Hope Hicks is absolutely not a naive "former model". Fascinating LA Times op-ed today...

[Hekate]

Once again, the combo of my iPad mini and the e-newspaper mean the link I had to labor to retrieve takes you not to the page I wanted, but to the front page of the paper/facsimile. I hope someone else can do better, because this is REALLY worth reading.

Hicks has been continually described (and thus dismissed) as a "former model" while journalists too damn lazy to dig any further thus get to dismiss her as nothing more than arm-candy. Instead, this woman is a charming shark among sharks.

Los Angeles Times, Sunday, February 4, 2018, page A18. The op-ed is by Virginia Heffernan.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e

"Who is Hope Hicks and what'd she do?"

5th para down:
Hicks didn't just drift into her first PR job as some in the sheath set (ie models) are known to do. Instead, she's to the manner born, third-generation in a family of special-forces flacks.

[Roland99]

1. Try this

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e

[cally]

2. Heres a link

Interesting report

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-heffernan-hope-hicks-20180202-story.html

[Hekate]

8. Thank you! I finally figured out how to at least get the link (email it to myself)...

Let's see if I can remember the next time I want to.

Sometimes it takes a village...

[Leghorn21]

3. Helluva find, Hekate, many thanks - from your link:

Snip

Modeling is not, however, Hicks' chief qualification for her job with Trump. She's a publicist to the bone. By the time she was photographed in that sheath, she had already trained in a fierce Manhattan PR shop. Her first job with the Trump Organization was to expand Ivanka Trump's brand and promote Trump's resorts. In her mid-20s, she already had an office on the 25th floor of Trump Tower. Then one day in 2015, as Hicks told New York magazine, "Mr. Trump looked at me and said, 'I'm thinking about running for president, and you're going to be my press secretary.'"

Press secretary. Trump's formal language belied what he knew well after a lifetime of litigation, depravity and scandal. Anyone who did communications for him would have to do more than stand at a podium. She'd have to be a human manganese steel plate built to obstruct anything that came for him: attacks, allegations, lawyers, journalists — and even justice.

Hicks didn't just drift into her first PR job as some in the sheath set are known to do. Instead, she's to the manner born, third generation in a family of special-forces flacks. Her grandfather, Paul Hicks Jr., was a lifer at Texaco, eventually running public relations and advertising there. During his tenure, Texaco went bankrupt — and in 1990 entered an unusual joint venture with the Soviet oil industry.

Paul Hicks III, Hope's father, ran publicity for the NFL, blocking a labor impasse and tackling threats to the league's antitrust exemption. He's now managing director of the Glover Park Group, another communications firm, founded by Democratic operatives, which specializes in — among other things — crisis management and "Complex Situations."

Snip

[struggle4progress]

4. ... Hicks didn't just drift into her first PR job ... Instead, she's to the manner born ...

Her grandfather, Paul Hicks Jr., was a lifer at Texaco, eventually running public relations and advertising there. During his tenure, Texaco went bankrupt — and in 1990 entered an unusual joint venture with the Soviet oil industry.

Paul Hicks III, Hope's father, ran publicity for the NFL, blocking a labor impasse and tackling threats to the league's antitrust exemption. He's now managing director of the Glover Park Group, another communications firm, founded by Democratic operatives, which specializes in .. crisis management ...

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-heffernan-hope-hicks-20180202-story.html

[Leghorn21]

5. So, her grandfather did PR for Texaco when they went bankrupt, and that segued into (from 1990)

Texaco May Explore for Oil in the Arctic Area of Soviet Union : Energy: It would become the third Western petroleum company to try to enrich itself by helping the U.S.S.R.'s technology- and cash-short industry.

August 15, 1990|JAMES RISEN | TIMES STAFF WRITER


WASHINGTON — Texaco said Tuesday that it may soon begin drilling for oil in the Soviet Union's huge untapped western Arctic oil fields, becoming the third major Western oil company to attempt to cash in on the opportunity to help the struggling Soviet oil industry.

