hno:face)(*^%
Manafort is crooked as a dog's back leg...
AP Sources: Manafort tied to undisclosed foreign lobbying JEFF HORWITZ and DESMOND BUTLER,Associated Press
JEFF HORWITZ and DESMOND BUTLER,Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's campaign chairman helped a pro-Russian governing party in Ukraine secretly route at least $2.2 million in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012, and did so in a way that effectively obscured the foreign political party's efforts to influence U.S. policy.
The revelation, provided to The Associated Press by people directly knowledgeable about the effort, comes at a time when Trump has faced criticism for his friendly overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also casts new light on the business practices of campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Under federal law, U.S. lobbyists must declare publicly if they represent foreign leaders or their political parties and provide detailed reports about their actions to the Justice Department. A violation is a felony and can result in up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Trump shook up his campaign organization Wednesday, putting two new longtime Republican conservative strategists as chief executive officer and campaign manager. It was unclear what impact the shakeup would have on Manafort, but he retains his title as campaign chairman.
Manafort and business associate Rick Gates, another top strategist in Trump's campaign, were working in 2012 on behalf of the political party of Ukraine's then-president, Viktor Yanukovych.
People with direct knowledge of Gates' work said that, during the period when Gates and Manafort were consultants to the Ukraine president's political party, Gates was also helping steer the advocacy work done by a pro-Yanukovych nonprofit that hired a pair of Washington lobbying firms, Podesta Group Inc. and Mercury LLC.
The nonprofit, the newly created European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, was governed by a board that initially included parliament members from Yanukovych's party. The nonprofit subsequently paid at least $2.2 million to the lobbying firms to advocate positions generally in line with those of Yanukovych's government.
That lobbying included downplaying the necessity of a congressional resolution meant to pressure the Ukrainian leader to release an imprisoned political rival.
The lobbying firms continued the work until shortly after Yanukovych fled the country in February 2014, during a popular revolt prompted in part by his government's crackdown on protesters and close ties to Russia.
Among those who described Manafort's and Gates's relationship with the nonprofit are current and former employees of the Podesta Group. Some of them spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details about the work and because they remain subject to non-disclosure agreements.
Gates told the AP that he and Manafort introduced the lobbying firms to the European Centre nonprofit and occasionally consulted with the firms on Ukrainian politics. He called the actions lawful, and said there was no attempt to circumvent the reporting requirements of the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The heads of both lobbying firms told AP they concluded there was no obligation to disclose their activities to the Justice Department. Manafort did not directly respond to AP's requests to discuss the work, but he was copied on the AP's questions and Gates said he spoke to Manafort before providing answers to them.
Political consultants are generally leery of registering under the foreign agents law, because their reputations can suffer once they are on record as accepting money to advocate the interests of foreign governments — especially if those interests conflict with America's.
The intent of using the two lobbying firms was unclear, but ironically, one of firms Manafort and Gates worked with has strong Democratic and Clinton ties.
The founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, Tony Podesta, is the brother of longtime Democratic strategist John Podesta, who now is campaign chairman for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The head of Mercury, Vin Weber, is an influential Republican, former congressman and former special policy adviser to Mitt Romney. Weber announced earlier this month that he will not support Trump.
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.
A legal opinion drafted for the project for Mercury in May 2012, and obtained by AP, concluded that the European Centre qualified as a "foreign principal" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act but said disclosure to the Justice Department was not required. That determination was based on the nonprofit's assurances that none of its activities was directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized by Ukraine's government or any of the country's political parties.
The Podesta Group's CEO, Kimberley Fritts, said the two lobbying firms had coordinated on the legal conclusion that disclosure was not necessary to the Justice Department.
"If counsel had determined FARA was the way to go, we would have gladly registered under FARA," she said in a statement to the AP. She said the nonprofit provided a signed statement affirming its independence from Ukraine's government.
People involved in the lobbying project offered contradictory descriptions of how it came about.
Podesta told the AP his firm worked closely with the nonprofit and with Gates simultaneously. But Podesta said Gates was not working for Yanukovych's political party and said Manafort was not involved.
"I was never given any reason to believe Rick was a Party of Regions consultant," said John Ward Anderson, a current Podesta employee who attended the meeting, in a statement provided by his firm. "My assumption was that he was working for the Centre, as we were."
Gates, in contrast, told AP he was working with Manafort and that both he and Manafort were working for Yanukovych's party.
Pointing to Manafort's involvement, Weber told AP that Manafort discussed the project before it began in a conference call with Podesta and himself.
