[8] The CEO described the firm to PR Week as "in the gray area where technology, finance, public affairs and marketing converge".

[27] Lauer subsequently founded the group's Geopolitical Solutions (GPS) division, which went on to represent numerous foreign sovereign countries and corporations, including Yemen, China and Equatorial Guinea.

[citation needed] The company was handed the lucrative lead role in shaping media coverage of the widely criticized Saudi-led attack on Yemen of 2015.

[31] One example of the latter is a Newsweek article in which the Saudi foreign minister claims that, far from "supporting violent extremism", his country has actually shown "leadership in combating terrorism".

[36][37][38] In August 2011, it was widely reported that Qorvis wrote press releases on behalf of Bahrain's government, defending its crackdown on Doctors Without Borders.

[39][40] Qorvis employee Tom Squitieri has written articles critical of the protesters that have appeared in The Huffington Post and USA Today.

[43][44] In early February 2011, three of Qorvis's partners left the firm[45] disgruntled by compensation; however, they later attributed it to the company's controversial work with foreign governments.

"[46] During the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, executive vice president Seth Thomas Pietras said, “Our clients are facing some challenges now....