Obama associate got $100,000 fee from affiliate of firm doing business with Iran

[alp227]

Source: Washington Post

David Plouffe, a senior White House adviser who was President Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, accepted a $100,000 speaking fee in 2010 from an affiliate of a company doing business with Iran’s government.

A subsidiary of MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company, paid Plouffe for two speeches he made in Nigeria in December 2010, about a month before he joined the White House staff.

Since Plouffe’s speeches, MTN Group has come under intensified scrutiny from U.S. authorities because of its activities in Iran and Syria, which are under international sanctions intended to limit the countries’ access to sensitive technology. At the time of Plouffe’s speeches, MTN had been in a widely reported partnership for five years with a state-
owned Iranian telecommunications firm.

There were no legal or ethical restrictions on Plouffe being paid to speak to the MTN subsidiary as a private citizen. But for a close Obama aide to have accepted payment from a company involved in Iran could prove troublesome for the president as the White House toughens its stance toward the Islamic republic. In recent weeks, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has accused the administration of being soft on Iran.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-associate-got-100000-fee-from-affiliate-of-firm-doing-business-with-iran/2012/08/05/5e6888a2-dda2-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_singlePage.html

[Angry Dragon]

1. Waiting to see how this plays out

[DFW]

2. Cheney's Halliburton never stopped doing business with Iran while he was VP

And Plouffe just accepted 2 speaking engagements, and not in Iran, but in Nigeria?

If The Post is going to make a big deal over two speeches by Plouffe as a private citizen after remaining silent on Halliburton's dealings with Iran during Cheney's active membership in (some would say leadership of) the Bush administration, they deserve ten times as many cancellations as they are going to get.

[JDPriestly]

6. It's stretching things beyond a reasonable point to make much out of this.

The company to which Plouffe spoke was merely "A subsidiary of MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company" that does business with Iran.

Good heavens. How would you know a subsidiary of a company that invited you just to speak was dealing with Iran? There must be a lot of subsidiaries of companies dealing with Iran.

When a person like Plouffe accepts a speaking engagement, why in the world should he check on all the business deals made by every subsidiary of the company for which he is speaking?

Sounds like a lot of noise over nothing to me. At least at this point.

Romney needs to give us his tax returns and not look for scandals where there are none.

[DallasNE]

14. I Think This Is Problematic

Plouffe used his connection with Obama to get a fat fee. Without that connection his fee would have been, perhaps, $20,000 for the two speeches. Plouffe needed to do his homework rather than just grabbing a fat paycheck. He has done a great deal of damage because of his greed. Money corrupts and not just the Republicans. Plouffe needs to explain the subject matter of his talks and how that ties in to the needs of Nigeria. Right now Plouffe is potentially damaged goods and depending on the details of what emerges he may need to resign. I do grant that this story may be sensationalized so we need to hear more before making any final judgements but the look and feel of this story leaves a taste in my mouth.

[JDPriestly]

22. How do you think the Clintons became so rich all of a sudden?

Politicians give speeches.

It bears looking into, but Scalia also gives a lot of speeches. And this was a subsidiary of the country and it was merely doing business with Iran. It was not an Iranian business. Lots of businesses in other countries have been doing business with Iran. We don't want them too, but we can't know every company that does business with Iran. That's a bit much to ask even of a Plouffe.

[DFW]

44. Ironically, when it was Halliburton in iran, it was really blatant

An exiled Persian friend translated the rpoert form Iran for me. Iran was in negotiations with "Hallibuton (Cayman Islands), who we all know is a BIG supplier of oil and gas drilling equipment, right? The Iranian conservatives, of all people were raising a stink because they considered the deal "doing business with the enemy." But mainstream government officials, both in Iran and in the Cheney (dba Bush) administration saw nothing wrong with Iran dealing with a company whose "arm's length" legal distance from Halliburton (USA) was supposedly big enough to make the deal legal. If the judge is in your pocket, of course, exploding an atomic bomb in downtown Boston for the purpose of medical research is legal, too.

[cjdew]

15. Hope and Change

Call out the Bush administration if you will but I voted for Hope and CHANGE not the same old B/S

[cbayer]

29. Whatever. That was the first post by my 83 year old, ultra liberal mother.

Her ban is an embarrassment for this site.

[Broderick]

31. Ask for a reinstatement

[cbayer]

32. Believe me. I have asked for this to be addressed.

[kdmorris]

33. Did you send it to the admins?

You know MIRT can't reinstate her, I assume.

It should be an easy matter to get her reinstated.

[cbayer]

34. Yes, I have. But it's symptomatic.

[Broderick]

35. Mirt is not a perfect science

Mistakes happen. They don't know the history and qualifications of every poster that signs up and as you know there are quite a few and many of those come to "troll" but sometimes things can be taken out of context and a group's majority decision can be wrong. I think a reinstatement would be in order and of course that comes from the admins based on your request to a mirt team member.

Just my two cents.

[cbayer]

36. I know and I apologize for being hot headed about this, but

it's my mother and it's difficult for me to separate my feelings from the event.

In general, MIRT is fabulous and I am a big supporter.

Now I feel like a dope.

[Broderick]

37. Completely understand your feelings

Being upset is a-ok with me. Can be corrected though, and hopefully soon. I hope she didn't take offense to the misunderstanding and comes back and posts more.

[cbayer]

38. Lol, she took it with great humor. This is a small bump in her very long road.

[Warren DeMontague]

41. Hey, I nuked your mom. I'm the dope.

It's like that Katy Perry song "I Kissed A Girl"... I nuked a mom.

[cbayer]

42. Lol. All is forgiven!

[cbayer]

43. Ok, my turn to apologize here.

My mom appears to have an active account and was probably not the member in question here, although that remains unclear. She may have had two accounts. At any rate, she got a message that she had been banned, but the account she says she tried to sign on with is active.

I honestly don't know what happened.

I am truly sorry for causing a ruckus about this and promise that I will keep a close eye on her, lol.

[Starboard Tack]

30. WTF! Is this the point we've arrived at? Shoot first, ask questions never.

I doubt anyone on DU has the liberal credentials this lady has. Are we eating our own now?

[Kali]

39. well to be fair

there is no way to know the credentials from a single post...but yes, sometimes in the work to keep this place safe MIRT can get a little overzealous.

Poster can email admins and MIRT has also discussed the issue (not that MIRT can reinstate anybody but in the effort to make sure we continue to work on the fairest yet efficient process)

[Warren DeMontague]

40. I was the MIRT person who did the nuke, so I will answer for it. And explain the rationale.

To me, the 1st post with the juxtaposition of "attack the Bush administration if you will" along with the "BS" in reference to Obama, came off like the sort of thing done as concern trolling. At MIRT, we get a lot of trolls who come through the door saying similar stuff. Often they'll start out borderline and by the 3rd or 4th post they are off in serious right wing, spittle-laced, hateful invective land.

And certain hours of the day you have more or fewer MIRT folks around. I have insomnia, sometimes, and this happened to pass by at a point when there weren't a lot of other MIRT folks available. I felt that this post was borderline, but given all of the above, I felt it was enough like a 1st post piece of concern trollage or just pure trollage, to warrant nuking. I think MIRT would and does agree with that assessment, based on the one post- but occasionally, we (and I, obviously) do get it wrong.

I have apologized to cbayer and obviously would like to also apologize to her mom, along with this explanation.

Like I said, MIRT does make mistakes. I usually hold off when at all in doubt, but here I obviously made one.

Skinner, AFAIUI, can reinstate, it's happened before.

Peace.

-WdM.

[Ian David]

3. Bain Capital owns a chemical company called Sigma Kalon with an office in Tehran, Iran n/t

[pnwmom]

5. Thanks for the info. n/t

[stockholmer]

24. no they do not, bought it in 2002, sold it in 2007

buy 2002

http://www.altassets.net/private-equity-news/bain-capital-agrees-sigmakalon-paint-purchase-from-totalfinaelf.html

sell 2007

http://agreements.realdealdocs.com/Other-Agreements/PPG-and-Bain-Capital-Sign-Agreement-for--1726842/

[Ian David]

25. Thanks! n/t

[Tx4obama]

4. This anti-Obama crap shouldn't be in LBN.

They are trying to find Plouffe 'guilty by association' by an association of an association.

The speeches were in 2010 in Nigeria - before he was on the WH staff.

MTN was NOT under scrutiny before Plouffe's speeches.

This looks like more REPUBLICAN BULLSHIT SPIN to me!

[JDPriestly]

8. That they are this desperate to "get something" on someone associated with Obama

tells you that the Obama administration is very careful and very clean in its dealings. What nonsense.

[elleng]

21. And shouldn't be in the washington post.

The guy's brilliant, was largely responsible, as I recall, for Senator Obama's campaign strategies in '08. Good for him that he's been recognized.

[progressivebydesign]

7. Wow.. really reaching now, are we?? A subsidiary of a company that did biz with Iran.

My GOD!!! The horrors! pffft.

"There were no legal or ethical restrictions on Plouffe being paid to speak to the MTN subsidiary as a private citizen. But for a close Obama aide to have accepted payment from a company involved in Iran could prove troublesome for the president as the White House toughens its stance toward the Islamic republic. In recent weeks, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has accused the administration of being soft on Iran."

No laws were broken!! This is a bullshit story FED to the WaPo by Romney's people. See, Romney STILL wont' release returns, STILL no record of the Olympics, STILL no records of his emails as Governor, so he does the best thing he can do. Attack.. attack.. attack. That last sentence tells you all you need to know. This was fed to them by ROmney.. and God forbid the Wapo or any modern "journalists" do any real work now... you know, like investigating what Mitt is hiding from his time at Gov and the Olympics???

[cstanleytech]

12. Of course its a BS story but its not like they have been able to find

anything that incriminates Obama directly so they are going to try the "throw everything we got at him a and pray that something sticks" method because they sure as hell arent gonna win this election based on anything Romney can bring to the table.

[flamingdem]

9. How can there be an issue if he hadn't started his job?

repuke fail. desperationnnn

[freshwest]

27. +1

[JI7]

10. so this is their response to Romney not releasing his tax info ?

[cstanleytech]

13. In nut shell.....yes. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

11. LOL

[JoePhilly]

16. 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, yawn.

[sofa king]

17. Awesome! Let's talk about the October Surprise and Iran Contra!

Was David Plouffe in secret negotiations to keep Americans held hostage for four months to swing an election?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_surprise_conspiracy_theory

By the way, only last year a researcher discovered in running mate GHW Bush's records a note that William Casey arrived at his meeting with the Iranians in Madrid --the meeting Reagan Republicans have stringently denied ever happened. Some sources claim Bush himself was there or at a subsequent meeting.

Was David Plouffe using Iranians in a complicated cocaine for money for arms for hostages for funding of a covert and illegal war?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Contra

[lostnote12]

20. thanks for the reminder!! It pales in comparison however fully expect this to be exploited!!!!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

18. "There were no legal or ethical restrictions on Plouffe being paid to speak...as a private citizen"

And so you're posting this because....

Why?

[bemildred]

19. Grabbing at straws. nt

[harmonicon]

23. How on earth is someone making a story about this?

I think that some sort of issue is being fabricated by a "journalist" is the real story here.

[nanabugg]

28. "associate"..."affilate" operative words that get ignored by even DU. nt