Behind the Scenes at the DNC: Money, Meetings, Influence

Do you ever wonder who is who? Do you wonder what people are doing when not on stage? What about the lobbying, the meetings, the rallies, the influence, the powerbrokers?

Here is an eye-opening insight into what else goes on behind the stage and around Philadelphia….anyone talking about the DNC email server hack? Yes….about policies? Yes….about who is seen with who? Yes….

Hat tip to the Center for Public Integrity

The influence diaries: Dispatches from the Democratic National Convention

An inside look at influence-peddling in Philadelphia

Editor’s note: The Center for Public Integrity’s money-in-politics reporting team is bringing you news from the Democratic National Convention — focusing on special-interest influence, big-money politicking and corporate schmoozing. Reporters Michael Beckel and Carrie Levine are on the ground in Philadelphia. Please check back regularly as this article will be updated throughout the week. Click here to read our coverage of the Republican National Convention

NUNS LOBBY TO ‘MEND THE GAPS’

11:58 a.m., Thursday, July 28: They may not look like lobbyists, but a gaggle of Catholic nuns have a distinct message to share in Philadelphia.

The Nuns on the Bus, a project of NETWORK, is calling on Congress to “mend the gaps in wealth, income and access.”

Amid the Democratic National Convention, Nuns on the Bus is conducting three, two-hour workshops to educate people about gaps in seven key areas — tax justice, living wages, family-friendly workplaces, healthcare, housing, citizenship and democracy — and inspire people to take action.

On Wednesday afternoon, about three-dozen people gathered in a room in the Philadelphia Convention Center as nine of the Nuns on the Bus described how the immense gains seen by the wealthiest Americans since 1980, the modest gains seen by middle class and the decline seen by the country’s poorest citizens.

Its cause, they said: President Ronald Reagan’s implementation of trickle-down economics, reduction of the top tax brackets and clashes with labor unions.

“Policies made the mess,” said Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of NETWORK. “Policies can fix the mess.”

It’s not that people in the top 1 percent are bad or evil, Campbell continued, but rather it’s that they are “so far away from the lived reality” of their less wealthy brethren.

The Catholic social justice group is making at least a few friends on Capitol Hill. At one point Wednesday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., made a brief appearance at the event, praising the Nuns on the Bus and saying that “we are with you 100 percent.”

Lobbying records show that NETWORK spent $380,000 lobbying Congress and the federal government last year, and has spent $190,000 so far this year.

Since early July, the Nuns on the Bus bus tour has visited cities in 13 states and also made an appearance at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Along the way, they have been collecting pledge cards that will eventually be delivered to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Speaking to attendees Wednesday, Campbell stressed the importance of being engaged in 2016.

“We need you this election cycle probably more than ever,” she said. “It’s going to depend on we the people to form a more perfect union.”

— Michael Beckel

TWITTER’S CONVENTION NEST

11:52 a.m., Thursday, July 28: Exhausted by running all over Philadelphia in the searing heat? Twitter has a refuge for you.

On Locust Street in downtown Philadelphia, Twitter’s logos plaster the outside of a restaurant and event space they’ve converted into the #TwitterDistrict, home to free wi-fi, trays of Prosecco glasses, mini lobster rolls and other goodies.

The lounge is mainly reserved for people Twitter works with, including reporters, but that list also includes members’ offices who want training in how to better use Twitter and Twitter products.

Twitter also used the space to host panels, such as one on “Women, Power and Politics” Wednesday whose lineup included  Stephanie Hannon, the chief technology officer for the Clinton campaign.

A Twitter spokesman said the company had a similar space at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week. It represents the company’s largest presence at conventions so far.

Carrie Levine


THE DONALD TRIES TO TRUMP DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

11:21 a.m. Thursday, July 28: It used to be that Republicans would more or less take a week off while Democrats conducted their once-every-four-years national convention — and vice versa.

But Donald Trump’s assertion Wednesday that Russia should spy on Hillary Clinton’s emails has overshadowed some of the events unfolding in Philadelphia at the Democratic National Convention. (Democrats accused Trump of disloyalty; Trump says he was “being sarcastic.”)