Texaco said it will first provide technical assistance to the Soviet industry.

It will begin a study this fall of whether to form an onshore oil-drilling joint venture with the Soviet government in the Timan-Pechora region, an Arctic area west of the Ural Mountains.

More:
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-15/business/fi-515_1_soviet-union

(this article is linked within the original OP article)

[TheBlackAdder]

19. My folks said Texaco sold oil to the Germans in WWII, all while championing "Buy US War Bonds!"

They said it was sold though South America. Texaco took a hit as people boycotted it for a long time.

When the CEO was questioned, his comment was, "War is War, and Business is Business!"

[Leghorn21]

22. Unnnnhhhh - oldest story in the book, eh, Adder? War is GREAT for bidness! - jfc - nt

[Cracklin Charlie]

6. Kick it

[Leghorn21]

7. FWIW, grandfather Hicks did a whole lot more than some PR work for Texaco:

...vice president worldwide sales, Texaco Inc., 1972-1975; vice president public relations and personnel, Texaco Inc., 1975-1977; vice president public relations and advertising, Texaco Inc., 1977-1983; president, Texaco Europe, 1983-1990; senior vice president, Texaco, Inc., 1986-1990; retired, 1990.

https://prabook.com/web/paul_b.hicks/1375007

...again, fwiw, he was president of Texaco Europe, 1983-1990, and Sr. VP of Texaco Inc., 1986-1990...

I believe this was the time when Russia opened her doors to Western businesses, and apparently, oil companies got in there toot sweet...don’t know if this link to Russia means anything at all vis a vis Ms. Hicks...

[bettyellen]

11. Her Dads Twitter account was heavily promoting some companys bid for the Wall too... and you

know it’s not out of friendship or god forbibdA the public good. He also had some low level political office -alderman I think?- with the GOP. Working those contacts ever since, no doubt.

[Leghorn21]

15. A long and wind-y road, bettyellen - for sure, one thing seems to lead to another when one

follows that $$$ trail - mercy

[bettyellen]

33. I could NOT believe hed be stupid enough to blatantly shill like that. But theyre following Trumps

lead w this shameless crap.

[Hekate]

9. Thank all of you. With all that oil in her veins, wonder if there's any connection to ...

... Tillerson or Russia? Just asking for a friend.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. WOW. I'm thinking 45 may have known about her because of the Russia/Oil connection, NOT ...

... because of the modeling.

So, WHO arranged for her to work for Ivanka ? Either she did herself, as a clever way to get on the inside of the tRump organization, or one of 45's inner circle decided to give her a trial role to size her up.

A really, really overlooked detail ! Thanks, Hekate !

[bettyellen]

12. Read somewhere she was a college friend of Ivanka.

[Tanuki]

17. She is much younger than Ivanka (29 vs 36) and they went to

different colleges.

[bettyellen]

34. Oh well, thanks for clearing that up. So many reports get seeded w bullshit. Which is

why I said “somewhere”. But yeah, I’m not hear for this ignorant little lamb act. Not for any of them!

[Cha]

13. Mahao, Hekate!

Shine the Light

[Hekate]

14. Don't you just love this? The author writes very well, and cuts to the bone...

It really makes you wonder about the lazy thinking of too many of the chattering classes.

I love real newspapers.

[Cha]

40. I see I left out a letter of Mahalo!

Yes.. We Love Real News!

[ismnotwasm]

16. Interesting

Hopefully as more becomes clear I’ll stop seeing “Hope Hicks will need therapy after Trump” pity posts like she’s 16 instead of a seasoned 29. See that mostly on Twitter

[wishstar]

18. She was in loop to the Carter Page, Don Jr. TrumpTower and other emails involving Russian contacts

She has been a trusted intermediary between rest of staff and Trump beginning before the campaign all the way until now in WH, since anyone who wanted vital information to reach Trump made sure to email her, while technically leaving him "out of the loop" .

