Al Kamen reports:
Former assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasia Elizabeth Jones, now at APCO Worldwide, is being talked about to become assistant secretary of state for Middle East matters.
Jones, who served as the United States ambassador to Kazakhstan from 1995 to 1997 and during the Bush administration served as Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, is now an executive vice president at APCO Worldwide, a public relations firm headquartered in Washington. Interestingly, she was caught up in a bizarre bit of undercover reporting by Ken Silverstein of Harper's magazine. Silverstein posed as a shady "consultant" working for a fictional company that was supposed to be engaged by the government of Turkmenistan to improve that country's image in the United States. Turkmenistan, of course, has an atrocious human rights record, and Silverstein made the source of his funding sound as corrupt as possible:
We were, my story ran, a group of private investors involved in the export of natural gas from Turkmenistan to Ukrainian and other Eastern European markets. We felt it would strengthen our business position in Turkmenistan if we could convey to American policymakers and journalists just how heady were the reforms being plotted by the Berdymukhamedov government.
The first firm Silverstein met with was APCO, and Jones was presented as the woman who could make things happen for his shady firm and the authoritarian regime it was in bed with:
After speaking with her former colleagues at the State Department, she said, she had concluded that the Bush Administration was hoping to improve relations with the Berdymukhamedov government. Her contacts at State weren't expecting "miracles" in terms of political reform; even a few small steps, like the new Internet cafés, would provide some "good hooks" APCO could use to promote the regime.
"People like Beth can call up these policymakers," Schumacher said with a shake of the head, as if he himself were in awe of Jones's access. "Getting information like that with a couple of phone calls is priceless." Schumacher said he had made calls of his own and had learned from a staff director at "a key committee" that hearings on the topic of energy security were coming up. "Turkmenistan has a role to play here and [that] helps us talk about it in a positive way," he said. "It's another hook."
The story is pretty remarkable, and embarrassing. You can read it in its entirety here. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jones asked a few questions about this particular episode during her confirmation hearings.
