October 7, 2016
PUTIN'S B-ATCH:
Lobbyist advised Trump campaign while promoting Russian pipeline : Richard Burt helped shape the candidate's first foreign-policy speech while lobbying on behalf of a Moscow-controlled gas company. (BEN SCHRECKINGER and JULIA IOFFE, 10/07/16, Politico)
In the first two quarters of 2016, the firm of former Reagan administration official Richard Burt received $365,000 for work he and a colleague did to lobby for a proposed natural-gas pipeline owned by a firm controlled by the Russian government, according to congressional lobbying disclosures reviewed by POLITICO. The pipeline, opposed by the Polish government and the Obama administration, would complement the original Nord Stream, allowing more Russian gas to reach central and western European markets while bypassing Ukraine and Belarus, extending Putin's leverage over Europe.Burt's lobbying work for New European Pipeline AG, the company behind the pipeline known as Nord Stream II, began in February. At the time, the Russian state-owned oil giant Gazprom owned a 50 percent stake in New European Pipeline AG. In August, five European partners pulled out and Gazprom now owns 100 percent.This spring, Burt helped shape Trump's first major foreign policy address, according to Burt and other sources. Burt recommended that Trump take a more "realist," less interventionist approach to world affairs, as first reported by Reuters. Trump's April 27 speech sounded those themes and called for greater cooperation with Russia."I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia -- from a position of strength -- is possible," Trump said in the speech.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 7, 2016 5:40 PM