Hewitt is registered to represent the SaudiвЂ™s Ministry of Media and promote вЂњthe changing way of life in Saudi Arabia,вЂќ among a number of firms tasked with boosting the kingdomвЂ™s image in the U.S. Several reporters on the trip described the efforts, including the calls, as вЂњaggressive.вЂќ

In addition to posting up in the lobby to chat up journalists, several people told West Wing Playbook that she called their hotel phone lines directly to offer guidance, pitch ideas, and dangle top Saudi officials who were giving on- and off-the-record chats. She was a roving presence at the Intercontinental, where reporters stayed during the Saudi leg of BidenвЂ™s Middle East tour. But according to multiple people on the trip, Hewitt took it to a notable extreme. Working reporters is part of any public relations officialвЂ™s job. More recently, she was retained by the Saudis. SheвЂ™s a longtime American PR expert who has worked for television networks, Hillary ClintonвЂ™s Vital Voices Global Partnership, and media and business figures such as KATIE COURIC and RICHARD BRANSON.

It was a highly-aggressive PR flack working on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government eager to shape the narrative of BidenвЂ™s trip to the kingdom. The person on the other end wasnвЂ™t a hotel staffer offering room service or a late checkout. Several White House reporters staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to cover President JOE BIDENвЂ™s highly-scrutinized visit were peppered by repeated calls to their hotel landlines, sometimes at odd hours. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max Welcome to POLITICOвЂ™s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.

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