Mueller Investigation Now Includes Democratic Lobbyist Tony Podesta
Clinton ally worked with Paul Manafort on Ukrainian campaign.
Be careful for what you wish for because it may go your way, but it may also come back to bite you. The left has pressured for an investigation to find collusion between President Donald Trump and Russia, but now that investigation has brought in one of their own.
Mueller’s investigation now includes the Podesta Group, headed by Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta…the brother of John Podesta, failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman. The inclusion came after Mueller looked into former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s finances.
NBC News reported this morning:
Manafort had organized a public relations campaign for a non-profit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECMU). Podesta’s company was one of many firms that worked on the campaign, which promoted Ukraine’s image in the West.
The sources said the investigation into Podesta and his company began as more of a fact-finding mission about the ECMU and Manafort’s role in the campaign, but has now morphed into a criminal inquiry into whether the firm violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA.
Under FARA, people who lobby on behalf of foreign governments, leaders or political parties must file detailed disclosures about their spending and activities with the Justice Department. Willful failure to file the forms is a felony and can result in up to five years in prison, though such prosecutions are rare.
The group said they are cooperating:
In a statement, a spokesman for the Podesta Group said the firm “is cooperating fully with the Special Counsel’s office and has taken every possible step to provide documentation that confirms timely compliance. In all of our client engagements, the Podesta Group conducts due diligence and consults with appropriate legal experts to ensure compliance with disclosure regulations at all times — and we did so in this case.”
The Podesta Group eventually filed a FARA registration after reports came out about these payments. The Associated Press reported in August 2016:
After being introduced to the lobbying firms, the European nonprofit paid the Podesta Group $1.13 million between June 2012 and April 2014 to lobby Congress, the White House National Security Council, the State Department and other federal agencies, according to U.S. lobbying records.
The nonprofit also paid $1.07 million over roughly the same period to Mercury to lobby Congress. Among other issues, Mercury opposed congressional efforts to pressure Ukraine to release one of Yanukovych’s political rivals from prison.
One former Podesta employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a non-disclosure agreement, said Gates described the nonprofit’s role in an April, 2012 meeting as supplying a source of money that could not be traced to the Ukrainian politicians who were paying him and Manafort.
In separate interviews, three current and former Podesta employees said disagreements broke out within the firm over the arrangement, which at least one former employee considered obviously illegal. Podesta, who said the project was vetted by his firm’s counsel, said he was unaware of any such disagreements.
NBC News stated that the goal of the campaign “was to build support for Ukraine’s entry into the European Union.”
Yeah…that didn’t happen. Ukraine’s Party of Regions, led by former President Viktor Yanukovych, allegedly backed the ECMU. See, Yanukovych was never popular and his “election” has always been under question. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin backed him and used him to pull Ukraine closer to Russia.
The breaking point came in 2013 when Yanukovych chose those closer ties to Russia rather than closer ties to the European Union. Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, broke out into a three-month protest that only ended on February 22, 2014, when Yanukovych fled to Russia.
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Comments
I would take the Mueller team leaks with a big grain of salt. Do you really think Team Mueller would vindicate Trump by taking out Clinton Cronies? They would rather do seppuku.
Can we start calling what it is? The Clinton/Obama team…..
Oh, dear…!!!
The pig Monofart (slime-ball lobbyist from WAY back) could be losing his tribal “hero” luster…!!!
Wow. Who would have predicted? (Me.)
But it’s funny: all the actual Russian collusion was for Podesta, not Trump.
Ok, now Mueller isn’t even *trying* to look neutral or nonpartisan. How long until he hires Hillary as an ‘investigator’ on his team?
Um, you’ve clearly commented without bothering to read the post first. Tony Podesta hasn’t joined Mueller’s team; on the contrary, he’s now a target.
(goes back and re-reads. Twice)
Oh. Yeah, I see that now. With all the conflicts of interest being exposed, it’s just “Mueller Investigation Now Includes Democratic Lobbyist Tony Podesta” kinda-sorta bent my preconceived notion in the expected direction, since they’ve been *hiring* all kinds of Democrats since the investigation started. “Investigation *targets* Democrat lobbyist Tony Podesta” would have been more clear, or even ‘focuses on’ would work.
I keep expecting Mueller to hire Stephanopoulos as spokesman so that the leaks are better organized to help Hillary.
The headline misled me at first too but yeah the term reading comprehension implies actually reading the whole thing.
i’m beginning to think that something i read elsewhere has merit: the real purpose of Muller’s shenanigans is to hopelessly taint any and all evidence that could otherwise be used to prosecute everyone involved in all the criminal acts of the Obola years…
slimeing Trump is just a bonus to them.
Willful failure to file …
A hole there big enough for Hillary herself to wriggle through, even wearing her roomiest pansuit. It’s all they’ll need to let Podesta off, no matter what malfeasance they find. If they have trouble getting it to work, James Comey can assist with the details; he’s an expert.
I’m calling canary trap.
This is pure speculation on my part.
However, this story is gossip, and claiming “three sources” does not add to its weight.
The timing on the Podesta leak is interesting. Tony Podesta really can’t connect anyone to the Russian state collusion with the Trump campaign, because there is nothing in the Ukraine job that does that. But, by leaking that he is being looked at, along with Manafort, for the Ukraine job, it makes it look as though Mueller is being non-partisan. And, the fact that this leak occurred as the U1 scandal is getting real legs from Fox News and the alternate media, makes it seem just a little bit self-serving, for Mueller.
If you read Andrew McCarthy’s column, this is exactly what Muellar (and Rosenstein) did for Uranium One: conduct an “investigation” to locate the evidence for destruction, grant immunities to the crooks, and if all else fails, bring a quiet prosecution with the least serious charges so he can do a “sue and settle” type plea deal with no punishment that will prevent anything in future because of double jeopardy.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/452972/uranium-one-deal-obama-administration-doj-hillary-clinton-racketeering
I agree. The timing is just too obvious. He’s trying to take some of the heat off. Must be where Comey learned about leaking. Pretty disgusting.
This whole game is cover for obama, clinton, mueller, comey and rosenstein’s complicity.
The jig is up.