Demos, GOP Both In Bed With Russia?
September 2, 2017 at 4:17 a.m.
By Gary [email protected]
A month or so ago, I wrote about how he failed to disclose that he acquired 75,000 shares of stock from an outfit called Joule when he took a job as President Obama’s special counselor.
A couple of months after he joined the executive board of Joule, the Russian government pumped $35 million into the company through a Vladimir Putin-approved investment fund called Rusnano. Rusnano was identified by the U.S. State Department as a security concern because its investment in civilian technology could slop over into the military.
When Podesta got to the White House, sources told the Wall Street Journal he failed to disclose this and hid his Joule holdings by transfering them to a shell company owned by his family.
Since he qualified as a “new entrant” to the government he could legally duck the federal requirement to “report any purchase, sale or exchange by you, your spouse, or dependent children … of any property, stocks, bonds, commodity futures and other securities when the amount of the transaction exceeded $1,000.” That requirement doesn’t apply to “new entrants” to the government. (Never mind that Podesta has been a political insider for decades and has worked in other administrations.)
Again, this wasn’t illegal, but isn’t this precisely the kind of stuff drives the left crazy if it’s done by anyone tied to the GOP?
Well, just last week The Podesta Group belatedly filed several new disclosures with the Justice Department on Aug. 17 related to work the firm completed between 2012 and 2014 on behalf of a pro-Russia Ukrainian think tank, according to reporting in the Washington Examiner.
Back in April, Podesta’s lobbying firm filed a document showing it worked for the pro-Russia European Centre for a Modern Ukraine. In the filing, the Podesta group admitted its work may have principally benefited a foreign government.
The filing, according to the Examiner, showed “dozens of previously unreported interactions the firm made with influential government offices, including Hillary Clinton's State Department and the office of former Vice President Joe Biden.”
This occurred while The Podesta Group was lobbying on behalf of the center.
You remember that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort? He got fired by Trump for failing to disclose his lobbying efforts on behalf of the very same pro-Russia European Centre for a Modern Ukraine.
According to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, if you lobby or do public relations work on behalf of any foreign government, you have to register as a foreign agent.
From the Examiner: “The Aug. 17 filings include short-form registration statements for six Podesta Group employees and an amendment to the firm's registration statement that includes a list of political contributions made by relevant employees throughout 2013.
A review of those donations shows both parties received cash from Podesta Group lobbyists.
The filings say the Podesta folks were employed to "Research and analyze issues related to principal's organizational mission of improving ties between Ukraine and the West counsel on activities in Congress and executive branch and developments that relate to the principal's organizational mission; and maintain contact, as needed, with legislative and executive branch officials, members of the media, and NGOs."
One of the filings is for Tony Podesta himself.
Now this is where it gets weird. Here’s parts of a story from Associated Press last week:
A firm run by Donald Trump’s campaign chairman directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling political party, attempting to sway American public opinion in favor of the country’s pro-Russian government, emails obtained by The Associated Press show. Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, never disclosed their work as foreign agents as required under federal law.
That was the lede. Much deeper in the story we get to the good stuff.
... Gates personally directed the work of two prominent Washington lobbying firms in the matter, the emails show. He worked for Manafort’s political consulting firm at the time.
I wonder which two prominent lobbying firms they could be?
... The emails show Gates personally directed, Mercury LLC and the Podesta Group Inc., between 2012 and 2014 to set up meetings between a top Ukrainian official and senators and congressmen on influential committees involving Ukrainian interests.
OK, so this is what Podesta and his guys are finally getting around to reporting.
Not only did they, The Podesta Group, lobby on behalf of the same pro-Russia think tank as Manafort, they were being directed by Manafort’s guy.
Basically, they were all in it together and none of them disclosed their involvement as “foreign agents.”
The media and the left have painted Trump’s campaign manager Manafort as the devil incarnate for his lobbying efforts on behalf of this pro-Russian outfit. Fair enough, but Hillary’s campaign manager was doing precisely the same thing.
You get the irony right?
The campaign chairmen for both 2016 U.S. presidential candidates were lobbying for a pro-Russian entity between 2012 and 2014.
The difference? Manafort got fired when his boss found out.
So far, Podesta and his guys have been able to avoid the media spotlight.
But maybe – just maybe – things might be starting to turn around a bit.
NBC News reported last Saturday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued grand jury subpoenas in seeking testimony from public relations executives who worked with Manafort on the Ukrainian lobbying campaign.
The Podesta Group and five other lobbying firms are on the hot seat.
Looks like Republicans and Democrats alike were “colluding” with the Russians.
