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The New York Times Magazine this Labor Day weekend includes a lengthy look at lobbyists, consultants and "strategic advisors" seeking to leverage foreign governments' and corporations' unfamiliarity with Donald Trump.
The Times story begins with Robert Stryk, a character of at least passing familiarity to Oregon political insiders and the wine industry in southern Oregon.
“As for so many other people, election night did not pan out quite the way Robert Stryk expected,” the story says. “Stryk, who owned a lobbying firm so small it didn’t actually have an office, spent most of his time in California and owned a small vineyard in Oregon, and he had helped out the Trump campaign as a sort of informal West Coast hand.”
Stryk made a name for himself in Oregon in 2015, when he his company, Sonoran Policy Group, LLC began working with Monica PAC, the political action committee the pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Monica Wehby formed in February 2015.
Wehby, a Republican, had lost a U.S. Senate race to incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley in 2014 but wanted to remain active in politics after that race ended.
She raised nearly $300,000 and briefly considered running for governor in 2016. Rather than running or donating to candidates or causes, as most non-candidate PACs do, she spent the money primarily on consultants.
Wehby spent $106,000 with the Sonoran Policy Group, LLC, an Arizona-based company run by Stryk. The company was using the money for "an innovative messaging and voter targeting tool" called "Trusted Messenger."
When The Oregonian looked into Stryk's background, the paper found "a long list of legal and financial entanglements," including litigation over a winery Stryk owned in Douglas County.
Monica PAC shut down in December 2016, having burned through all its money.
Stryk and an Oregon lawyer named Jacob Daniels, who was the treasurer for Monica PAC, moved on to Washington, where the Times says Stryk has made himself into a player, introducing foreign interests including the New Zealand government to the Trump administration.
''We're here for the opportunities,'' Stryk told the Times. ''Not for the ideology.''
Robert Stryk Vineyards, meanwhile, is still operating in the southern Oregon town of Myrtle Creek.