Scheunemann has a degree from the University of Minnesota, and did graduate work at Tufts University. He moved to Capitol Hill in 1986, working in the office of Republican Senator Dave Durenberger. In 1993, he moved onto the staff of Republican Senator Bob Dole, as a foreign policy advisor. He left Dole's staff to work for Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.[3]
Lobbyist
In 1998, Scheunemann went to work for the public relations firm Mercury Group.[3]
While the foreign affairs advisor to Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Scheunemann was also a registered foreign agent (lobbyist) for the Republic of Georgia.[9][10]
On April 17, 2008, McCain spoke on the phone with Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili about the situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two troubled provinces that are considered part of Georgia but have been de facto independent since 1990. That same day, McCain issued a public statement condemning Russia and expressing strong support for the Georgian position. Also on that same day, Georgia signed a new, $200,000 lobbying contract with Scheunemann's firm, Orion Strategies. Scheunemann remained with Orion Strategies until May 15, when the McCain campaign imposed an anti-lobbyist policy and he was required to separate himself from the company.[11]
A day after the election, a CNN article claimed that Scheunemann had been fired by the McCain campaign a week earlier for "trashing" campaign staff and "positioning himself with Palin at the expense of John McCain's campaign message."
[14] A later article, however, stated that Scheunemann had not been fired, but that many of McCain's top staff wanted him fired and removed his access to his campaign email and Blackberry.[15]
After 2008
Scheunemann has been focusing on his consulting firm called Orion Strategies,[16] not to be confused with the strategic communications firm Orion Strategies that is based out of West Virginia. In 2013 Scheunemann was involved in a verbal altercation with Richard B. Spencer on a chairlift at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Later in 2013 the two men were involved in another altercation at the Big Mountain Club at the resort, and had to be separated by staff. Scheunemann told staff that he would assault Spencer if he saw him again. Both men resigned from the club following the second incident.[17][18]
