Podesta Group CEO unexpectedly quits just days after Tony’s departure

Less than two weeks after John Podesta’s brother, Tony, quit as head of the prominent Democratic lobbying group, the Podesta Group just days after it was revealed that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller was investigating Podesta for potentially violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act for his work involving Ukraine clients, Politico reported overnight that Podesta Group longtime CEO, Kimberley Fritts, is leaving the firm to start her own lobbying shop, according to three Podesta Group staffers.

Tony Podesta tapped Fritts as his successor when he announced he’d step down as chairman last week, hours after an indictment charging Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, with violating foreign lobbying law, was unsealed. As a reminder, the widely leaked indictment accused Manafort of hiring the Podesta Group to lobby for an ostensibly independent nonprofit that “was under the ultimate direction” of the Ukrainian president, his party and the Ukrainian government.

And while Fritts had been expected to relaunch the Podesta Group – under a new name of course – in the days after Podesta stepped down, after just a week of trying to hammer out the details of what the new firm would look like, Fritts announced at a staff meeting late on Thursday that she would resign and start a new firm, “exacerbating questions about the future of the Podesta Group and its dozens of employees” as Politico politely puts it. Which, of course, is a less polite way of saying that the Podesta group is almost certain to be formally charged for the same violations that dragged down Manafort.

Fitts’ was just the latest exodus from the sinking ship: last week Paul Brathwaite, a Podesta Group principal, said that he was leaving to start his own shop, Federal Street Strategies.

Politico quoted one Podesta Group staffer who described Fritts’ decision as as the next step in rebuilding the firm without Tony Podesta: “Tony Podesta’s name had become a scarlet letter,” the staffer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.”

Wells Fargo and Oracle, two of the firm’s highest-paying clients, cut ties with the firm, although others said last week they would stick with the Podesta Group for now.

But it’s not clear how many staffers — and how many of the firm’s clients — will follow Fritts to her new firm.

“I just don’t know,” said another Podesta Group staffer. “This is a really painful process, trying to navigate who can go with and who can be let go.”

Fritts declined to comment.

While neither Tony Podesta, nor the Podesta Group has been charged publicly with crimes in the Manafort investigation, that is likely to change in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, rival lobbying firms see the implosion of the Podesta Group as a prime moment to poach the Podesta Group’s top lobbyists. At least six other firms have reached out to Podesta

Via Zero Hedge

The post Podesta Group CEO unexpectedly quits just days after Tony’s departure appeared first on Intellihub.

Trump Calls On Podesta Bros To “Drain The Swamp” By Revealing “Earth Shattering” Dirt On Dems

This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge

As the mainstream media circus ran wild with the Paul Manafort indictment yesterday, Trump, who repeatedly dismissed the charges as being unrelated to his campaign, has just tweeted that the biggest story revealed yesterday, a story which was largely ignored by the “fake news”, was Tony Posesta’s sudden resignation from the powerful lobbying group that bears his name.

Meanwhile, Trump also seemingly called on the Podesta brothers to “Drain the Swamp” by dishing whatever “earth shattering” dirt they have on Democrats to Special Counsel Mueller.

“The biggest story yesterday, the one that has the Dems in a dither, is Podesta running from his firm. What he know about Crooked Dems is earth shattering. He and his brother could Drain The Swamp, which would be yet another campaign promise fulfilled. Fake News weak!”

The biggest story yesterday, the one that has the Dems in a dither, is Podesta running from his firm. What he know about Crooked Dems is….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

….earth shattering. He and his brother could Drain The Swamp, which would be yet another campaign promise fulfilled. Fake News weak!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

Of course, as we noted yesterday, the founder of the Podesta Group, Tony Podesta, stepped down from his own lobbying shop after coming under investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Meanwhile, even though the Podesta / Manafort news might seem unrelated, as we explained in Aug 2016, Paul Manafort – now under indictment on 12 charges – and his deputy Rick Gates previously worked with the Podesta Group where they lobbied various U.S. senators and congressmen on behalf of various Ukranian officials.

…emails obtained by the Associated Press showed that Gates personally directed two Washington lobbying firms, Mercury LLC and the Podesta Group, between 2012 and 2014 to set up meetings between a top Ukrainian official and senators and congressmen on influential committees involving Ukrainian interests. Gates noted in the emails that the official, Ukraine’s foreign minister, did not want to use his own embassy in the United States to help coordinate the visits.

…

And this is where the plot thickens, because while the bulk of the press has so far spun the entire Ukraine lobbying scandal, which led to Manafort’s resignation, as the latest “proof” that pro-Moscow powers were influencing not only Manafort but the Trump campaign in general (who some democrats have even painted of being a Putin agent), the reality is that a firm closely tied with the Democratic party, the Podesta Group, is just as implicated.

As AP further adds, the European Center for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-linked nonprofit entity which allegedly ran the lobbying project, paid Mercury and the Podesta Group a combined $2.2 million over roughly two years. In papers filed in the U.S. Senate, Mercury and the Podesta Group listed the European nonprofit as an independent, nonpolitical client. The firms said the center stated in writing that it was not aligned with any foreign political entity.

Perhaps Podesta knows what is likely to happen next. Podesta announced his decision during a firm-wide meeting Monday morning and is alerting clients of his impending departure.

“[Tony] was very magnanimous and said, “This is an amazing group of people,” a source said of Podesta’s remarks.

Podesta also told staff he “doesn’t intend to go quietly, or learn how to play golf.” He said he “needs to fight this as an individual, but doesn’t want the firm to fight it.”

Fritts also addressed the gathering, telling staff that she is “thrilled at this opportunity” and that, “This is not about me, this is about y’all.”

Several other senior staff spoke about their excitement about the future of the firm. The meeting ended with a standing ovation for Podesta.

It emerged last week that Podesta is the subject of a criminal investigation led by Mueller’s team for potentially violating a federal disclosure law. That law, known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, pertains to working on behalf of foreign governments. An NBC report found that the Podesta Group was one of several firms working on Paul Manafort’s public relations campaign for European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, which the Podesta Group claims it thought was a nonpartisan think tank, something which this site reported first last August.

It goes without saying, that Podesta’s brother, John, is arguably one of the top figures in Democratic politics, serving most recently as chief of staff in the Bill Clinton White House and also as the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

What happens next to Tony (and perhaps his brother John) is to be determined, but one thing is clear: both sides of the swamp should probably control themselves in any premature celebrations as this appears to be far from over….

Largest Bank in Russia Confirms It’s Hiring Podesta Group to Lobby Against Sanctions

(ZHE) Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, has confirmed that it hired the consultancy of Tony Podesta, the elder brother of John Podesta who chaired Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, for lobbying its interests in the United States and proactively seeking the removal of various Obama-era sanctions, the press service of the Russian institution told TASS on Thursday.

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“The New York office of Sberbank CIB indeed hired Podesta Group. Engagement of external consultants is part of standard business practices for us,” Sberbank said.

Previously, The Daily Caller reported that Tony Podesta was proactively lobbying for cancellation of a range of anti-Russian sanctions against the banking sector. In particular, he represented interests of Sberbank and was paid $170,000 for his efforts over a six-month period last year to seek to end one of the Obama administration’s economic sanctions against that country. Podesta, founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, is listed as a key lobbyist on behalf of Sberbank, according to Senate lobbying . His firm received more than $24 million in fees in 2016, much of it coming from foreign governments, to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Former President Barack Obama imposed the Russian following the break out in violence in east Ukraine in 2014.

“Podesta’s efforts were a key part of under-the-radar lobbying during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign led mainly by veteran Democratic strategists to remove sanctions against Sberbank and VTB Capital, Russia’s second largest bank.

“The two Russian banks spent more than $700,000 in 2016 on Washington lobbyists as they sought to end the U.S. sanctions, according to Senate lobbying and documents filed with the Department of Justice.

“The Podesta Group charged Sberbank $20,000 per month, plus expenses, on a contract from March through September 2016.”

Both Sberbank and VTB Capital have faced severe cash shortages due to plunging oil prices, plus the U.S. sanctions. If Obama’s sanctions were lifted, however, both banks could legally seek funds from American financial institutions. The lobbying campaign targeted Congress and the executive branch, with Podesta and other lobbyists arranging at least two meetings between Sberbank officers and Department of State officials, according to Elena Teplitskaya, Sberbank’s board chairman, who spoke to House aides in August.

“’The Democrats are sitting there trying to convince us that the Russians are trying to throw the election to Trump,’ a congressional aide who requested anonymity and met Teplitskaya told TheDCNF.

“’And then they’re with us here in the House and meeting directly with the administration behind closed doors on the issue of the sanctions. The hypocrisy could not be any richer,’ he said.”

As the Caller puts it, “the discovery of high-profile Democrats like Podesta being paid lucrative fees for lobbying to lift U.S. sanctions on Russia contrasts with charges from Democrats that President Donald Trump and his key aides are soft on Russia while the Obama administration was tough on Moscow.”

Podesta is one of the Democrat’s highest profile lobbyists who enjoys close personal and business connections to former Presidents Obama and Bill Clinton. John Podesta was chief of staff in Clinton’s White House and special counselor in the Obama White House.

Some more details on the meeting: joining the Podesta lobbying campaign was David Adams, who describes himself on the Podesta Group website as a “trusted adviser” to Hillary Clinton, serving as her as assistant secretary of state for congressional affairs. Another Podesta lobbyist was Stephen Rademaker, a former Department of State official in the George W. Bush administration. The Podesta Group represented Sberbank and its subsidiaries, Troika Dialog Group in the Cayman Islands, SBGB Cyprus Ltd in Nicosia, Cyprus, and SB International in Luxembourg. Troika Dialog also was related to Klein, Ltd., a Cayman Island organization that once funneled tens of millions of dollars to environmental groups to oppose low-cost fracking in the U.S., which was hurting the Russian oil industry.

Regular readers will recall that the Sberbank-Podesta relationship goes back many years. Sberbank was the lead financial institution in the Russian deal to purchase Uranium One, owned by one of Bill Clinton’s closest friends, Frank Giustra. Giustra and Bill Clinton lead the Clinton-Giustra Enterprise Partnership, an integral part of the Clinton Foundation. Giustra has additionally donated $25 million to the Clinton Foundation.

“Giustra sought to sell his stake in uranium reserves that included ore deposits in the Western United States, and Hillary Clinton, who as secretary of state, approved the sale. And in one felled swoop, 20 percent of America’s uranium ore was sold to the Russian state atomic agency.

“During the pending sale, the Podesta Group represented Giustra’s company and tried to advance the transaction.”

We do not expect to read about the Podesta lobbying relationship with Russia’s largest bank in such truth-seeking, at least according to their ad campaigns, publications as the NYT and/or WaPo.

By Tyler Durden / Republished with permission / Zero Hedge / Report a typo