Russia’s Largest Bank Paid Podesta Group to Lobby Against U.S. Sanctions During 2016 Election

MintPress News ^ | 3/13/2017 | Whitney Webb

[GregNH]

“The New York office of Sberbank CIB indeed hired Podesta Group. Engagement of external consultants is part of standard business practices for us,” Sberbank told TASS on Thursday. The Podesta Group charged Sberbank 20,000 dollars per month, plus expenses, from March through Sept. 2016 in their bid to end U.S. sanctions. The efforts were allegedly just part of a larger under-the-radar effort to remove sanctions on both Sberbank and Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB Capital.

[Whenifhow]

PING!!!

Article and all comments, esp #1

thanks, GregNH

[Grampa Dave]

(Vlad The Inhaler )

Even more serious is the charge that the Russians hacked the Oscars.

It sucks to say it, but the Russians hacked the Oscars and tried to promote the views of the great movie director, Vlad the Inhaler ( Vladimir Putin the nemesis of the utopian fascist left.)

I think that we should inform John McCain and Lindsey Graham immediately, this is a matter for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

We can’t afford to have the Russians hacking the Oscar voting mechanism. A whole sector of our economy is subject to attack, the Entertainment Sector. Appoint a special prosecutor NOW!

Candor 7

[hoosiermama]

Accuse other of the things you are doing. -— standand practice

[Grampa Dave]

Accuse other of the things you are doing. -— Standard SOP for America’s liberals.

[Liz]

I'VE GOT A SECRET? In the video, Obama leans forward conspiratorially, and apologizes to the Russian president, promising he would do more for Russia after his second election.

Thanks for raising this issue......b/c at the time he said this, Obama was a candidate. How did he know he was going to be reelected?

Obviously he knew he was a shoo-in.... due to massive voter fraud in the works.

[falcon99]

Just proves once again that whatever the Democrats accuse Republicans of doing it is exactly what the Democrats are doing.

[Liz]

The Podesta angle in this must be investigated.

After she lost, the furious Hillary horse-whipped her 2016 campaign chair, John Podesta, into action. Podesta came charging out of the gate like Greased Lightning, galloping at breakneck speed, sweating it out, desperate to make Hillary look like a "victim."

=================================================

John Podesta Op-Ed: Washington Post post-election op-ed / FR POSTED by by ColdOne

PODESTA: The more we learn about the Russian plot to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign and elect Donald Trump, and the failure of the FBI to adequately respond, the more shocking it gets. The former acting director of the CIA has called the Russian cyberattack “the political equivalent of 9/11.” Just as after the real 9/11, we need a robust, independent investigation into what went wrong inside the government and how to better protect our country in the future.

As the former chair of the Clinton campaign and a direct target of Russian hacking, I understand just how serious this is. So I was surprised to read in the New York Times that when the FBI discovered the Russian attack in September 2015, it failed to (Excerpt) Read more of Podesta at washingtonpost.com ...

======================================

ITEM--- WikiLeaks: Tax Form Reveals Hillary's campaign chair, John Podesta,
Continued Ties to Russian Energy Company After Claiming He Divested

LINK http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/10/31/wikileaks-tax- form-reveals-john-podesta- continued-ties-to-russian-energy-company-after- claiming-he-divested/

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EXCLUSIVE: Dem Super-Lobbyist Podesta Got $170K
Daily Caller News Foundation ^ | March 6, 2017 | Richard Pollock / FR Posted by kevcol

Democrat super-lobbyist Tony Podesta (brother of John Podesta) was paid $170,000 over a six-month period last year to represent Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, seeking to end one of the Obama administration’s economic sanctions against that country, The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group has learned.

Podesta, founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, is listed as a key lobbyist on behalf of Sberbank, according to Senate lobbying disclosure forms. His firm received more than $24 million in fees in 2016, much of it coming from foreign governments, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. (Excerpt) Read more at dailycallernewsfoundation.org ...

[Liz]

PODESTA/RUSSIA LINKS---A leaked Jan. 3, 2014 document shows that Podesta transferred more than 25,000 of 75,000 shares of Joule Technologies---a Russian-connected firm---to Leonidio Holdings LLC......listed w/ an address at his daughter's Megan Rouse’s Shannon Court home in Dublin, California.

Megan Rouse operates Megan Rouse Financial Planning from that same address. The inference is to money laundering, perhaps tax evasion. Suggests that Megan Rouse's father, John Podesta, hid stocks connected to Russia.

=============================================

NOTE: Conspiring w/ a family member to hide income, launder illicit money, and evade taxes is a known scam---uncovered by the IRS in the UBS investigation.

IRS REFERENCE Offshore Tax-Avoidance and IRS Compliance Efforts

The IRS continues to uncover abusive tax-avoidance schemes involving offshore activity pertaining to Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) investigation.

SOURCE---https://www.irs.gov/uac/offshore-tax-avoidance-and-irs-compliance-efforts

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for your grasp of the obvious that eludes we mere mortals: I'VE GOT A SECRET? In the video, Obama leans forward conspiratorially, and apologizes to the Russian president, promising he would do more for Russia after his second election.

