Though both Greek and English were in the air, everyone spoke the language of influence at a cocktail reception on Monday night honoring Mike Manatos, a member of one of Washington's most prominent lobbying families.
In a demonstration of how Washington lawmakers, administration officials, media biggies, and lobbyists work and play behind the scenes, a party was held to celebrate Manatos' 20th anniversary at his family's firm, Manatos & Manatos. And to show that foes by day can become friends at night, the press was invited to join in to see Republicans and Democrats make nice.
The guest of honor pointed out that the family was really celebrating a number of milestones, including 75 years (and three generations) of Manatos public policy involvement in Washington and 100 years since the family immigrated to the U.S. from Greece. "Exactly 100 years from tomorrow," he added.
The guest list showed the party to be a convergence of Washington's Greek community, lobbyists, and members of Congress and staffers, as well as a contingent of local news personalities. It also went a long way to show that Manatos & Manatos is a key player on K Street and in Congress, even if some of the party chatter wasn't focused on cap-and-trade, healthcare, or the elections.
Mike Manatos' wife, Fox 5 News anchor Laura Evans Manatos, divided her attention between the couple's three children and her Fox 5 colleagues. Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball," made an appearance with his wife, former ABC 7 anchor Kathleen Matthews. And three Greek-American House members--Florida Republican Gus Bilirakis, Maryland Democrat John Sarbanes, and Nevada Democrat Dina Titus--turned out for the Greek wine and meze.
Below is the guest list Manatos & Manatos released:
From the U.S. Congress
Former U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), House Foreign Affairs Committee [Greek-American] + 3 kids
Rep. Mike McMahon (D-NY), House Foreign Affairs Committee
Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) [Greek-American]
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) [Greek-American] + husband Tom + scheduler Megan Chambers
Bill Livingood, U.S. House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Howard Berman's Chief of Staff, Julia Massimino
Ranking Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's Chief of Staff Art Estopinan
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. John Kerry's Foreign Policy Advisor, Jason Bruder
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. John Kerry's Fundraiser, Leigh Garland
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's Scheduler, Melinda Medlin
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's Director of Member Services, Tom Manatos
Chief of Staff, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Richter
Chief of Staff, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Julia Frifield
Chief of Staff, Rep. Zack Space (D-OH), Stuart Chapman
Chief of Staff, Rep. Mike McMahon (D-NY), Chris McCannell
Staff Director, Senate European Affairs Subcommittee, Chad Kreikemeier
Minority Staff Director, House Europe Subcommittee, Richard Mereu
White House Staff
Carlos Elizondo, Vice President's Residence Manager and Social Secretary
Joshua DuBois, Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives Director
Paul Monteiro, White House Office of Public Engagement Deputy Associate Director
Former Administration
Paul Glastris, President Bill Clinton's former Chief Speechwriter
Marc Grossman, Former Bush Administration Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Robert Keeley, Former US Ambassador to Greece
Charlie Ries, Former US Ambassador to Greece
Dana Edwards Manatos, Former Bush White House Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison
Other Administration Staff
Tomicah Tillemann, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Speechwriter and Special Assistant
Ashley Bommer, Special Representative to Afghanistan & Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's special Advisor
Peter Pappas, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property's Chief Communications Officer
Marcie Ries, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs
Athena Katsoulos, State Department's Deputy Director for European and Eurasian Public Affairs
Jess Baily, State Department's Director for Southern European Affairs
Jonathan Katz, Senior Advisor to Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer
Other Prominent Washingtonians
Neil Kerwin, American University President + wife Ann
Jim Pedas, Executive Movie Producer (Blood Simple, Raising Arizona) and Circle Movie Theaters owner
Mary Roth, Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic Vice President
Mark Nichols, General Wesley Clark's Chief of Staff
Queenie Plater, Sibley Hospital Vice President (the hospital where all of the Manatos children were born)
Media
Chris Matthews, Host of MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and "The Chris Matthews Show"
Kathleen Matthews, Former Anchor of ABC 7 News and current Marriott International Executive Vice President
Thalia Assuras, Former CBS Evening News Anchor + husband Mike Johnson
Patricia DiCarlo, CNN Senior Producer for "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer"
Laura Evans Manatos, Fox 5 News Anchor
Shawn Yancy, Fox 5 News Anchor
Sue Palka, Fox 5 News Weather Anchor + husband Joe
Will Thomas, Fox 5 News Weekend Anchor/reporter
Jeff Gygax, Fox 5 News Executive Producer + guest
Matt Glassman, NBC 4 Senior Producer of Content
Dimitri Dimas, Washington Editor of one of Greece's top newspapers Eleftherotypia
George Bistis, Voice of America
From the Greek and Cyprus Embassies
Ambassador of Cyprus to the US Andreas Kakouris
Cyprus Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Solon Savva
Greek Embassy Defense Attache Colonel Sardellis
Flew in from out of town JUST for the party
Dr. Charlie Kanakis – from Chicago
Jerry Demetriou, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's Executive Director of Administration – from New York
Michael Karloutsos, owner, The Boathouse Restaurant – from Phildelphia
- See a gallery of political caricatures.
- See which industries give the most to Congress.
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