The director of the European Centre, Ina Kirsch, told the AP her group never worked with Manafort or Gates and said the group hired the Washington lobbyists on its own. She said she had met with Manafort twice but said neither Manafort nor Gates played a role in its lobbying activities.
The center has declined for years to reveal specific sources of its funding.
Prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration Act are generally rare, although a former U.S. congressman, Mark Siljander, R-Mich., pleaded guilty in July 2010 to illegal lobbying under the law and obstruction of justice for his work with a charity in Khartoum, Sudan, that prosecutors said was suspected of funding international terrorism. Siljander served one year in prison.
Lobbyists in general prefer not to register under the foreign agents law because its requirements are so much more demanding, making their activities more open to public scrutiny.
The Justice Department, for example, requires those who register as lobbyists on behalf of foreign governments or parties to detail the home addresses of lobbyists and descriptions of all receipts, payments, political contributions and details about any lectures, emails, pamphlets or press releases they create.
Lobbying records filed in the U.S. Senate, in contrast, such as the ones describing payments to the Podesta Group and Mercury by the European Centre, are far less detailed.
The Justice Department's own published guidelines describe foreign political parties as covered under the law.
Podesta's firm has previously registered its activities with the Justice Department over its work for Albania, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, India, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, the Maldives, Moldova, Morocco, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Vietnam and others. Mercury has disclosed to the Justice Department its work on behalf of government interests in the Cayman Islands, Nigeria, Qatar, Somalia, Turkey, one of the United Arab Emirates, Uganda and others.
AP Sources: Manafort tied to undisclosed foreign lobbying JEFF HORWITZ and DESMOND BUTLER,Associated Press
JEFF HORWITZ and DESMOND BUTLER,Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's campaign chairman helped a pro-Russian governing party in Ukraine secretly route at least $2.2 million in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012, and did so in a way that effectively obscured the foreign political party's efforts to influence U.S. policy.
The revelation, provided to The Associated Press by people directly knowledgeable about the effort, comes at a time when Trump has faced criticism for his friendly overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also casts new light on the business practices of campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Under federal law, U.S. lobbyists must declare publicly if they represent foreign leaders or their political parties and provide detailed reports about their actions to the Justice Department. A violation is a felony and can result in up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Trump shook up his campaign organization Wednesday, putting two new longtime Republican conservative strategists as chief executive officer and campaign manager. It was unclear what impact the shakeup would have on Manafort, but he retains his title as campaign chairman.
Manafort and business associate Rick Gates, another top strategist in Trump's campaign, were working in 2012 on behalf of the political party of Ukraine's then-president, Viktor Yanukovych.
People with direct knowledge of Gates' work said that, during the period when Gates and Manafort were consultants to the Ukraine president's political party, Gates was also helping steer the advocacy work done by a pro-Yanukovych nonprofit that hired a pair of Washington lobbying firms, Podesta Group Inc. and Mercury LLC.
The nonprofit, the newly created European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, was governed by a board that initially included parliament members from Yanukovych's party. The nonprofit subsequently paid at least $2.2 million to the lobbying firms to advocate positions generally in line with those of Yanukovych's government.
That lobbying included downplaying the necessity of a congressional resolution meant to pressure the Ukrainian leader to release an imprisoned political rival.
The lobbying firms continued the work until shortly after Yanukovych fled the country in February 2014, during a popular revolt prompted in part by his government's crackdown on protesters and close ties to Russia.
Among those who described Manafort's and Gates's relationship with the nonprofit are current and former employees of the Podesta Group. Some of them spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details about the work and because they remain subject to non-disclosure agreements.
Gates told the AP that he and Manafort introduced the lobbying firms to the European Centre nonprofit and occasionally consulted with the firms on Ukrainian politics. He called the actions lawful, and said there was no attempt to circumvent the reporting requirements of the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The heads of both lobbying firms told AP they concluded there was no obligation to disclose their activities to the Justice Department. Manafort did not directly respond to AP's requests to discuss the work, but he was copied on the AP's questions and Gates said he spoke to Manafort before providing answers to them.
Political consultants are generally leery of registering under the foreign agents law, because their reputations can suffer once they are on record as accepting money to advocate the interests of foreign governments — especially if those interests conflict with America's.
The intent of using the two lobbying firms was unclear, but ironically, one of firms Manafort and Gates worked with has strong Democratic and Clinton ties.
The founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, Tony Podesta, is the brother of longtime Democratic strategist John Podesta, who now is campaign chairman for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The head of Mercury, Vin Weber, is an influential Republican, former congressman and former special policy adviser to Mitt Romney. Weber announced earlier this month that he will not support Trump.
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.
A legal opinion drafted for the project for Mercury in May 2012, and obtained by AP, concluded that the European Centre qualified as a "foreign principal" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act but said disclosure to the Justice Department was not required. That determination was based on the nonprofit's assurances that none of its activities was directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized by Ukraine's government or any of the country's political parties.
The Podesta Group's CEO, Kimberley Fritts, said the two lobbying firms had coordinated on the legal conclusion that disclosure was not necessary to the Justice Department.
"If counsel had determined FARA was the way to go, we would have gladly registered under FARA," she said in a statement to the AP. She said the nonprofit provided a signed statement affirming its independence from Ukraine's government.
People involved in the lobbying project offered contradictory descriptions of how it came about.
Podesta told the AP his firm worked closely with the nonprofit and with Gates simultaneously. But Podesta said Gates was not working for Yanukovych's political party and said Manafort was not involved.
"I was never given any reason to believe Rick was a Party of Regions consultant," said John Ward Anderson, a current Podesta employee who attended the meeting, in a statement provided by his firm. "My assumption was that he was working for the Centre, as we were."
Gates, in contrast, told AP he was working with Manafort and that both he and Manafort were working for Yanukovych's party.
Pointing to Manafort's involvement, Weber told AP that Manafort discussed the project before it began in a conference call with Podesta and himself.
The director of the European Centre, Ina Kirsch, told the AP her group never worked with Manafort or Gates and said the group hired the Washington lobbyists on its own. She said she had met with Manafort twice but said neither Manafort nor Gates played a role in its lobbying activities.
The center has declined for years to reveal specific sources of its funding.
Prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration Act are generally rare, although a former U.S. congressman, Mark Siljander, R-Mich., pleaded guilty in July 2010 to illegal lobbying under the law and obstruction of justice for his work with a charity in Khartoum, Sudan, that prosecutors said was suspected of funding international terrorism. Siljander served one year in prison.
Lobbyists in general prefer not to register under the foreign agents law because its requirements are so much more demanding, making their activities more open to public scrutiny.
The Justice Department, for example, requires those who register as lobbyists on behalf of foreign governments or parties to detail the home addresses of lobbyists and descriptions of all receipts, payments, political contributions and details about any lectures, emails, pamphlets or press releases they create.
Lobbying records filed in the U.S. Senate, in contrast, such as the ones describing payments to the Podesta Group and Mercury by the European Centre, are far less detailed.
The Justice Department's own published guidelines describe foreign political parties as covered under the law.
Podesta's firm has previously registered its activities with the Justice Department over its work for Albania, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, India, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, the Maldives, Moldova, Morocco, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Vietnam and others. Mercury has disclosed to the Justice Department its work on behalf of government interests in the Cayman Islands, Nigeria, Qatar, Somalia, Turkey, one of the United Arab Emirates, Uganda and others.
Putin's best friend is Hillary Clinton. Putin tells Hillary to "jump," and pays a fee to the Clinton Crime
Family Foundation and voila - Clinton sells him more plutonium. It's a like a drive-thru that Clinton
Crime Family Foundation. Order at the speaker, pay Hillary at the window, and screw America on the way out.
I really don't understand how anyone with an IQ over 80 could think hillary is a better
choice than ANY other human on the planet. Or even non-human.
Voting for Hillary is a badge of ignorance. If you know a Hillary voter, protect yourself
from them. They are prone to violence and corruption. Be careful.
The actual debates is where he will lay the death blow down on her. She'll be cowering
in a corner when he's done with her, while America watches her melt. Landslide!
She won't be able to do them unless she has a crane to keep her on her feet and her
valium pen handler at her side. This is all so unreal I'm expecting them to put a double
in there for her.
Family Foundation and voila - Clinton sells him more plutonium. It's a like a drive-thru that Clinton
Crime Family Foundation. Order at the speaker, pay Hillary at the window, and screw America on the way out.
I really don't understand how anyone with an IQ over 80 could think hillary is a better
choice than ANY other human on the planet. Or even non-human.
Voting for Hillary is a badge of ignorance. If you know a Hillary voter, protect yourself
from them. They are prone to violence and corruption. Be careful.
The actual debates is where he will lay the death blow down on her. She'll be cowering
in a corner when he's done with her, while America watches her melt. Landslide!
