Christopher Lyon is a

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televi ...

who has worked for Republican party candidates in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and on the national level. According to ''The New York Times'', "

yon Yon may refer to: * Yon (name), including a list of people with the name * Yon (river), France * Yon Mound and Village Site, a prehistoric archaeological site in Florida * ''Yön'' ("Direction" in English), a Turkish weekly leftist political magaz ...

is sought-after, reviled and, according to foes and allies alike, good at what he does." In 2000, Lyon worked for New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate Jeffrey Howard, and distributed flyers that pointed out the wife of opponent

Gordon Humphrey Gordon John Humphrey (born October 9, 1940) is an American politician from New Hampshire who served two terms in the U.S. Senate as a Republican from 1979 to 1990, and twice ran for Governor of New Hampshire, though both bids were unsuccessful. ...

was a member of an

orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

. Lyon found the orgasm cult issue in a column written by Jack Anderson, the legendary investigative journalist, in 1984. Mrs. Humphrey's very public connection to the strange group originally became an issue in Humphrey's 1984 re-election campaign against U.S. Rep. Norm D'Amours (D-N.H.). In a politically-influenced case, the

state Attorney General issued a meaningless cease-and-desist order, almost one year after the campaign ended, to Lyon for failing to put a disclaimer on the mailing. During the 2006

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

campaign, Lyon's unconventional and creative work as a subcontractor on the campaign of Republican

Tom Kean Jr. Thomas Howard Kean Jr. ( ; born September 5, 1968) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from New Jersey's 7th congressional district since 2023. He represented New Jersey's 21st l ...

earned that campaign additional attention. During the campaign, Lyon struck up a pen-pal relationship with a former Democratic Hudson County executive serving time in federal prison for accepting a bribe to seek information on opponent U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. Lyon's opposition research for the Kean campaign included work on a swiftboat-style movie said to show the complicity of Democratic incumbent Senator

Bob Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American former politician and lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 2006 until his resignation in 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

in a 1980s case of corruption. That movie was never made, however. Before the campaign ended, the negative issues Lyon helped raise about Menendez caused then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie to initiate a federal criminal investigation against the incumbent Democratic U.S. senator. In February 2007, another high-profile piece of Lyon's work surfaced at the website

The Smoking Gun The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources. Most ...

. A memo prepared for the 1993 campaign of

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

for

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

details Giuliani's potential political vulnerabilities on issues such as race, social stances, and his personal "weirdness factor". According to ''The New York Times'', "One New Jersey Republican consultant who has worked with Mr. Lyon described him as a relentless researcher who can trace money trails from records in county courthouse basements. As the consultant, who refused to be identified because it might damage his own political relationships, put it: 'He brings you the entire kitchen sink, and says, 'Look what I have brought you, a kitchen sink. Let's throw it at the guy.' You have to have a grown-up around who says, 'Well, I'm not sure we should throw the entire kitchen sink at the guy, but what an interesting brass spigot you found"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Christopher Living people Year of birth missing (living people)