Mueller's Digging Exposes Culture of Foreign Lobbying and Its Big Paydays

[Rhiannon12866]

WASHINGTON — The mandate given to Robert S. Mueller III and his team was broad: to investigate not just Russian election interference but also any related crimes they might unearth. So when this group of seasoned prosecutors began rooting around Washington, they pounced on a ripe target — lobbyists taking millions of dollars from foreign governments.

At the trial of Paul Manafort, an unflattering picture has emerged of lawyers, lobbyists and consultants from both political parties winning big paydays for work on behalf of a Kremlin-aligned former Ukrainian strongman. Some spent the money on cars and homes, prosecutors said, and a jacket made of ostrich for Mr. Manafort.

The vigor with which Mr. Mueller has investigated the flows of foreign money from Ukraine, Turkey and other countries into Washington could be as much a part of his legacy as special counsel as whatever he discovers about possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign or presidential obstruction of justice.

The Manafort case is part of a broader inquiry into the lucrative work done on behalf of the former president of Ukraine, Viktor F. Yanukovych, and Mr. Mueller has handed some elements of the investigation to prosecutors in Manhattan. Beyond the special counsel’s office, the Justice Department has also recently been pursuing foreign influence cases with greater urgency.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/us/politics/fara-foreign-agents-mueller.html?action=click&module=Ribbon&pgtype=Article



Over the past year, Robert S. Mueller III and the Justice Department have pursued cases both under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and related to foreign influence operations more broadly. Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

[malaise]

1. Many have been enriching themselves while

overthrowing governments and subverting democracies across the globe -all for US interests.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I know it's been an issue for a long time

It's long past time someone addressed it.

[malaise]

3. It's one of the problems of empire

and it's wrapped up in foreign policy.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. The world is becoming more global which I see as a good thing

But Trump is attempting to turn back the clock - regarding the rest of the world, including our longtime allies, as foreign adversaries.

[Le Gaucher]

5. America worships at the altar of money. So all is good?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Maybe his wife is thinking "Ostrich jacket? I didn't receive it. Who did he give it to?". . . . nt

[Squinch]

7. "From both parties." That's BULLSHIT!

[Hortensis]

8. Russia's export of corruption as a weapon against

other states, and especially here in the U.S. to destroy our institutions, was vastly underestimated before, and even more so its destructive effects. Corrupting by laundering hundreds of billions stolen from the people of Russia and other former SovUnion nations is only part of it.