At the time he said this, Obama was a candidate. How did he know he was going to be reelected?

Obviously he knew he was a shoo-in.... due to massive voter fraud in the works.

[Liz]

The Podesta Group was founded in 1988 by brothers John and Tony Podesta. John Podesta is the chair of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, was Bill Clintons COS and Obama's Councillor and worked for the Clinton Foundation and Hillary's State Dept.

=====================================

The Podesta Group / From Wikipedia
Founded 1988 Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Key people Anthony T. Podesta, Chairman Kimberley Fritts, CEO
Products Government relations
Revenue N/A
Number of employees 70
Website podestagroup.com

The Podesta Group is a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John Podesta and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon.[1][2][3] The firm most recently reorganized in January 2007 after current Chairman Tony Podesta split with former business partner Dan Mattoon.[3]

Podesta Group represents U.S. corporations, as well as non-profits, associations and governments.[4] It "has close ties to the Democratic Party and the Obama administration"[5] although its CEO, Kimberley Fritts, is identified by the group as "a fixture in Republican politics," having worked for former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.[6]

The firm reported earning $27.4 million in lobbying fees in 2011.[7] In 2007, Chairman Tony Podesta was ranked by his peers as the third most influential lobbyist in Washington.[8]

The Podesta Group has been retained by Wal-Mart, BP and Lockheed Martin."[5] Other clients include Abdisalam Omer, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, Amgen, Bank Of America, Cherokee Nation (Casinos), Cintas, Covidien, Duke Energy, Egypt, Genentech, General Dynamics, Harrah's Entertainment, Heineken, Merck, Michelin, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), National Public Radio (NPR), Nestle, Novartis, Orange County, Florida, Raytheon, Reed Elsevier, Republic of Albania, Republic of Georgia, Sallie Mae, Sunoco, Synthetic Genomics, TJX Companies, Tyco Electronics, Republic of Kenya and United Technologies.[9][10][11]

In addition, the Podesta Group acts as a lobbyist for Egypt on U.S. policies of concern, activities in Congress and the Executive branch, and developments on the U.S. political scene generally,' according to forms filed with the Justice Department in 2009."[5][12]

They also received revenue of $900,000 over the last two years from the "European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based organization sympathetic to Viktor Yanukovych and his political party".[13] They also represent the interests of Russia's largest financial institution Sberbank of Russia, which controls approximately 30 percent of Russian banking assets.[14]

The Podesta Group also carries out public relations work for the government of Azerbaijan for a monthly fee of USD 60,000 plus expenses.[15]

[SuziQ]

So is this why they keep trying to pin Russian collusion on Trump, so they don’t have to talk about Podesta and Hillary?

[gleeaikin]

So we have Obama accusing Trump, and Trump accusing Obama, so they both have been doing it??

[gleeaikin]

The Podesta Group was founded by brothers Tony and John. It appears that Tony was doing most of the work while John was working for the government. Also, the PG seems to have worked on both sides of the Russian situation, having worked for the Russian bank, but also for Ukraine, and Georgia (not the US state).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podesta_Group

[rodguy911]

Hate to say it but
I TOLD YOU SO.
The only reason the obama regime has been going after us is because all the jeopardy lies with their side not ours.
It’s what they do over and over and over.
Run up a deficit, blame it on us.
Open borders,illegals coming back over and over killing us,blame it on us.
Refuse to negotiate on the budget,create all kinds of havoc
whoese fault it it,you guessed it its ours.
A fat black guy robs a convenience store in ferguson mangaes to get shot later on,whose fault is it.you guessed it.

Over and over and over they screw us by lying about what they do vs. what we do. The Russian thing is just standard operating procedure for them and we fell into this just like all the others. Not so much us here but the average Joe 6-pack.
Also remember,pre-election 2012 open mike episode “tell Vlad I’ll have more flexibility,” the Rense piece,meeting with the Russian ambassadeur 22 times etc., etc. They have the jeopardy not us.

[rodguy911]

Way to go LIz great stuff.

[thinden]

bttt

was podesta a registered agent of russia?

or did he just take the money & stock?

[jjotto]

The Daily Caller also has the story on Tony Podesta failing to register as a foreign agent:

http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/07/exclusive-podesta-didnt-register-as-a-foreign-agent-when-he-represented-a-bank-with-ties-to-russian-spy-agencies/

[ForYourChildren]

“PODESTA TOOK $170,000 BRIBE FROM A RUSSIAN BANK”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3532589/posts

[Amish with an attitude]

Unless somebody actually goes to jail as a result of these dirty dealings, it will be swept under the rug and forgotten as it has been for years.

[WENDLE]

Well isn’t that Special. Here we have John Podesta founded lobby group taking money from -————RUSSIA!!!!!————— to influence “sanctions”!! MIKE FLYNN SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS!!
The key here is to have an immediate addition to the congressional hearing on the “Russia connections” and call John Podesta to a public hearing and PUT HIM UNDER OATH. Someone alert Rachal Mancow!!