Government Affairs
Win over policymakers.
Forward Risk’s Washington, DC-based government affairs team combines its direct experience supporting government affairs firms and political advocacy groups with a rigorous and creative approach to investigations and intelligence-gathering.
Developing an argument on behalf of policymakers, the media, or the general public requires both a full understanding of the relevant facts and cogent analysis, which collectively inform a compelling narrative.
Our experienced, flexible, and highly savvy investigations team is here to help you identify key players, understand what makes policymakers tick, develop a fact-based messaging strategy, and contextualize complex issues.
The team is led by experienced and proven opposition researchers who formerly worked in key roles at national political committees for presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional races.
The expertise of our campaign trail veterans has been further sharpened by extensive work on high-stakes corporate contests and contentious litigation matters, where we have grown accustomed to dealing with well-funded adversaries who use every possible resource to vie for an advantage.
How We Help
Developing an insider view on key policy matters.
Forward Risk helps advocacy groups, trade associations, and government affairs firms to develop winning arguments on policy issues.
Success requires a sophisticated and nuanced understanding of the underlying topic as well as the different stakeholders involved, including their beliefs and priorities. Through legal and ethical means, we develop actionable intelligence and communications strategies that drive discussions with policymakers and advance the national interest.
Developing a fact-based foundation.
Regardless of the end goals of an advocacy engagement, Forward Risk always prioritizes detail-oriented, evidence-based research.
This can range from conducting deep dive research on specific policymaker positions to developing a broader contextual understanding of issues at hand. While every project has different parameters, this research can include analysis of political voting records and public statements, social media, and links between relevant issues and noteworthy figures and organizations.
Leveraging public records and human source inquiries.
Forward Risk’s research typically includes a targeted review of pertinent open source and public record information, such as news and social media, court records, property records, and other available data.
Drawing from our network of contacts and experience conducting human source inquiries, Forward Risk then engages in interviews with knowledgeable parties to further develop insights regarding key points.
Our Experience
Wide-Ranging International Investigation into a High-Level Adversary.
Forward Risk was engaged by a government affairs firm to assist a client who was being harassed by a political opponent in a foreign country.
Through weeks of meticulous research, including a deep dive into local-language media and public records in several countries, we uncovered a decades-long track record of involvement in organized crime, money laundering, and public corruption. We developed both a detailed investigative report and a set of concise talking points to assist the government affairs firm in its discussions with key members of Congress.
Contact
Forward Risk’s Political Vetting and Opposition Research practice is helmed by Claire Vinocur and Chris Haxo.
Claire’s experience includes vetting political and administration hires and nominees, and led campaign finance research into candidates, committees, and outside groups. Chris has overseen research on key congressional and gubernatorial contests in over a dozen states, helping contribute to wins in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, and Maryland.