She won't be able to do them unless she has a crane to keep her on her feet and her
valium pen handler at her side. This is all so unreal I'm expecting them to put a double
in there for her.
Yep his results were "extraordinarily excellent" that they will make the Republicunt's head spin.
ointer:Especially when the original letter was written supposedly according to Benedict Donald himself by his own doctor who passed away 5 years before this
"FAKE" letter was written about his "extraordinarily excellent" health- UNFUCKING Believable!!!face)(*^%
Donald Trump given perfect bill of health by a ghost
- By Kaitlyn Tiffany
- on December 14, 2015 02:59 pm
- @kait_tiffany
Donald Trump, who had previously been believed to be a rotting pumpkin filled with bile and a 12-word vocabulary, has turned out to be an extremely healthy human being.
At least, according to "the highly respected Dr. Jacob Bornstein of Lenox Hill Hospital," otherwise known as "Dr. Jacob Bornstein, Harvard Medical School Class of 1942," otherwise known as "a person who died five years ago." The report was actually written by his son, Harold Bornstein, who says he has been Trump's doctor since 1980. I can't remember the last time someone I had known for 35 years forgot who I was and referred to me by my dead father's name several times, but I'm sure it happens to everyone.
I am proud to share this health report, written by the highly respected Dr. Jacob Bornstein of Lenox Hill Hospital. https://t.co/5RZa5of0TR
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2015
Trump promised us his full, perfect medical report earlier this month, and seems to have delivered.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2015
As a presidential candidate, I have instructed my long-time doctor to issue, within two weeks, a full medical report-it will show perfection
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2015
Perfectly healthy human being Donald Trump has lost 15 pounds in the last year, has never used "tobacco or alcohol products," and has "suffered from no form of cancer." The only imperfect thing in Trump's body was his appendix (a loser organ, if there ever was one), and he got rid of it years ago. All this leads Bornstein (Jacob, speaking through Harold's body) to state "unequivocally" that Trump would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2015
That seems like it would be hard to know, given the age of the United States and several other obvious reasons. It also seems fairly unlikely, given that Trump would be 70 years old at the time of his inauguration, making him the oldest person ever elected to the presidency.
Trump would be the oldest president ever elected
I don't want to call a ghost's medical skills into question, because who knows what a licensed "internalist" could do to you from beyond the grave, but I could find only one review of him (besides his obituary) on the whole internet, and it was not positive.
Whoever described Dr. Jacob Bornstein (RIP) in his obituary certainly subscribed to the Trump view of the American dream, though:
His life was a tribute to the uniquely American concept of "anything is possible" if you are born here.
Updated December 14th 3:05 PM EST: The Facebook post and tweet promoting Donald's Trump health report have since been deleted, and the statement on Trump's website has been updated from "Jacob Bornstein" (who is dead) to "Harold Bornstein" (his living son and the author of the report). Here's a screenshot of the original Facebook post, via Jezebel:
Thank you very much. Btw, he's not the only poster who has done that repeatedly.
Meanwhile, in other news, I guess this story DID have legs, huh?:nohead::think2::missingteShush()* There could well be some jail time in the future of that scumbag, LOCK HIM UP!
Paul Manafort Resigns as Donald Trump Campaign Chairman
“Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success,” campaign says in statement
Brian Flood, provided by
Published 7:15 am, Friday, August 19, 2016
Paul Manafort stepped down as chairman of the Donald Trump campaign on Friday morning.
“This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign. I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success,” the campaign said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Trump shook up his campaign staff by naming Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen K. Bannon CEO of his campaign and pollster and GOP campaign strategist Kellyanne Conway was promoted to campaign manager.
Also Read: Watch Donald Trump's First TV Ad of General Election (Video)
Manafort was expected to remain campaign chairman and chief strategist, but many political pundits declared Bannon’s arrival as the beginning of the end for Manafort.
Manafort has been tangled up in rumors about ties to pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. Manafort’s firm organized a secret Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s then-ruling political party, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, never disclosed their work as foreign agents as required under federal law, according to the AP.
var googletag = googletag || **}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() ** googletag.defineOutOfPageSlot('/30981161/TheWrapRemnantOOP', 'div-gpt-ad-1470167200293-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push(function() ** googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1470167200293-0'); }); This type of news is obviously something the Trump campaign needs to avoid, especially with so many pundits hinting at ties between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Manafort follows Corey Lewandowski as the second person running Trump’s campaign to be out of a job before the general election. Lewandowski landed at CNN and it will be interesting to see if a news organization hires Manafort to be an in-house Trump supporter for the duration of the campaign season.
