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:"Equatorial Guinea has one of the world's highest incomes per capita, but in one of the 10 most corrupt nations on earth, little of that money trickles down. Obiang rules the country with an iron fist: According to State Department reports, suspects have been tortured to death and prisoners raped by police. Still, Cassidy has delivered results for Obiang in D.C. 'A few years ago, at least U.S. officials wouldn't talk about the relationship with Equatorial Guinea, or they would admit all the problems and horrible human rights abuses,' says [[Frank Ruddy]], the former U.S. ambassador to Equatorial Guinea. Now, he adds, 'you would have thought this is Mother Teresa's brother running Equatorial Guinea.'"<ref name="kurlantzick"/>

Until recently, the lead lobbyist for the account was [[Amos Hochstein]].<ref> Ken Silverstein, "[http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/08/sb-obiangs-banking-again-1155053056 Obiang's Banking Again: State Department and Washington insiders help a dictator get what he wants]", ''Harpers Magazine'', August 9, 2006.</ref> He left Cassidy and Associates in January 2007 to join Senator [[Christopher John Dodd|Christopher Dodd]]'s campaign for the U.S. Presidency.<ref>"[http://www.cassidy.com/press/pressdetail.asp?Id=61 Amos Hochstein to Join Presidential Campaign]", press release, Cassidy and Associates, January 16, 2007.</ref> In an April 2006 interview with the ''Washington Post'', Hochstein was effusive about Obiang's regime: