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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsReport: Sessions Dined With Lobbyist For Russian Corps, Omitted It In Testimony
by Alice Ollstein at Talking Points Memo
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sessions-lobbyist-russian-meeting-trump
"SNIP................
Appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee under oath this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked whether he had any contacts with any representative, including any American lobbyist or agent of any Russian company during the 2016 campaign. Sessions, one of Trumps earliest supporters, answered: I dont believe so.
On Thursday, an American lobbyist for several major Russian interests, including a state-run energy company and a private equity firm with the state-run Alfa bank, told the Guardian that Sessions in fact hosted him at two dinners during the presidential campaign. The dinners occurred around the time time that the American public learned of Russian efforts to influence the presidential election.
Richard Burt, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany who now lobbies on behalf a pipeline company owned by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, said he attended events with Sessions at least twice last year, and his ties to the Trump campaign were reported as early as last October. Burt made hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2016 alone lobbying Congress to exempt a proposed natural gas pipeline from U.S. sanctions, which would allow more Russian gas to flow to European marketsa key geopolitical goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Burt also serves on the board of the Center for the National Interest, a Russia-friendly D.C. think tank that hosted Trumps foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel last April. Politico reported that Burt helped shape the address Trump delivered at that event, which Sessions attended as the chairman of the Trump campaigns national security committee.
.................SNIP"
onecaliberal
(32,882 posts)ailsagirl
(22,898 posts)Right.
MedusaX
(1,129 posts)And helped write *45's 1st Foreign Policy Speech (Mayflower)
And was a Speaker at 2 campaign team dinners -- as expert on Foreign policy -- allegedly at Sessions request
And Bannon / Mercers probably do not recall asking Burt to write up a plan to Restructure the National Security heirarchy within the Administration.....
Sessions conveniently neglected to ask Burt why he was VOLUNTEERING to provide all of this expert advice...
Perhaps it was because Burt, a legally registered US lobbyist for foreign countries/entities ....
was providing these services acting as an agent/representative of LetterOne (L1) which is the umbrella name Mikhail Fridman has his various entities grouped under...
such as Alfa Bank and VEON/Vimpelcom.....
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-campaign-lobbyist-russian-pipeline-229264