It will be fascinating to see how all this plays out.
A month or so ago, I wrote about how he failed to disclose that he acquired 75,000 shares of stock from an outfit called Joule when he took a job as President Obama’s special counselor.
A couple of months after he joined the executive board of Joule, the Russian government pumped $35 million into the company through a Vladimir Putin-approved investment fund called Rusnano. Rusnano was identified by the U.S. State Department as a security concern because its investment in civilian technology could slop over into the military.
When Podesta got to the White House, sources told the Wall Street Journal he failed to disclose this and hid his Joule holdings by transfering them to a shell company owned by his family.
Since he qualified as a “new entrant” to the government he could legally duck the federal requirement to “report any purchase, sale or exchange by you, your spouse, or dependent children … of any property, stocks, bonds, commodity futures and other securities when the amount of the transaction exceeded $1,000.” That requirement doesn’t apply to “new entrants” to the government. (Never mind that Podesta has been a political insider for decades and has worked in other administrations.)
Again, this wasn’t illegal, but isn’t this precisely the kind of stuff drives the left crazy if it’s done by anyone tied to the GOP?
Well, just last week The Podesta Group belatedly filed several new disclosures with the Justice Department on Aug. 17 related to work the firm completed between 2012 and 2014 on behalf of a pro-Russia Ukrainian think tank, according to reporting in the Washington Examiner.
Back in April, Podesta’s lobbying firm filed a document showing it worked for the pro-Russia European Centre for a Modern Ukraine. In the filing, the Podesta group admitted its work may have principally benefited a foreign government.
The filing, according to the Examiner, showed “dozens of previously unreported interactions the firm made with influential government offices, including Hillary Clinton's State Department and the office of former Vice President Joe Biden.”
This occurred while The Podesta Group was lobbying on behalf of the center.
You remember that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort? He got fired by Trump for failing to disclose his lobbying efforts on behalf of the very same pro-Russia European Centre for a Modern Ukraine.
According to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, if you lobby or do public relations work on behalf of any foreign government, you have to register as a foreign agent.
From the Examiner: “The Aug. 17 filings include short-form registration statements for six Podesta Group employees and an amendment to the firm's registration statement that includes a list of political contributions made by relevant employees throughout 2013.
A review of those donations shows both parties received cash from Podesta Group lobbyists.
The filings say the Podesta folks were employed to "Research and analyze issues related to principal's organizational mission of improving ties between Ukraine and the West counsel on activities in Congress and executive branch and developments that relate to the principal's organizational mission; and maintain contact, as needed, with legislative and executive branch officials, members of the media, and NGOs."
One of the filings is for Tony Podesta himself.
Now this is where it gets weird. Here’s parts of a story from Associated Press last week:
A firm run by Donald Trump’s campaign chairman directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling political party, attempting to sway American public opinion in favor of the country’s pro-Russian government, emails obtained by The Associated Press show. Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, never disclosed their work as foreign agents as required under federal law.
That was the lede. Much deeper in the story we get to the good stuff.
... Gates personally directed the work of two prominent Washington lobbying firms in the matter, the emails show. He worked for Manafort’s political consulting firm at the time.
I wonder which two prominent lobbying firms they could be?
... The emails show Gates personally directed, Mercury LLC and the Podesta Group Inc., between 2012 and 2014 to set up meetings between a top Ukrainian official and senators and congressmen on influential committees involving Ukrainian interests.
OK, so this is what Podesta and his guys are finally getting around to reporting.
Not only did they, The Podesta Group, lobby on behalf of the same pro-Russia think tank as Manafort, they were being directed by Manafort’s guy.
Basically, they were all in it together and none of them disclosed their involvement as “foreign agents.”
The media and the left have painted Trump’s campaign manager Manafort as the devil incarnate for his lobbying efforts on behalf of this pro-Russian outfit. Fair enough, but Hillary’s campaign manager was doing precisely the same thing.
You get the irony right?
The campaign chairmen for both 2016 U.S. presidential candidates were lobbying for a pro-Russian entity between 2012 and 2014.
The difference? Manafort got fired when his boss found out.
So far, Podesta and his guys have been able to avoid the media spotlight.
But maybe – just maybe – things might be starting to turn around a bit.
NBC News reported last Saturday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued grand jury subpoenas in seeking testimony from public relations executives who worked with Manafort on the Ukrainian lobbying campaign.
The Podesta Group and five other lobbying firms are on the hot seat.
Looks like Republicans and Democrats alike were “colluding” with the Russians.
It will be fascinating to see how all this plays out.
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