Oct 16, 2018

Saudi Arabia’s alleged murder of exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi is causing it to hemorrhage Washington lobbyists.

Both BGR and the Glover Park Group have dropped their lucrative client, the Wall Street Journal and Politico reported this week. And public relations giant Qorvis, which has a $280,000 per month contract with the kingdom, tells Ad Age that it is concerned about the circumstances surrounding Khashoggi's disappearance and is "watching them closely."

The reports come after the Harbour Group announced it was jumping ship last week.

Why it matters: The rapid loss of lobbyists illustrates how toxic of a client Saudi Arabia has become — even for an industry long accustomed to representing foreign dictators. Glover Park had a $150,000-per-month contract with Riyadh while the Harbour Group and BGR Government Affairs each had $80,000 monthly contracts. As investors continue to pull out of Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Khashoggi scandal, the defections from seasoned lobbyists will make it harder to counter the political and public image repercussions in the United States.