page_title: Podesta Group
hierarchical_section_title: Podesta Group
caption_attribution_description: English: Congressman Adam Schiff (California's 29th Congressional District), California artist Maria Karras, and lobbyist Heather Podesta at a party hosted by the Podesta Group in Washington, DC to honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama.
context_page_description: The Podesta Group was a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John Podesta and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left the firm in 1993, and Tony Podesta left the firm on October 30, 2017, after finding out about increased scrutiny of the firm. It has essentially ceased to exist since then. The firm reorganized in January 2007 after chairman Tony Podesta split with former business partner Dan Mattoon.
  Podesta Group, which represented American corporations as well as nonprofits and governments, was said in 2011 to have "close ties to the Democratic Party and the Obama administration", although its CEO, Kimberley Fritts, is identified in her Cogent Strategies bio as "a fixture in Republican politics". She resigned and established her own firm, Cogent Strategies, in November 2017.
  The firm reported earning US$27.4 million in lobbying fees in 2011. In 2007, Chairman Tony Podesta was ranked by his peers as the third most influential lobbyist in Washington.
context_section_description: The Podesta Group was a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John Podesta and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left the firm in 1993, and Tony Podesta left the firm on October 30, 2017, after finding out about increased scrutiny of the firm.  It has essentially ceased to exist since then. The firm reorganized in January 2007 after chairman Tony Podesta split with former business partner Dan Mattoon.
  Podesta Group, which represented American corporations as well as nonprofits and governments, was said in 2011 to have "close ties to the Democratic Party and the Obama administration", although its CEO, Kimberley Fritts, is identified in her Cogent Strategies bio as "a fixture in Republican politics". She resigned and established her own firm, Cogent Strategies, in November 2017. 
  The firm reported earning US$27.4 million in lobbying fees in 2011. In 2007, Chairman Tony Podesta was ranked by his peers as the third most influential lobbyist in Washington.
  On November 9, 2017, CEO Kimberley Fritts informed all employees that the Podesta Group would cease to exist at the end of the year. Employees were asked to clear out their desks and told that they might not be paid beyond November 15. On November 21, Podesta Group's website went offline, redirecting to the personal website of Tony Podesta, with the majority of the Podesta Group’s former principals having joined Cogent Strategies.
caption: Congressman Adam Schiff and lobbyist Heather Podesta at a party hosted by the Podesta Group in Washington, D.C.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ACD Systems Digital Imaging", "Image DateTime": "2009:01:21 22:26:53", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "217", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4559", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7375", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:01:20 16:29:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:01:20 16:29:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "6", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "28", "EXIF SubSecTime": "144", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1280", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "853", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4471", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "873600/283", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1456000/471", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}