Susan Ralston

Susan Bonzon Ralston (born October 15 1967), is the President of SBR Enterprises, LLC, a government affairs, public relations and business consulting firm in the United States. Prior to creating SBR Enterprises, LLC, Ralston was the Special Assistant to the President and a deputy to Karl Rove, the Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor at the White House, from 2001 until her resignation in 2006. She had previously served as a secretary to now-disgraced Republican Party lobbyist, Jack Abramoff.

Background

Ralston was born in Pennsylvania to Teotimo D. Bonzon and Purificacion Lagman Bonzon. Her husband is Troy Alan Ralston, Regional Director of Operations for DeVry University's Keller Graduate School of Management. Ralston attended Loyola University Chicago and received an M.B.A. from the Keller Graduate School of Management. She and her husband live in Woodbridge, Virginia.^[1]

Early career

Prior to her public service, Ralston was the Assistant Director of Governmental Affairs at Greenberg Traurig, working for Jack Abramoff. She has also worked for the legal and lobbying firm of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, LLP, joining Abramoff in his move to Greenberg Traurig in 2001. Before moving to Washington, DC, Ralston was an office administrator for M&J Wilkow, Ltd., a commercial real estate firm in Chicago, Illinois. ^[2]

White House Career

Ralston was hired in 2001 as the most senior assistant to Karl Rove. Ralston was the Special Assistant to the President and a deputy to Rove, the Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor at the White House for almost six years. She was responsible for managing the activities that comprised the Office of the Senior Advisor, including the development of policy, strategic planning, political affairs, public liaison, and intergovernmental affairs efforts of the White House. She was also responsible for the development and production of presidential and major surrogate events.

As a Filipino-American, Ralston was actively involved in the strategic planning and Asian Pacific American outreach efforts of the White House, including the creation of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She was a member of the Presidential Delegation to attend the Inauguration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines in June 2004. She was also a member of an American Council of Young Political Leaders delegation representing the Bush Administration on a visit to Vietnam in August 2003.

During the 2004 re-election campaign, Ralston was the White House Liaison to Bush-Cheney ’04, coordinating the activities between the two entities. She also served on the Advisory Committee for “W Stands for Women,” the campaign’s outreach effort to women.

Investigations and questioning

On January 3 2006, Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and related charges, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a corruption probe in Washington.^[3]

On July 29 2005, Ralston testified before federal grand jury prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, investigating whether government officials illegally disclosed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Wilson. Matthew Cooper made a call sometime in July of 2003 to Karl Rove but there were no records of the call. Ralston claimed there were no records because they had transferred his call.^[4]

In September 2006, the House Government Reform Committee released a report on Abramoff's dealings with the White House. ^[5] In May 2007, Ralston attempted to seek immunity before testifying in front of Representative Henry Waxman's House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Ralston was deposed in private before asking for immunity. The request is under review by the Justice Department, which may or may not recommend that she be granted immunity from prosecution for her testimony.^[6]

On May 10 2007, Ralston testified to the US Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that Karl Rove used an Republican National Committee (RNC) email account daily for most of his official communications as Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning and Senior Advisor to the President in a possible violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978.^[7]

References

External links

• Washingtonpost: How a Lobbyist Stacked the Deck.
• Ralston's 2004 donation of $565.00 to the Bush campaign.
• Articles about Ralston at philippinenews.com.
• December 7, 2005, "Ralston still 'at her desk working:' White House," philippinenews.com.
• December 16, 2005, "Asian Face At the White House: Ralston May Be More Than a Footnote," asianweek.com.

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