Dem congressional hopeful was associate at elite legislation agency, the place he defended company purchasers
Collin Anderson • September 16, 2022 5:00 am
In his marketing campaign supplies, Democrat Josh Riley is a flannel-wearing, beer-drinking, fifth-generation upstate New Yorker with blue-collar values. In actual life, Riley spent years at an elite Washington, D.C., legislation agency and returned upstate simply months in the past to launch his congressional run.
Riley’s campaign site says the Democrat is “running for Congress to give working families a Square Deal” and touts his upbringing “in a working-class neighborhood” in upstate New York. Riley’s campaign launch video, in the meantime, options the flannel-and-hoodie-clad candidate alongside run-down factories and modest properties. Later in the spot, earlier than clinking a Miller Lite glass in a dimly-lit dive bar, Riley pledges to place himself “back at the kitchen table” along with his “neighbors [in] upstate New York and ask what’s best for them.”
Prior to his congressional run, nonetheless, these upstate New Yorkers hadn’t been Riley’s neighbors for effectively over a decade. Instead, Riley spent years in D.C. at a high worldwide legislation agency defending company purchasers akin to Apple and Uber, and he solely registered to vote in his upstate New York district after launching his marketing campaign—information that might tarnish the Democrat’s native, blue-collar picture as he runs towards Republican county government Marc Molinaro in the state’s nineteenth Congressional District.
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 2007, Riley spent 4 years in Florida and California earlier than transferring to D.C. to function former Democratic senator Al Franken’s common counsel, his LinkedIn reveals. In 2014, he started working at worldwide legislation agency Boies Schiller Flexner’s D.C. workplace, a profitable gig that has helped the Democrat amass a web price of as much as $4 million, in response to his candidate financial disclosure.
Two years later, in 2016, Riley married his spouse, a strategic marketing consultant, on the Memorial Continental Hall in the nation’s capital, a venue the self-described “urban” couple “loved” as a result of it “was totally D.C.” The couple went on to buy a four-bedroom residence in town for $1.6 million in June 2020—Riley nonetheless pays property taxes on the house as of this 12 months, in response to native data reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
Riley, whose marketing campaign didn’t return a request for remark, swapped Boies Schiller Flexner for fellow worldwide agency Jenner & Block in January 2021 earlier than leaving the agency in October 2021. Just one month later, he returned to upstate New York to launch his congressional marketing campaign, his LinkedIn states. In February 2022, Riley registered to vote in the realm, utilizing an handle that is situated in a “luxury” apartment building with “sophisticated stylings” and a “world-class amenity collection,” together with “wine storage,” a “pet spa,” and a “yoga studio.” Prior to the transfer, Riley had not been registered to vote in New York since 2006.
While Riley’s marketing campaign website says the Democrat “fought back against big corporations,” Riley’s time at Boies Schiller Flexner noticed him defend Uber and GoDaddy.com from patent and trademark infringement claims, authorized filings reviewed by the Free Beacon present. Riley additionally represented Apple in a class motion lawsuit that accused the tech large of illegally censoring conservative content material on-line.
Still, Riley’s launch video stresses the candidate’s bipartisan bonafides by exhibiting Riley praising a self-proclaimed Republican voter in a parking zone. His Twitter account, in the meantime, doesn’t point out his levels from Harvard and William & Mary however does checklist his commencement 12 months from Union-Endicott High School in upstate New York.
Beyond Riley’s company purchasers, the Democrat’s stint at Boies Schiller Flexner got here at a controversial time for the legislation agency. In the autumn of 2016—shortly earlier than Riley turned a associate at Boies Schiller Flexner—the agency aided Harvey Weinstein in his quest to suppress allegations that the disgraced Hollywood mogul sexually assaulted quite a few ladies. Hunter Biden additionally served as a marketing consultant at Boies Schiller Flexner from 2011 to 2017, throughout which he introduced the agency a now-infamous consumer: Ukrainian power firm Burisma Holdings. Riley has raised greater than $140,000 from Boies Schiller Flexner workers, federal campaign finance disclosures present.
Riley gained his August main by 28 factors and can face Molinaro in November. Despite Riley’s in depth ties to D.C., Molinaro has a slight monetary benefit over the Democrat—Molinaro has raised $1.6 million to Riley’s $1.4 million as of Aug. 3.