Top Firms Lawyer Up In Ukraine–Manafort Lobbying Controversy

Top Firms Lawyer Up In Ukraine–Manafort Lobbying Controversy

https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/top-lobbying-firm-hires-outside-counsel-in-ukraine-manafort?utm_term=.cmV5mxwL0R#.dhNlgKzmx1

“I think the big question is going to be did they know that the money came from a Ukrainian political party.”


Originally posted on Aug. 19, 2016, at 3:08 p.m. Updated on Aug. 19, 2016, at 4:43 p.m.
Rosie Gray


WASHINGTON — Two powerful Washington lobbying firms are engaging outside counsel after becoming embroiled in a controversy over undisclosed foreign lobbying by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy.

The situation concerns a period between 2012 and 2014, when the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs worked on behalf the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine. The Brussels-based nonprofit is closely linked to the Party of Regions, the political party of Ukraine’s pro-Russian ex-president Viktor Yanukovych.

Manafort and his associate Rick Gates connected the European Centre with the two firms, according to the AP, which also reported that Gates personally gave instructions to Mercury and Podesta Group employees in a lobbying effort on behalf of Ukrainian officials. At the time, Manafort and Gates were consulting for Yanukovych in Ukraine. The AP’s story showed that Manafort and Gates had acted as unregistered foreign agents, never disclosing their work for the Ukrainians to the Department of Justice, as is required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Now, the Podesta Group is acknowledging that the European Centre may have been directed by the Party of Regions and has hired outside lawyers to advise on the situation...................