Interesting that although she was warned at least twice by FBI that they had picked up surveillance of foreign nationals trying to contact her and FBI also warned her and rest of team in summer of 2016 that Russians might try to contact them, she never reported anything to FBI and has denied that any of Trump team had any foreign contacts. Then to top it off Mark Corallo claims she said Don Jr's incriminating emails would never come out.

I'll be surprised if Mueller hasn't caught her lying and covering up information and will be arranging a plea deal for her to spill all her secrets.

[Hekate]

20. Do we know if she's been interviewed already? I would so love for every one of them to be....

...reeled in like flopping fish in a net.

[wishstar]

21. Yes, she was extensively interviewed back in December for 2 days

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hope-hicks-met-special-counsels-team-interviews/story?id=51681287

[Hekate]

23. Pass the butter. This could be tasty...

[wishstar]

26. MMMMueller time soon?

[Hekate]

27. Speaking of Hope -- I really really hope it's soon.

[wishstar]

28. I doubt she wants to model a wrinkled prison jumpsuit even it is orange

[Leghorn21]

25. indeed she has - from Dec. 8:

“White House communications director Hope Hicks met with special counsel Robert Mueller's team for interviews today and Thursday, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.”

Boy oh boy. Your article sure throws a whole different light on that chat with Mr. Mueller, H - thank you again for posting!!

[Hekate]

29. Oh, that explains why I never saw it. We were evacuated for 2 weeks in the Thomas Fire...

I left my iPad behind ("immediate mandatory evacuation" kind of grabs your attention) and didn't see the Times again until we'd been back home several days.
(We are okay. Other people not so much.)

[Leghorn21]

32. Ah, I see, you were otherwise engaged at the time?

So awfully sorry for that terrible catastrophe, and so happy you are “okay”! -

[Miigwech]

24. Anyone who would date Lewandowski

and sit, in service, at the entrance to oval office, of Hades, is not a good soul.

[Hekate]

30. Right, and judging from the article, she learned the trade at her daddy's knees. nt

[MarianJack]

31. Isn't she Donald Trump's current mistress?

Yuck!

PEACE!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

35. Thanks Hekate! Interesting. Actually could see

Her defense on this ..how her lawyers would spin her words. But I think it would really bother him if she went down..be a great day

[H2O Man]

36. Recommended.

Very interesting!

[UTUSN]

37. Can't double-Rec, so I'll double-KICK!1

[Hekate]

38. Thank you

[Lucinda]

39. KNR Thank you!

[dalton99a]

41. She certainly has "moral flexibility"

Hicks didn't just drift into her first PR job as some in the sheath set are known to do. Instead, she's to the manner born, third generation in a family of special-forces flacks. Her grandfather, Paul Hicks Jr., was a lifer at Texaco, eventually running public relations and advertising there. During his tenure, Texaco went bankrupt — and in 1990 entered an unusual joint venture with the Soviet oil industry.

Paul Hicks III, Hope's father, ran publicity for the NFL, blocking a labor impasse and tackling threats to the league's antitrust exemption. He's now managing director of the Glover Park Group, another communications firm, founded by Democratic operatives, which specializes in — among other things — crisis management and "Complex Situations."

So complex situations are the Hicks family business. Moreover, when it comes to protecting clients in chronic crisis, she was trained by the best: Matthew Hiltzik, who introduced her to the Trumps. And Hiltzik made his bones as chief publicist for, wait for it, Harvey Weinstein and Miramax. Hiltzik knows from damage control.

PR at that level takes moral flexibility, callousness and charm. The flexibility ("it's all relative" ) and callousness ("who cares?" ) allow you to sleep at night. But the charm is your real high card, especially when you're whitewashing the unsavory practices or grave misdeeds of Texaco, the NFL, Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump.