Source: https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-raises-further-concerns-over-foreign-agent-registrationJuly 20, 2017VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSIONThe Honorable Rod J. RosensteinDeputy Attorney GeneralU.S. Department of Justice950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20530Dear Mr. Rosenstein,According to news reports, during the 2016 presidential election, “Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump” and did so by “disseminat[ing] documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter…”[1] Ukrainian officials also reportedly “helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.”[2] At the center of this plan was Alexandra Chalupa, described by reports as a Ukrainian-American operative “who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee” and reportedly met with Ukrainian officials during the presidential election for the express purpose of exposing alleged ties between then-candidate Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, and Russia.[3] Politico also reported on a Financial Times story that quoted a Ukrainian legislator, Serhiy Leschenko, saying that Trump’s candidacy caused “Kiev’s wider political leadership to do something they would never have attempted before: intervene, however indirectly, in a U.S. election.”[4]Reporting indicates that the Democratic National Committee encouraged Chalupa to interface with Ukrainian embassy staff to “arrange an interview in which Poroshenko [the president of Ukraine] might discuss Manafort’s ties to Yanukovych.”[5] Chalupa also met with Valeriy Chaly, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., and Oksana Shulyar, a top aid to the Ukrainian ambassador in March 2016 and shared her alleged concerns about Manafort. Reports state that the purpose of their initial meeting was to “organize a June reception at the embassy to promote Ukraine.” However, another Ukrainian embassy official, Andrii Telizhenko, told Politico that Shulyar instructed him to assist Chalupa with research to connect Trump, Manafort, and the Russians. He reportedly said, “[t]hey were coordinating an investigation with the Hillary team on Paul Manafort with Alexandra Chalupa” and that “Oksana [Shulyar] was keeping it all quiet…the embassy worked very closely with” Chalupa.[6]Chalupa’s actions appear to show that she was simultaneously working on behalf of a foreign government, Ukraine, and on behalf of the DNC and Clinton campaign, in an effort to influence not only the U.S voting population but U.S. government officials. Indeed, Telizhenko recalled that Chalupa told him and Shulyar, “[i]f we can get enough information on Paul [Manafort] or Trump’s involvement with Russia, she can get a hearing in Congress by September.”[7] Later, Chalupa did reportedly meet with staff in the office of Democratic representative Marcy Kaptur to discuss a congressional investigation. Such a public investigation would not only benefit the Hillary Clinton campaign, but it would benefit the Ukrainian government, which, at the time, was working against the Trump campaign. When Politico attempted to ask Rep. Kaptur’s office about the meeting, the office called it a “touchy subject.”Aside from the apparent evidence of collusion between the DNC, Clinton campaign, and Ukrainian government, Chalupa’s actions implicate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). As you know, the Committee is planning a hearing on FARA enforcement. Given the public reporting of these activities in support of a foreign government, it is imperative that the Justice Department explain why she has not been required to register under FARA.FARA requires individuals to register with the Justice Department if they act, even through an intermediary, “as an agent, representative, employee, or servant” or “in any other capacity” at the behest of a foreign principal, including a foreign political party, for purposes of engagement with a United States official.[8] The registration applies to anyone who attempts to influence a U.S. government official on behalf of a foreign principal in an effort to “formulat[e], adopt[], or chang[e] the domestic or foreign policies of the United States.”[9] As such, the focus of FARA is to require registration for individuals engaged in political or quasi-political activity on behalf of a foreign government. Likewise, an individual whose activities are subject to registration under FARA and who sends informational material “for or in the interest of [a] foreign principal” with the intent or belief that such material will be circulated among at least two persons must transmit the material to the Attorney General no later than 48 hours after actual transmission.[10] Notably, an ongoing failure to register is an ongoing offense.[11]According to documents provided to the Committee, the Justice Department required the Podesta Group and Mercury LLC to register under FARA for working on behalf of the Ukrainian government.[12] Their registration was required even though the client, the European Centre for the Modern Ukraine (ECFMU), wrote a letter saying it was not directly or indirectly controlled by the Ukrainian government. That did not matter to the Justice Department because their lobbying activity was not to “benefit commercial interests” of the ECFMU but instead to promote the “political or public interests of a foreign government or foreign political party.” The Justice Department made clear that an individual acting in the political or public interests of a foreign government must register under FARA. As such, because Podesta and Mercury were effectively working on behalf of Ukrainian government interests, they were required to register.Unlike that situation where the Podesta Group and Mercury LLC worked for the middleman (EFCMU) and not the Ukrainian government, here Chalupa reportedly worked directly with Ukrainian government officials to benefit Ukraine, lobbying Congress on behalf of Ukraine, and worked to undermine the Trump campaign on behalf of Ukraine and the Clinton campaign. Accordingly, these facts appear to be exactly the type of activity Congress intended to reach with FARA. Please answer the following:1. What actions has the Justice Department taken to enforce FARA’s requirements regarding Chalupa given the public reporting of her actions on behalf of the Ukrainian government?2. Why has the Justice Department not required her to register under FARA?3. Has the Justice Department sent a letter of inquiry to Chalupa? If so, please provide a copy. If not, why not?4. Under 28 C.F.R. § 5.2, any present or prospective agent of a foreign entity may request an advisory opinion from the Justice Department regarding the need to register. Has Chalupa ever requested one in relation to her work on behalf of the Ukrainian government? If so, please provide a copy of the request and opinion.5. Please differentiate the facts that required the Podesta Group and Mercury LLC to register with Chalupa’s.6. Are you investigating the Ukrainian government’s intervention in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of the Clinton campaign? If not, why not?7. Are you investigating links and coordination between the Ukrainian government and individuals associated with the campaign of Hillary Clinton or the Democratic National Committee? If not, why not?I anticipate that your written response and the responsive documents will be unclassified. Please send all unclassified material directly to the Committee. In keeping with the requirements of Executive Order 13526, if any of the responsive documents do contain classified information, please segregate all unclassified material within the classified documents, provide all unclassified information directly to the Committee, and provide a classified addendum to the Office of Senate Security. The Committee complies with all laws and regulations governing the handling of classified information. The Committee is not bound, absent its prior agreement, by any handling restrictions or instructions on unclassified information unilaterally asserted by the Executive Branch.Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this request. Please respond no later than August 3, 2017. If you have questions, contact Josh Flynn-Brown of my Judiciary Committee staff at (202) 224-5225.Sincerely,Charles E. GrassleyChairmanSenate Committee on the Judiciary
| Victor Pinchuk has donated between $10 million and $25 million to the Clinton Foundation. https://www.clintonfoundation.org/contributors?category=$10,000,001+to+$25,000,000 He has lent his private plane to the Clintons. In 2011 he traveled to Los Angeles to attend Mr. Clinton’s star-studded 65th birthday celebration. - https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/us/politics/hillary-clinton-presidential-campaign-charity.html In other words the Clintons and Pinchuk are closely tied. Victor Pinchuk is a former member of the Ukrainian parliament and sits on the Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council. In 2015 he donated between $100,000 and $249,000 to the Atlantic Council. Persons connected to the Atlantic Council have played a key roles in the Russia Narrative. Dmitri Alperovitch (Crowdstrike) is a fellow at the Atlantic Council. Alperovitch made the claim that the DNC e-mail systems were hacked by Russia, a claim later largely retracted but which lives on. Evelyn Farkas is a fellow at the Atlantic Council. Farkas participated in and inadvertently explained the Obama administration’s program of unmasking and leaking. Irena Chalupa is a fellow at the Atlantic Council. Her sister Alexandra “Ali” Chalupa was a foreign policy advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Ali Chalupa also worked in the White House Office of Public Liaison during the Bill Clinton administration and has been a DNC staffer and consultant. The Chalupas have been prime movers in the Russia Narrative. They were responsible for the ouster of Paul Manafort (because of his “Russia Connection” work for Yanukovych - remember that name), coordinated large scale twitter campaigns such as #TreasonousTrump, and promoted the dirty dossier. The Atlantic Council partnered with Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Group to develop natural gas - and promote EU integration. - http://burisma.com/en/news/the-atlantic-council-of-the-united-states-and-burisma-group-sign-cooperative-agreement/ |
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To accomplish this the Democrat controlled US government deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and installed Petrovych Yatsenyuk. Listen to Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland discuss in February 2014 who to install once they’ve ousted Viktor Yanukovych. She says “I think Yats is the guy.” “Yats” is Yatsenyuk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV9J6sxCs5k Toward the end of Nuland’s call she mentions the need for VP Biden’s support. Watch what happens: * February 22 Yanukovych removed * February 27 Yatsenyuk installed * April 2014 Biden visits Ukraine and pledges to Yatsenyuk $50M in aid for Ukraine - https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/world/europe/biden-ukraine.html * May 2014 Biden’s son Hunter Biden appointed to Burisma board. - http://burisma.com/en/director/xanter-bajden/ Listen to Nuland explain to the US-Ukraine Foundation () how the U.S. has spent $5 billion in Ukraine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fYcHLouXY (note the Chevron logo). |
This letter is hosted at the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council. http://www.usubc.org/files/US United With Ukraine S.2124.pdf Note the date, March 24, 2014, and its relation to the dates in post 62.
Aug 9, 2017 - Watchdog files complaint alleging DNC worked with Ukraine
“Federal law and [FEC] Commission regulations prohibit any person from knowingly soliciting, accepting or receiving contributions or donations of money or other things of value from a foreign national,” the complaint reads.
FACT alleges that Chalupa violated the ban by “knowingly soliciting” a “valuable in-kind contribution in the form of opposition research and information on a Trump campaign official from a foreign national on behalf of the Democratic National Committee.”
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/345892-watchdog-files-fec-complaint-of-dnc-work-with-ukraine