By Scott Flaherty, From The Am Law Daily

As controversy continues to swirl around U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s email practices, a fair share of unexpected missives have emerged as the U.S. Department of State continues to unveil some of the former secretary of state’s old emails.

Among the more unusual from Monday’s release was an emailed plea from Lanny Davis, a former White House special counsel during Bill Clinton’s administration, asking Hillary Clinton to speak with The American Lawyer for a 2010 profile.

The email, dated Sept. 17, 2010, came a month and a half before The American Lawyer published its story, which documented Davis’ stints at several major Am Law 100 firms—including Patton Boggs; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; and McDermott Will & Emery—and the establishment of his own law and crisis management firm, Lanny J. Davis & Associates.

The article, written by former American Lawyer reporter David M. Levine, described Davis as a Beltway insider and longtime member of the Clinton camp, as well as a lobbyist, lawyer and “political spinmaster par excellence.” The piece also detailed Davis’ controversial work for the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, a divisive figure who has been accused of human rights abuses since taking control of the West African country in a 1979 military coup.

In his 2010 email to Hillary Clinton, Davis asks the then-secretary of state to speak with The American Lawyer in advance of the magazine’s story about his new firm.

“I feel as if I am taking advantage of a great privilege that you allow me to send you a personal email every so often,” he wrote Clinton, expressing concern that there could be “cheap shots” in the profile, particularly from others who disagreed with Davis’ efforts “to make bad countries better.”

Her input, Davis suggested, could help balance out any criticism.

“I consider you to be the best friend and the best person I have met in my long life. You know that from the dedication and appreciation of you I have always felt and expressed to you over four decades,” Davis wrote toward the end of the email, which spills onto three pages. “So that is why your comments would mean a lot to me, even if just a written statement.”

But while Davis pleaded with Clinton to speak with Levine for the profile, at other points in his email, the former Am Law 100 partner seems to fully expect that the former First Lady will not do so.

“Please please please—note that there are three pleases: Do not feel bashful or concerned about saying no to my request,” Davis wrote to Clinton. “One more please (#4)—if it feels inappropriate to you as secretary of state or for any other reason to be in a quote about me on a personal or professional level, I fully understand.”

Davis, whose practice helps clients navigate bad press, did not immediately respond to a message left at his office Tuesday or reply to an email. This week, in a column he writes for political publication The Hill, Davis praised Clinton’s performance in some Iowa presidential polls. (The column notes that while Davis has no role with the Hillary for America campaign, he remains a friend and supporter of the former secretary of state.)

Because the email response from Clinton’s camp is heavily redacted, it’s unclear how her camp evaluated the interview request from Levine, now a London-based associate producer for CBS’ “60 Minutes.” (Davis’ son, Seth Davis, happens to be a college basketball analyst at CBS.) Clinton herself is not quoted in the Davis profile.

Bill Clinton did express his support for Davis in an email message that appeared in The American Lawyer’s story, which Davis has included as part of his online biography, despite the fact that it was not the “Cover Story (ugh!)” that he told Hillary Clinton the piece would be. That honor (pictured right) went to “Capitalism’s Next Frontier,” a story penned by former senior reporter-turned-specialty-cake-maker Amy Kolz about potential scenarios for nonlawyer ownership of law firms.

Kolz and Levine saw both of their stories win awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Levine’s profile of Davis also includes quotes from seasoned political operatives such as Karl Rove and Mark Fabiani.

Since the 2010 profile, Davis and his firm have stayed busy, albeit with a mixed track record. His work for Equatorial Guinea, for instance, brought in a reported $2 million to his firm, but ended in February 2011 and later resulted in a breach of contract suit against the country. In August 2013, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a default judgment in the contract case, ordering Equatorial Guinea to pay about $160,000 in expenses that Davis and his firm racked up while representing the African republic.

Beyond the Equatorial Guinea affair, his firm has represented parties in some of the highest-profile scandals of the past half-decade. Davis has done work for Pennsylvania State University in connection with the school’s response to the sex abuse scandal surrounding former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Davis also represented New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who has been dogged by allegations and suspensions related to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. And, before parting ways earlier this summer, Davis also briefly worked for embattled Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who last month was hit with charges of obstruction of justice and perjury.

Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi

For more on this story go to: http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202736211827/Clinton-Emails-Reveal-the-Persuasive-Nature-of-Lanny-Davis#ixzz3kadOiNlI