Trump advisers waged covert influence campaign

[ScienceRocks]

Trump advisers waged covert influence campaign
Trump advisers waged covert influence campaign

By JEFF HORWITZ and CHAD DAY
Today

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

This is pretty fucked up and a good reason why trump should never gain power.

 

[buckeye45_73]

What is it with you an Russia, we don't give a fuck......in fact Obama made us less respected by all of our allies and laughed at by our enemies.......They don't like Trump, because he puts America first and not this globalist bullshit. Vote for Hillary Merkle and have muslism shut down your precious science.......

 

[tinydancer]

Juan put this up in another thread. It's bullshit. Total bullshit. Foreign governments have been allowed to lobby in Washington for a long time now. It's not illegal.

Major companies and associations aren't the only ones who benefit from having a voice on the Hill – it's also common for foreign governments to hire D.C.-based lobbying firms to promote their interests in Congress, away from the official diplomatic relationship run through their embassy. Now a month into 2014, so far at least five foreign governments have signed lucrative contracts to make sure that this year their voices are heard in Washington.

• The Dominican Republic has hired the services of Steptoe and Johnson, an international law firm located in Dupont Circle, to work on immigration and economic development in regards to the island nation. The contract specifically requests the services of lawyers Filiberto Agusti, Luis Fortuno, Jose Ramon Gonzalez-Magaz and Ricardo Pellerano to communicate on behalf of the Dominican Republic with the U.S. government through emails and in-person meetings.

• The Republic of Haiti hired Bastien, Goldstein & Blackthorne Group, in particular the services of Ilija Esrael Bastien, although there is no information about the nature of the contract. In the past, however, the BGB Group has lobbied on visa and foreign investment issues.

• The embassy of Japan has contracted McGuireWoods Consulting, a public relations firm specializing in international relations, to work on the ongoing issue of wording in textbooks used in Virginia state. Currently there is an ongoing conflict between Virginia and Japan over whether or not the textbooks used in high schools use the name "East Sea" or "Sea of Japan" for the body of water that separates Japan from the Korean peninsula. McGuireWoods will be paid $25,000 for three months, or until the issue is resolved.

• The government of Japan has hired Fleishman-Hillard to conduct seminars, symposiums, media interviews, publications and social media campaigns educating Americans about Japan. The goal of that public relations campaign is to teach Americans about Japanese current affairs, culture, economic development and tourism. Fleishman-Hillard will also advise Japan on opportunities in the United States for Japanese academics.

• The American University of Nigeria hired Conover + Gould Strategic Communications to write news releases and op-eds for a variety of news outlets to promote University fundraising. There will also be a social media component to the campaign.

• The Al Arabiya Bloc, an Iraqi political coalition, has hired the private services of lawyer and lobbyist William Samuel Patten Jr. Patten had recently organized a trip to D.C. for Al Arabiya Bloc leader Saleh Mutlaq to engage with political leaders regarding the future of Iraq. The contract is set to last through May, and will involve setting up meetings with politicians, reporters and NGO leaders, as well as a comprehensive social media campaign.

These new lobbying contracts show the wide range of issues in which foreign entities find value on communicating with American political leaders on. While we all can go to the voting booth to get our voices heard, these powerful governments can simply hire the services of one of Washington's many lobbying firms to get a say in American policy.

These 5 Foreign Countries Have Signed Washington Lobbying Contracts in 2014

 

[tinydancer]

AND Gates and Manafort never lobbied.



Two firms did the lobbying. Mercury and the Podesta Group.

"Manafort and Gates have said that they did not disclose their activities to the Justice Department because they did not oversee lobbying efforts and merely introduced the Washington firms to a Brussels-based nonprofit, the European Center for a Modern Ukraine, which they said ran the project.

The center paid Mercury and the Podesta Group a combined $2.2 million over roughly two years."

Trump advisers waged covert influence campaign