The political stars were out to support the veteran’s hiring program, Dog Tag Bakery, on Tuesday evening November 30th. April Ryan, Hilary Rosen, Anita McBride, and Tammy Haddad invited friends and colleagues to  the holiday shop-for-a-cause at Lafayette148 in Tysons Galleria with proceeds going to support Dog Tag’s work.

Attendees were invited to shop, drink, and enjoy the sweet treats freshly made in Dog Tag Bakery’s Georgetown shop. The non-profit was founded in 2014 by Connie Milstein and Father Rick Curry. More than just a bakery, the Dog Tag Fellowship Program seeks to support veterans, military spouses, and caregivers return to their communities with confidence, support, and a new sense of purpose. 

Two graduates of the program were styled in the latest Lafayette 148 fashions by King Chong, Megan Boswell from Lafayette HQ and Whitney Harrington and the Tyson’s team. Ms. Jonee Coleman served 10 years in the Army, working as an Army information systems operator/analyst. She has dedicated her time to updating her skills and revising her current business for success. Ms. Ronetta Jones served 13 years in the U.S. Air National Guard. In 2018, she founded XtraOrdinary Solutions, achieving success in business consulting and event operations management. Lindsay Walls, director of development and Elizabeth Vana from Dog Tag Bakery shared program details to the invited guests. 

Notable guests included Washingtonians old and new. White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Erica Loewe, the White House Director of African American Media were joined by Michelle Obama’s former Chief of Staff Tina Tchen, Kathleen Buhle Biden, Kimberley Fritts, Kendra Barkoff, Susan Davis, Virginia Coyne, Courtney Surls, Tim McBride, Nancy Murphy and Rebecca Kutler.  

 

They were joined by several prominent women in media, such as Wendy Benjaminson from Bloomberg News, CNN’s Abby Phillip, and Axios DC reporter Paige Hopkins. 

Lafayette 148 New York’s King Chong and Megan Boswell with Whitney Harrington and her entire Tyson’s team cheered on the shoppers!

Politico Playbook mentioned the event this morning here. 

To order Dog Tag Bakery treats for your business clients and family click here.

On November 17th,  Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba and Franco Nuchese hosted a book party for Martin Indyk’s newest work, Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy at Cafe Milano in Washington, DC.  

Attendees included diplomatic heavy hitters like John Kerry and Ambassador Al Otaiba, who paid tribute to Indyk with a kind speech. Indyk then spoke, entertaining the crowd with an amusing story about Henry Kissinger and issuing many thanks. 

Israeli Ambassador Mike Herzog, Sally Quinn, and former Congresswoman Jane Harman were also present for the celebration, as well as media figures Wolf Blitzer, Norah O’Donnell, and Kaitlan Collins. Other notable guests included Tom Friedman from The New York Times, Roxanne Roberts from The Washington Post, and Jeff Goldberg from The Atlantic.

Martin Indyk served twice as U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 1995-1997 and 2000-2001. He was President Clinton’s Middle East adviser on the National Security Council, and in Clinton’s second term he became the assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs. Master of the Game is Indyk’s third book, and first solo publication in a few years. 

Cafe Milano was ground zero for Washington media and politicos on Tuesday, November 16th to celebrate the publication of Jonathan Karl’s new book,”Betrayal: Front Row at the Trump Show.” Karl, whose first book on Trump was called, “Front Row at the Trump Show,” was a New York Times bestseller. 

Milano owner Franco Nuschese welcomed Jon Karl in his speech, congratulating him on so much new reporting making headlines around the world. President Trump responded to the headlines by calling Karl a “third-rate reporter.” President Trump has been talking to Karl for all of the 30 years Karl has been covering him.

Guests included Senator Amy Klobuchar, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Dr. Anthony Fauci, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, and MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell. 

Karl, the former president of the White House Correspondents Association, was surrounded by other members CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins, upcoming President, NBC News White House Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell.

ABC News colleagues included Rachel Scott, Cecilia Vega, RIck Klein, Dax Tejera and USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan. Politicos on site were former Virginia member Barbara Comstock, Ron and Sara Bonjean, Lis Smith and Jim Margolis.

 

Two other bestselling Trump authors were in attendance, famed journalist Bob Woodward and the Washington Post’s Phil Rucker.

 

While Fortune releases their Most Powerful Women at their annual DC conference, Washingtonian magazine announced their 2021 Most Powerful Women list, over 150 strong, which includes categories from industry and government to the arts. 

New to the list are FTC Chair Lina Khan, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Sally Buzbee, Executive Editor of the Washington Post, and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Washingtonian brought back many DC stalwarts including Heather Podesta of Invariant, Juleanna Glover from Ridgely Walsh, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Tammy Haddad, CEO of Haddad Media and co-founder of WHCInsider.

