ChicagoTrib: McCain's top advisers connected to both sides of Georgia - Russia conflict

[sabra]

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/black_hole_of_lobbying_disclos.html#more

Black hole of lobbying disclosure



Charles Black Jr., a top adviser to the McCain campaign, has been the subject of unflattering ads in recent days by the Barack Obama campaign connected to his lobbying for Chinese and Russian oil companies.

...

In 2005, Black (pictured with McCain, left, aboard McCain's campaign plane in an AP photo by Mary Altaffer) signed up to lobby for the awkwardly named Center of the Development of Information Society, headed at the time, by Leonid Reiman, the telecom minister for then-president Vladimir Putin.

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The current chairman of the think tank is Igor Yurgens, a top advisor to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who sent Yurgens to the U.S. in mid-August to try to sooth American displeasure over Russian occupation of portions of Georgia.

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Between Black's representation of RIO and McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann's former lobbying work on behalf of the government of Georgia, the Arizona senator has top advisers on both sides of the war between the two countries.

McCain has long been a critic of Russia's aggressive foreign policy positions under Putin and, now, Medvedev and he's harshly criticized Russian intervention in Georgia.

[Ian David]

1. McCain is Michael Vick on a much larger scale, except that he uses people. n/t