Meek Mill with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf at a Philadelphia 76ers game in Philadelphia. Meek Mill attended the game immediately following his release from prison on April 24, 2018. Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images.
Philadelphia-based rapper Meek Mill, who was released from prison last month, had an unlikely advocate in his fight for freedom: Kerry Casey, a Trump-connected lobbyist married to a former high-ranking Trump executive.
According to lobbying records reviewed by TYT, Casey’s firm, Quantum International, was hired in March by Robert Rahmeek Williams—Mill’s real name—to lobby for a “Pardon by the President of the United States for Mr. William’s [sic] unjust treatment and violation of civil rights.” The government entity it says Casey contacted on Mill’s behalf is named as “President of the U.S.”
Mill was released from prison on April 24 after Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court granted a request by prosecutors to vacate his conviction due to questions about the arresting officer’s credibility. Whether he will face a new trial will be decided at a hearing in June. The 30-year-old rapper had been in and out of prison for a decade, becoming a cause célèbre among supporters who saw his case as emblematic of a draconian and racist justice system. Mills’ infractions range from possession of a firearm to reckless endangerment and reckless driving (while filming a music video under police supervision) to multiple violations of his probation, including traveling without receiving permission from the court.
Casey first registered as Mill’s lobbyist on March 12, 2018. Her first-quarter lobbying disclosure form says he paid her an unspecified amount under $5,000 between that date and the end of the month. On April 11, her husband tweeted an article about Mill’s incarceration.
Kerry Casey, then-President-elect Donald Trump, and Craig Casey, in a picture posted on Kerry Casey’s Twitter account Dec. 18, 2016. Photo via Twitter.
Photos posted on social media appear to confirm her direct connection to President Trump. She also appears with Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson.
One photo shows former White House Chief of Staff and RNC Chair Reince Priebus with Casey’s husband, Craig T. Casey. According to Craig Casey’s LinkedIn account, he worked at Trump companies for years: at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club from 1995–1998 as “Opening Team Member” and at Trump Plaza from 1998–2001 as “Executive Director of Marketing.” Furthermore, his LinkedIn bio states, “Casey continues to maintain a personal relationship with President Donald J. Trump.”
Casey’s LinkedIn profile also includes a photo labeled as a 1995 snapshot of himself with Donald Trump.
Craig Casey and Donald Trump in a picture posted by Craig Casey identifying the setting as Mar-a-Lago, 1995. Photo via LinkedIn.
Quantum’s website includes praise for Trump, stating, “Trump’s administration will . . . reform policies with a pro-growth tax plan, reform the entire regulatory code to ensure that they keep jobs and wealth in America, work with Congress to create a patient-centered health care system that promotes choice, quality, and affordability, prioritize immigration policies that effect [sic] American jobs, negotiate fair trade deals that create American jobs, increase American wages, and reduce America’s trade deficit, ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it.”
It’s not clear how Mill came to be a client of Quantum, which describes itself as a boutique firm in the formation stages. The company’s disclosure forms indicate that Casey has only had one other client, for about a year. Casey did not respond to requests for comment via phone and email.
Ken Klippenstein is a freelance journalist who can be reached on Twitter @kenklippenstein or via email: [email protected].
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Comments
This guy was paid by Meek to work for him…he did his job. Good for Meek.