Who is Kevin Koonce?

Kevin Koonce is currently a lobbyist at Sorini, Samet & Associates. Mr. Koonce has also worked as a lobbyist and consultant at Cassidy & Associates. The name of that firm should ring a bell for my loyal readers; after all that's where Todd Boulanger worked before he abruptly resigned. James Hirni is also a Cassidy alum.

Mr. Koonce has held other jobs, too, but, in my opinion, the most interesting job he has had is that of Legislative Director for Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), a job he held from April 2002 until December 2004.



Records provided to me suggest that Mr. Koonce grew up in Newtown, Connecticut. Conventional wisdom says that Connecticut's baseball loyalties are divided by the Connecticut River. Those who live east of the Connecticut follow the Boston Red Sox; those who live west of the Connecticut are New York Yankee fans. Although Newtown is west of the Connecticut River, I wonder if Mr. Koonce is actually a Red Sox fan. Being a New Englander, Mr. Koonce may also appreciate hockey.

I have it on good authority that Mr Koonce is personal friends not only with admitted criminal Todd Boulanger (another Cassidy alum), but also with his wife Jessica.

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What do we know about 'Staffer F'?

Many of the things we know about 'Staffer F' appear in Nedra Pickler's AP article from yesterday:

The prosecutors said one legislative director in the Senate, identified only as "Staffer F," tried to help insert spending measures and add other amendments to legislation for Boulanger's clients. Later, the staffer asked Boulanger if he could "score some hockey tickets," and Boulanger got him front-row seats.

"This is without a doubt the most in demand game of the season," Boulanger wrote. "You, my friend, are in debt to me for a while!"

Boulanger later got the staffer box tickets to see the Baltimore Orioles, but the staffer wanted more. "Could you make sure there's beer this time," he wrote. I "mean, the red sox, crab cakes, and fillet mignon's were nice but haha."

Later, Boulanger expressed confidence that the senator whom the staffer worked for would give them a favor. "Easy money," Boulanger wrote to Abramoff. The staffer "practically lives in our various suites. We are shady."

Emphasis added

In my original post involving 'Staffer F', commenter dengre points to a few more factual items about 'Staffer F'. dengre tells us to look in the press release issued by the Department of Justice:

Boulanger admitted that he provided more than $10,000 worth of tickets, meals and drinks to the legislative director for a U.S. Senator. Boulanger admitted he met the legislative director on July 16, 2002, and provided the things of value for 20 months following their first meeting.

With dengre's help, we know that our LD worked on the Hill between July 2002 and March 2004 (20 months later). So let's focus on LDs that worked during that time frame.

We here at the ACR Blog are actively trying to identify 'Staffer F'. Keep checking in to see if we've made any progress.

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Update on Jessica Boulanger

I mentioned Todd and Jessica Boulanger are friends with Kevin Koonce. We already know that Jessica Boulanger worked for our own former Congressman, Tom DeLay. Our kindred spirit over at Unheard No More! reports that Mrs. Boulanger has recently joined the firm of New Media Strategies. But Unheard No More! doesn't stop there. She tells us that the CEO of New Media Strategies is Peter Snyder. Then Unheard No More! identifies Mr. Snyder's wife, Burson Taylor Snyder, in a picture I've already posted on the ACR blog.


Jessica Boulanger, far right
Burson Taylor Snyder, to the left of Jessica Boulanger