Rebecca Leber, Andy Kroll and Russ Choma at Mother Jones report that the Environmental Protection Agency has hired a leading Republican opposition research firm to “track and shape press coverage of the agency.” The $120,000 no-bid contract is with Definers Group, founded by Matt Rhoades. He managed Mitt Romney’s failed 2012 bid for the presidency. After that defeat Rhoades set up America Rising, which the MJ team describes as ...

an ostensibly independent political action committee that works closely with the Republican National Committee and Republican candidates to mine damning information on opponents. Other higher-ups at Definers include former RNC research director Joe Pounder, who’s been described as “a master of opposition research,” and senior vice president Colin Reed, an oppo-research guru billed as “among the leaders of the war on [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren.”

..................