Subject: Re: Research Book Proposals
From: "Joshua Alcorn" <[email-masked]>
To: "Ted Kaufman" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Snyder-Mackler, Alex" <[email-masked]>, "Beau Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 09:43:36 -0400

Thank you Senator. I think your suggestions make sense. I’ll speak with Joe and Keith this week about the internal research. I think Tim M. should be the DOJ internal point person on this. Perhaps we can do this meeting the week of July 21? That would give Joe and Keith a chance to wrap their minds around what needs to be done.
I’ll circulate some possible dates later this morning.
/ja

Joshua Alcorn
302/295.8340 (office)
302/598.1885 (cell)
[email-masked]

On Jul 5, 2014, at 11:40 AM, [email-masked] wrote:

> My thoughts
> 
> 1.Either one would be great.
> 
> 2. They are not going to get a lot done during July and August.
> 
> 3.We do not need the book before labor day. But we do need the section on DOJ accomplishments completed by November at the very latest.
>  
> 4.  There are a lot of general rules on this type of research, but there are also a lot of questions to be answered about this specific campaign. 
> 
> We should sit down BEFORE we sign the contract and decide what we want to get out of this relationship? What would the table of contents of the "book" look like? What are our specific areas of concern? What are the ground rules for sources of information?  (Delaware is a very very small state and there is a unnatural interest in anything related to Beau). 
> 
> 5. We need know who and how we approach folks at DOJ on accomplishments? Who is the point person going to be and the specifics of who else is going to be involved and how they are going to be involved. It is a little uncomfortable to have a "campaign consultant" sit with Ian right before he is leaving; especially when we know he will not be the point person. 
> 
> 6. This is all best done as part of the contract and general understanding of the relationship.
> 
> Summary - I think there is a lot we have to do before we actually sign a contract. Maybe a first step would be a meeting in July of Beau, Josh, Molly, Alex, me, Joe R, Keith W. Tim Mullaney or ...to deal with any of the questions. The deadline would be to have all meetings completed and to sign a contract the first week in september.
> From: "Joshua Alcorn" <[email-masked]>
> To: "Snyder-Mackler, Alex" <[email-masked]>
> Cc: "biden, beau" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "kaufman, ted" <[email-masked]>
> Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2014 7:37:49 AM
> Subject: Re: Research Book Proposals
> 
> Agreed. Beau, Hunter, Ted, your thoughts?
> 
> Joshua Alcorn
> 302/295.8340 (office)
> 302/598.1885 (cell)
> [email-masked]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Jul 3, 2014, at 11:35 PM, Alexander S. Mackler <[email-masked]> wrote:
> 
> Makes sense to go with New Partners--they're familiar with BB, worked with the family in the past, and have AG experience. Priority is to get this done while we still have Beau's people at DOJ so we don't run into any problems collecting information.
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 11:50 AM, Joshua Alcorn <[email-masked]> wrote:
> Hi guys, 
> 
> I wanted to follow up on these two research proposals. I solicited two more, but one firm said they’re too busy and one guy just never submitted a proposal. His loss.
> 
> These are basically the same plan. This type of research is pretty formulaic. The differences really come down to the personalities of the researchers and their previous work or previous relationship with the candidate. 
> 
> In this case, I really like New Partners. They did AG Jack Conway, who is now running for Gov. They did the WA AG who ran for Gov as well. They did Schwartz, when she ran for PA Gov. They know Delaware, having worked for Carney. But the biggest bonus (in my opinion) is that they did some of the vetting for OFA on JRB back in 2008. Including Beau, Hunter and (I presume) Ashley and Dr. B. I think the fact that OFA entrusted these guys with VP vetting speaks very highly of them.
> 
> Jef Pollack’s firm’s proposal is good as well. He really, really, really wants to be a part of this organization. I don’t know him well, except that he donated to Beau’s campaign last year. His eagerness to be a part of this organization is great - it means he’ll take it very seriously. He’s not the primary research director, but I’m sure he’ll be more hands on with this project than he would be for another client. There’s probably a negative side to his eagerness, but Beau, you know him better than I. They also have DE experience, having worked for Carper, and experience with prosecutors (Klobuchar) and also did research on Ken Buck (I think for the DSCC), who ran for Senate in 2012 in CO. 
> 
> In both of these cases, the pitch they put together involves a long term relationship with the campaign. Whoever we choose I want to be around for a while. The purpose of this exercise isn’t to just have them drop us a book in 3 months - it’s to help us use the book in future elections. 
> 
> I would really like to make a decision on this soon. With Ian leaving in a few weeks, it would be nice to have a full sit down with him before he leaves the office. We can punt the one on one interview with Beau until the fall.
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts. I vote for New Partners. If you want to speak with the principals on the phone, I’m happy to arrange.
> 
> Thanks,
> Josh
> 
> Joshua Alcorn
> 302/295.8340 (office)
> 302/598.1885 (cell)
> [email-masked]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Alexander Snyder Mackler
> (302) 598-8678
> 
>