The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [3] "has bolstered its PR staff after the agency and its chair Christopher Cox [4] have been criticized" over the current financial crisis, reports O'Dwyer's. Riding to the SEC's assistance are Erik Hotmire and Andrew Weinstein. Hotmire is "a former Bush administration and Senate communications aide" who left a position at the PR firm Clark & Weinstock [5] to work for the SEC. Weinstein has his own firm, Ridgeback Communications, and also served as AOL [6]'s chief spokesman and vice-president of corporate communications. He previously was "spokesman for ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich [7] and directed media relations for Bob Dole [8]'s presidential run" in 1996.