Report: Guess Who Profited (Bigly) From His Relationship With Russia

While Democrats in Congress continue their efforts to sell the narrative that President Donald Trump had an illicit relationship with the government of Russia, which in turn helped him with the 2016 presidential election—despite absolutely no evidence of either—one of their own profited from his own relationship with the Russians.

According to an exclusive report published by The Daily Caller’s Richard Pollock, “super-lobbyist” Tony Podesta, the brother of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, was paid $170,000 over six months to represent Russia’s largest bank. His job was to lobby for an end to Obama administration economic sanctions against that country.

The report states:

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.

Podesta is the brother of John Podesta, who was the national campaign chairman for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s losing 2016 campaign for the presidency. Former President Barack Obama imposed the sanctions following the Russian seizure of the Crimean region of Ukraine in 2014.

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 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.

Click here to read more of the report. {eoa}