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Kremlin-Controlled Russian Bank Hires Trump Insider as a Lobbyist
Kremlin-Controlled Russian Bank Hires Trump Insider as a Lobbyist
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/kremlin-controlled-russian-bank-hires-trump-insider-as-a-lobbyist/
With Congress mulling legislation to slap new sanctions on Russia for its attack on the 2016 American election, an important Russian bank connected to Vladimir Putin’s government has turned for help to a well-positioned lobbyist in Washington: a Trump insider and former Republican House member named John Sweeney. In August Sweeney signed a whopping contract to lobby on behalf of this bank to stave off sanctions from the US government.
Sweeney, who formerly represented district near Albany, filed paperwork late last month with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act unit to represent Vnesheconombank, known as VEB.RF, a Kremlin-controlled investment bank. The bank’s chair, Igor Shuvalov, was appointed last year by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who gave him orders to increase funding of national development projects.
The filing says that Sweeney will “engage in meetings and other communications with U.S. government officials regarding potential new sanctions legislation…that could affect” the bank. Shuvalov, along with all members of the bank’s supervisory board, was included on a January 2018 Treasury Department report listing officials closely affiliated with the Russian government. That report, which Congress required Treasury to issue, did not lead to sanctions against those individuals, and the bank and its officers do not currently face any. But the bank could be hurt by sanctions legislation proposed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), which would bar US firms and citizens from investing in Russian energy projects or participating in ventures that involve Russian government debt, which could harm the country’s ability to finance infrastructure projects. That bill and a separate measure proposed in the House aim at punishing Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. Neither has passed Congress.
Sweeney was hired to work for Vnesheconombank by the International Centre for Legal Protection, a Moscow entity formed to help Russia and Russian entities enmeshed in complex international legal disputes. The onetime House member will receive $62,500 per month for 12 months for the work, according a contract he filed with Justice Department.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/kremlin-controlled-russian-bank-hires-trump-insider-as-a-lobbyist/
With Congress mulling legislation to slap new sanctions on Russia for its attack on the 2016 American election, an important Russian bank connected to Vladimir Putin’s government has turned for help to a well-positioned lobbyist in Washington: a Trump insider and former Republican House member named John Sweeney. In August Sweeney signed a whopping contract to lobby on behalf of this bank to stave off sanctions from the US government.
Sweeney, who formerly represented district near Albany, filed paperwork late last month with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act unit to represent Vnesheconombank, known as VEB.RF, a Kremlin-controlled investment bank. The bank’s chair, Igor Shuvalov, was appointed last year by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who gave him orders to increase funding of national development projects.
The filing says that Sweeney will “engage in meetings and other communications with U.S. government officials regarding potential new sanctions legislation…that could affect” the bank. Shuvalov, along with all members of the bank’s supervisory board, was included on a January 2018 Treasury Department report listing officials closely affiliated with the Russian government. That report, which Congress required Treasury to issue, did not lead to sanctions against those individuals, and the bank and its officers do not currently face any. But the bank could be hurt by sanctions legislation proposed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), which would bar US firms and citizens from investing in Russian energy projects or participating in ventures that involve Russian government debt, which could harm the country’s ability to finance infrastructure projects. That bill and a separate measure proposed in the House aim at punishing Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. Neither has passed Congress.
Sweeney was hired to work for Vnesheconombank by the International Centre for Legal Protection, a Moscow entity formed to help Russia and Russian entities enmeshed in complex international legal disputes. The onetime House member will receive $62,500 per month for 12 months for the work, according a contract he filed with Justice Department.
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