdknick.com\/\"><span>website<\/span><\/a><span> boasts a banner that thanks President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for fighting for the \u201csoul of the nation.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During the election, SKDKnickerbocker provided <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/california-officials-worked-with-big-tech-to-censor-election-misinformation-on-social-media\"><span>\u201cmisinformation briefings\u201d<\/span><\/a><span> to California officials who used them as part of an effort to ask big tech companies to censor election-related speech.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the leadup to the 2020 election, SKDKnickerbocker also received a $35 million no-bid <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article245279195.html\"><span>contract<\/span><\/a><span> with the state of California to conduct a \u201cnonpartisan\u201d voter outreach campaign called Vote Safe California.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The contract led to a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hjta.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Pld-001-Complaint-only.pdf\"><span>lawsuit<\/span><\/a><span> that alleged that former California Secretary of State and current U.S. Senator Alex Padilla carried out \u201cunlawful\u201d spending of taxpayer funds by using the \u201cservices of a partisan political consulting firm.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The lawsuit alleged that Padilla sent invitations to seven political consulting firms to \u201cbid\u201d on the $35 million contract, though the invitations were \u201cdirected only at partisan political consulting firms \u2014 not traditional non-partisan advertising agencies.\u201d According to the lawsuit, when other agencies contacted Padilla, they were allegedly told that it was a \u201cclosed, invitation-only\u201d bid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>SKDKnickerbocker has been embroiled in political scandals for years. The consulting firm hired former Obama White House communications director Anita Dunn and Time\u2019s Up Legal Defense founder Hilary Rosen.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The consulting firm has worked with some of the most well-known names in Democratic politics, including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. SKDKnickerbocker also represented Christine Blasey Ford during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s Senate confirmation hearings.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 2012, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.republicreport.org\/2012\/real-hilary-rosen-scandal\/\"><span>Republic Report<\/span><\/a><span>, a left-wing media outlet, accused SKDKnickerbocker of operating as an \u201cunregistered lobbying firm\u201d that used its ties to President Obama and leaders in Congress to push an agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That year, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hotair.com\/ed-morrissey\/2012\/04\/13\/awww-rosen-declines-spot-on-meet-the-press-n185144\"><span>Politico<\/span><\/a><span> called it \u201can open secret in the Dem consultant community that SKD has been signing up clients based on \u2018perceived White House access\u2019 tied to prior relationships and employment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>SKDKnickerbocker has also run public affairs campaigns for notably \u201cwoke\u201d corporations as well, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/kelloggs-new-cereal-encourages-kids-to-select-their-preferred-pronouns\"><span>Kelloggs<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/amazon-releases-inclusion-playbook-includes-rules-for-writing-humor-and-satire\"><span>Amazon<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/disney-plus-hosts-pride-event-featuring-kermit-the-frog\"><span>The Walt Disney Company<\/span><\/a><span>. It also represented the TransCanada Corporation, which developed the KeystoneXL pipeline, the Obama Presidential Library, and Pfizer.&nbsp; <\/span><b>&nbsp;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>The Department of Education did not respond to The Daily Wire\u2019s request for comment on whether it was appropriate to spend taxpayer dollars on a partisan consulting firm.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Department of Education spent $18,000 on media training provided by a Democratic strategy group that partakes in some of the most contentious political and cultural battles in America, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2313937,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1228094078.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Education Department Buys Training From Dem Consulting Firm","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-580140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1228094078.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Education Department Buys Training From Dem Consulting Firm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2313937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}