To view the full list, click here.

Big news in Washington as longtime political reporter, editor, and DC bureau chief Julie Pace gets the tap on the shoulder to become the new Executive Editor of the Associated Press. The New York Times reports that she began her career with the hope of becoming an international reporter.

Pace is a regular guest on Fox News Sunday and other top political shows.

She replaces Sally Buzbee who was named Executive Editor of the Washington Post in May.

 

Uber hosted hundreds of staffers and stakeholders ahead of the Congressional Baseball Game at Sandlot Southeast, a 5,000 square foot, outdoor container bar & event space located directly across the street from the players entrance of Nationals Park Stadium at the base of the newly completed Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.

 

The event highlighted Uber Eats’ unique partnership with Sandlot Southeast, as well as their contributions to supporting local and minority-owned restaurants throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including supporting over 200,000 free rides to and from vaccination sites through its partnership with the White House.

 

The event featured catering from Grub Rockstar (est. 2016), a Black-owned food and catering company led by head chef and local D.C. resident Henry Tucker. Grub Rockstar is set up in the Sandlot Southeast space and is serving throughout the month of October. Be sure to check them out.

 

 

Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, co-founders of PunchbowlDC News hosted an evening reception featuring an interview with Clear CEO Caryn Seidman Becker, at Anchovy Social. Palmer announced that PunchbowlDC now has 100,000 subscribers. It was one of the first gatherings of politicos and media this summer.

Guests included Danielle Burr and CR Wooters, former Trump White House aide Johnny DeStefano, Ron Bonjean, Ben and Joanne Ginsberg, Betsy Fischer Martin, Mike Allen and Jill Zuckman. The co-author of the bestseller, “Nightmare Scenario,” Damian Paletta and Jacqueline Alemany, author of the Power Up newsletter were among the media stars along with Brian Stelter and Mike Allen.

NBC News’ White House Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell has been named President of the White House Correspondents’ Association for the 2023-’24 term after a tie breaking vote.

On Monday, the WHCA released results for their annual election to decide three new members for the association’s nine person executive board, only to discover a tie between O’Donnell and the Politico White House Correspondent Anita Kumar for the At-Large executive board seat. Even more surprising, O’Donnell and Kumar were both top choices for the associations’ next presidential term, also on the ballot this year, with O’Donnell winning 204 to Kumar’s 191 votes.

However, according to the WHCA’s bylaws, only a sitting board member can be elected President. As a result, the decision on the next WHCA President of the 2023-’24 term became contingent on a tie-breaking vote by the outgoing executive board. Late Wednesday night, the board made their decision, voting 7 to 2 in O’Donnell’s favor, reports AdWeek.

The current WHCA President, Associated Press White House Correspondent Zeke Miller, will finish his term at the end of this year. CBS News Radio White House correspondent Steven Portnoy will take up the seat for the 2021-’22 term, followed by NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith for the 2022-’23 term.

In her 27 years working for NBC News, Kelly O’Donnell has covered several presidential campaigns, the summer and winter Olympics, and several major events including the Oklahoma City bombings and the O.J. Simpson trials. She was embedded in the 3rd Infantry Division during the Iraq War and was the first to report on live television Hillary Clinton’s concession call to President Trump following the 2016 elections. While at NBC she has worked as a Capitol Hill and White House correspondent, and has appeared on many NBC platforms including NBC Nightly News, Today, and Meet the Press.

Every year the White House Correspondents’ Association holds an election to pick three of their members to join the association’s nine-member executive board – each serving a term of three years. This year, the association also casted votes to see who among those nine board members would serve as the next President of the WHCA. In an unlikely turn of events, this year’s election has ended up with a tie.

According to the election results released by the WHCA, NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell narrowly edged out Politico’s Anita Kumar in the presidential race, winning 204 to 191 votes. However, according to the association’s bylaws, the President of the WHCA must be elected to the executive board before they can take up the presidency. This means that O’Donnell’s victory is contingent on her also winning the At-Large executive board seat – a race that she tied with Kumar with each receiving 197 votes.

The decision now rests on the outgoing executive board who will reconvene later this week to make a tie-breaking vote for both the At-Large seat and the Presidency. Many White House reporters say they cannot recall the last time that a similar situation has occurred, Politico reports.

The two other board seats up for a vote were won by large margins. ABC News’ Karen Travers won the Radio Seat with 374 votes and Bloomberg’s Justin Sink won the Wire Services Seat with 364 votes. A total of 397 ballots were submitted. The association also voted overwhelmingly to amend their bylaws, with 333 votes in the affirmative.