Posted on 10/30/2017 12:46:38 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The lobbying firms the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs are the unnamed companies in the grand jury indictment of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, according to three sources with knowledge of the investigation.
The indictment, unsealed Monday, refers to "Company A" and "Company B" as the firms Manafort and Gates solicited in 2012 to lobby on behalf of the Ukranian government. Company A is Mercury Public Affairs and Company B is the Podesta Group, the sources said.
The revelation of the companies’ identities points to more details about the players involved in the high-stakes venture run by Manafort and Gates to push the interest of a pro-Russia Ukranian political party inside the United States. It also provides a glimpse into the material special prosecutor Robert Mueller has corroborated on both companies and the potential legal repercussions both groups could face.
According to the indictment, the lobbying firms were paid $2 million from offshore accounts controlled by Manafort.
Their work included lobbying "multiple members of Congress and their staffs about Ukraine sanctions, the validity of Ukraine elections" that the reasons for imprisoning Yulia Tymoshenko, the political rival of Russian-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
The indictment also revealed that Gates told Company A, now known to be Mercury, in February 2012 that it would be "representing the Government of Ukraine in [Washington] D.C."
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Did Podesta, et al. report the income?
Knowing they were acting for a foreign government, did Podesta et.al so register?
I don't know the criminal mind, and those who avoid legal taxation are criminals in our code.
I can tell you with certainty that LEGAL reasons to set up offshore entities often fall into these main categories:
1. Asset protection - doctors and others who are concerned by legal claims set up these entities in order to discourage lawsuits. In many countries, anyone bringing a lawsuit would be required to hire counsel in that country, use their court system, post a very large bond, sometimes pay the legal costs of all parties if they lose the suit, and have only a charging order if successful.2. Privacy - If you hold assets or conduct business outside the country, many jurisdictions do not have a public registry to show who owns a company. Only the country knows this information. Most attorneys that take these kinds of legal cases on a contingency fee basis, will check to see what assets are owned first. If they find no info that indicates there is a pile of money, or if they determine that bringing a case in a foreign court will not be worth it (see #1), they will pass.
3. Estate Planning - transfer of assets privately
4. Access to investment relationships that turn down Americans because of FATCA - having your assets in a foreign LLC, for instance, will put a different "legal face" on the money and doors will be open that are not ordinarily open to Americans.
In every one of these cases, there are IRS forms to fill out when you establish the entity and when you fund the entity and when you distribute money from the entity.
I do not know the details about Manafort, but the little we know makes it sound like he was involved in tax evasion (illegal) to avoid paying legal taxes and did not report his holdings of these companies.
:)
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>> “That would explain the timing and why mueller hired only clinton supporters. NOT! “ <<
You’re ignoring the fact that Mueller is himself one of the major conspirators.
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After that came out in the media last year, the Feds allowed the Podesta Group to register "retroactively" without penalty or anything.
Lolol
It was LS..who claims everyone here but me knows mueller is in cahoots with trump in a secret alliance
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Profoundly ridiculous, is it not!
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For all you old timer Freepers, way back when Bill Clinton was being investigated by Ken Starr, a poster named 'quidam' used to post this cryptic crap about how we all needed to be patient, that it would all eventually come out and Clinton would be indicted.
I'd love for this stuff wtd posted to be true, but for now, it's quidam nonsense.
This is ABSCAM, only with Russians. Can’t wait until we get to the politicians involved.
Insiders sent a poster to FR to claim its true. Trump is in a super duper secret alliance with mueller
Can you send me a link to LS claiming a ‘super duper secret alliance”? Thank you
Yes..but I see people who were screaming for mueller to resign actually believing this nonsense
But hey...I guess it could be true..I am not an insider nor do I have access to one.
Sorry..cant link on phone. Just look at his profile. Claims its inside info
No, sorry, I get pinged by LS to posts. I am asking for him specifically stating ‘super duper secret alliance”. Or, are you just making crap up?
Sigh..Just ask him or look at his posts from today
Yes. Not enough detail, and I have no trust in the way Mueller and his enforcer Weissman wrote the allegations.
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If he put his best foot foreward, I don’t expect to be seeing much.
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“the Podesta angle.”
The Podesta angle is to justify or legitimize Mueller’s continued fishing expedition on Trump. Otherwise known as a special counsel coup.
Mueller has 2 goals...bring down Trump and bury evidence against Obama’s treason regime that could get out in the wild.
There has been no post that indicated that Trump and Mueller have a secret alliance from LS.
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