Philippe Reines
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Philippe I. Reines (; born November 25, 1969) is an American political consultant. He joined the
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
as a senior advisor to
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
when she became
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...
in January 2009, and was promoted to deputy assistant secretary of state for strategic communications in 2010."Reines, Philippe I. (2016). ''Who's Who in America''. New Providence, NJ:
Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...
LLC. Retrieved via ''Credo Reference'' database, 2016-10-30.
Bureau of Public Affairs Front Office Changes
ress release(May 26, 2011). U.S. Department of State. "Cheryl Benton remains as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Outreach and Philippe Reines as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications." Retrieved October 30, 2016.
Reines was a managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, which he founded with partners Jeremy Bash and Andrew J. Shapiro in 2013.


Early life and education

A New York City native, he attended the
Ramaz School The Ramaz School is an American coeducational Jewish Modern Orthodox day school which offers a dual curriculum of general studies taught in English and Judaic studies taught in Hebrew. The school is located on the Upper East Side of Manhatta ...
, an independent Modern Orthodox Jewish prep school on the
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...
. Reines earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the
Columbia University School of General Studies The School of General Studies (GS) is a liberal arts college and one of the undergraduate colleges of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights, Borough (New York City), New York City. GS is known prima ...
.


Career


2000–2003

Reines was a member of the
Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign The 2000 presidential campaign of Al Gore, the List of vice presidents of the United States, 45th vice president of the United States under President Bill Clinton, began when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States, the p ...
's rapid response operation. Reines remained involved in former Vice President Gore's public activities after Gore left office in 2001, going on to serve as Gore's teaching assistant and de facto spokesperson at the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...
when Gore taught the course "Covering National Affairs in the Information Age," in spring 2001.Finn, Robin (July 15, 2005).
Speaking, and Sweating, for the Senator
. ''New York Times''. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
In December 2002 he contributed material for Gore's appearance on ''
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''. After the 2000 Presidential election was decided, Reines returned to New York and spent a year as Deputy Communications Director for the
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
before joining Speaker Peter Vallone's mayoral bid. He later worked briefly as Communications Director for U.S. Representative
Jane Harman Jane Margaret Harman (née Lakes, June 28, 1945) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2001 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the ranking member on the ...
(D-CA). Beginning in July 2002, Reines served as press secretary for Hillary Rodham Clinton, during her term as New York senator. Over the next several years he became an increasingly trusted adviser to Clinton, and a key adviser on Iraq issues. In 2003, Reines helped orchestrate the media campaign and seven-month book tour that accompanied the release of ''
Living History Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...
'', Senator Clinton's bestselling memoir of her time in the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
. As the primary point of contact between Senator Clinton's official office and the national press corps, Reines served as one of Senator Clinton's primary spokesmen, and was responsible for many of her interviews and media appearances.


2008–2012

During the
2008 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John Mc ...
, in addition to his role as press secretary and senior advisor to Hillary Clinton, he served as a spokesman for
Chelsea Clinton Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senator. Clinton was born in Little Rock, Ar ...
, traveling with her throughout the primaries. When Clinton took up her post as Secretary of State, in January 2009, Reines was appointed as her senior advisor. By 2010 he had been named Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Strategic Communications. A scathing piece by ''Politico'' in March 2009 highlighted Reines's responsibility for one of Clinton's early gaffes as Secretary of State – an erroneous Russian translation of the word "Reset" on a gag button presented to Clinton's Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. In July 2009, Reines struck a deal with journalist
Marc Ambinder Marc Ambinder (; born ) is an American university professor, journalist, and television producer. He is a former politics editor at ''The Atlantic'', a White House Correspondent for ''National Journal'', contributing editor for '' GQ'', and was ed ...
to provide an advance copy of a Hillary Clinton speech to Ambinder in exchange for positive reporting on Clinton. In its December 2009 profile of Hillary Clinton, ''
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'' magazine described him as Clinton's "
Michael Clayton ''Michael Clayton'' is a 2007 American legal thriller film by writer and director Tony Gilroy. It stars George Clooney as lawyer Michael Clayton, who discovers a coverup of criminal wrongdoing by one of his firm's clients. Tom Wilkinson, Tild ...
-esque image man and fixer." In March 2010, ''
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s ''WhoRunsGov'', a site offering user-contributed political profiles, moderated by an editorial team, included a profile of Reines as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, in its "Power 25: Press" series; and in July 2010, ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'' included Reines in their "50 Politicos to Watch" list, categorizing him as a "fixer". In September 2012, Reines vigorously took issue with
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
over its use of Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens's diary, which CNN found at the site of an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi which killed the ambassador. CNN fired back by suggesting that the State Department was "attacking the messenger" because of "questions about why the State Department didn’t do more to protect Ambassador Stevens." Some media critics sided with CNN and questioned whether Reines' real grievance was indeed with CNN's disrespect for the privacy wishes of Stevens' family;
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...
published an email exchange between Reines and journalist Michael Hastings where the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State told Hastings to "Fuck off." Reines also took issue with a reporter's questions in December 2012, calling a
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
correspondent's question about his boss "absolutely asinine."


2016

In the debate preparations for
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
in the 2016 presidential election, Reines stood in for
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. CBS commented that Reines is "known for his bullish, combative personality—traits that often mirror Trump’s personal debate style".


2024

Similar to his role in 2016, Reines assisted
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
with her debate preparations. Reines again reprised his role playing Trump in mock debates.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reines, Philippe Living people Columbia University School of General Studies alumni American political consultants American people of French-Jewish descent Ramaz School alumni 1969 births United States Department of State officials