Hogan Lovells' Washington, D.C., offices. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi / NLJ

Last week, within days of the world's leading producers agreeing to cut output in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a top lobbyist at Hogan Lovells sent out a barrage of emails on behalf of one of the firm's longtime clients: Saudi Arabia.

"We wanted to update you on how the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is leading global efforts to stabilize oil markets," wrote Norm Coleman, a Hogan Lovells senior counsel and former U.S. senator, in a message sent to more than two dozen congressional aides.

"The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically lowered global energy demand, harming producers around the world. As it has done for decades, KSA assumed its role as a global energy leader to negotiate this deal and help reduce the market imbalance," he added.

For many of the aides, it was not the first time they had heard this month from the former Republican senator, who was narrowly ousted by Al Franken in his 2008 reelection bid. A week earlier, Coleman had dropped into their inboxes, saying in identical emails that he wanted to keep them "updated on how the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is leading regional efforts related to the current ceasefire and COVID mitigation in Yemen," in a civil war responsible for what is widely considered the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The emails, recently disclosed on a Justice Department database, offer a glimpse into how Hogan Lovells advocated for the kingdom in connection with both its oil price war against Russia and the civil war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led blockade and bombings have caused immeasurable human suffering. Coleman sent his earlier email April 9, a day after Saudi Arabia announced a unilateral cease-fire to open talks and prevent the spread of coronavirus in the conflict with Houthi rebels, who have controlled the Yemeni capital for the past five years.

"The ceasefire presents an important opportunity for peace in Yemen. The [Houthis] watch what Congress says and what it does. It is critical that Congress press the Houthis to accept and adhere to the ceasefire and engage in meaningful peace talks," Coleman wrote.

A Hogan Lovells partner in Washington, Ivan Zapien, sent the same email to two aides for U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, according to filings the firm made under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a decades-old law requiring the disclosure of U.S.-based influence work for overseas powers.

Hogan Lovells in January named Zapien the leader of the firm's government relations and public affairs practice. Zapien, the former top lobbyist for Walmart Inc., succeeded Coleman in that role.

Hogan Lovells' relationship with Saudi Arabia dates back to 1976, when the firm—then known as Hogan & Hartson—registered with the Justice Department as an agent of the country's. That initial engagement ended in 1980, according to a review of the Justice Department's foreign-agent database.

The firm registered anew as an agent of Saudi Arabia in 2007 and has since stuck with the country through international condemnation. In 2018, for instance, Hogan Lovells kept Saudi Arabia as a client even as the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, along with Glover Park Group and BGR Group, dropped it following the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

That year, Hogan Lovells was paid a monthly retainer of $125,000 to provide the kingdom with "strategic and legal advice on legislative, regulatory, and public policy activities of interest." Hogan Lovells reached a new agreement with Saudi Arabia last year raising the monthly retainer by $50,000, to $175,000, according to a foreign agent disclosure.

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