Senior political reporter Dave Levinthal today dished about this and other convention developments with WBEN-AM 930 in Buffalo, N.Y. Listen here.

— The Center for Public Integrity

INCOME INEQUALITY, BROUGHT TO YOU BY …

8:27 a.m. Thursday, July 28: Income inequality is one of the most critical challenges facing the nation, and for $20,000 your company or organization could have been the “title co-sponsor” of an event today discussing the issue with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and other Democratic mayors.

That’s according to promotional materials for the National Conference of Democratic Mayors event obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.

In addition to the title co-sponsorship, a $20,000 contribution would have also given you six tickets to the discussion, a one-year membership in the National Conference of Democratic Mayors’ Alliance program and four tickets to each of the other discussion events the group was holding during the Democratic National Convention, among other perks.

Not feeling the need to the most conspicuous brand associated with the event? Give $10,000 as a “gold sponsor” or $5,000 as a “silver sponsor” and receive a smaller number of tickets and other perks.

Earlier in the week, the National Conference of Democratic Mayors also held discussions about economic innovation and transportation and infrastructure issues, with similar rewards for funders.

It also held a networking event called a “Taste of America’s Cities” on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

— Michael Beckel

 

TOM STEYER IS COMING FOR YOU, MILLENNIALS

7:12 p.m. Wednesday, July 27: Three-ounce glasses of Left Hand Nitro Stout and trays of pretzel rolls lined the bar. One corner held platters of fried chicken, marinated vegetables, cheese and other goodies. And the millennials were in the house.

The event at BRU, a Philadelphia bar, put together by political nonprofit NextGen Climate, was all about drawing them in. Called “#WhyWeVote: Millennials and the Election,” and introduced by environmentalist and megadonor Tom Steyer, a panel was set up “to talk about what it means to get millennials to understand the importance of your voice and your vote,” Steyer said.

Millennials “often say, politics is too corrupt for me to vote,” said Svante Myrick, the mayor of Ithaca, New York and the youngest mayor in the history of New York state. “Politics is too corrupt for me to participate… You don’t go to a party unless you’re invited.”

The panelists were there to talk about convincing millennials to go to the polls, something that is a major initiative for NextGen Climate this cycle, Steyer told the Center for Public Integrity after the panel concluded.

“We’re trying to organize field operations for people under the age of 30 so that they are informed particularly on energy and climate, something they particularly care about,” he said. Steyer said the effort includes field and online outreach.

Steyer, who together with his wife is the top individual donor at the federal level this cycle, according to campaign finance data tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics, has given more than $31 million, nearly all of it to NextGen Climate Action Fund, a super PAC affiliated with NextGen Climate.

Carrie Levine

Who’s funding the host committee of ? Some big donors featured prominently on flags downtown

FOR LOBBYISTS, CLEVELAND ROCKS … BUT SO DOES PHILLY

3:27 p.m. Wednesday, July 27: Think there’s less schmoozing to be had at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia compared to that in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention?

Think again.

Center for Public Integrity political reporter Carrie Levine tells Arnie Arnesen of WNHN-FM 94.7 in Concord, N.H.: “There are plenty of parties, plenty of concerts and lots of events to go to — we’re keeping a very full schedule.”

Listen here to Carrie’s full interview here.

— The Center for Public Integrity

WHERE THE REAL PARTIES ARE

11:44 a.m. Wednesday, July 27: While national political convention pageantry takes place inside a sports arena, the real (and often exclusive) parties — involving lawmakers, lobbyists and other special interests — are this month taking place within bars, clubs and restaurants across Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Senior political reporter Dave Levinthal, who attended the Republican National Convention, dishes about this dynamic in the latest DecodeDC podcast with host Jimmy Williams. Listen here.

— The Center for Public Integrity

Late night entertainment with & during

DON’T STOP … WORKING TO CURB GUN VIOLENCE

10:43 a.m. Wednesday, July 27: A party hosted Tuesday night in Philadelphia by left-leaning super PAC Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC mixed a festive atmosphere with a serious message.

Amid performances by Kesha and the Drive-By Truckers, organizers urged the crowd at the Theatre of Living Arts to support political candidates who support stricter gun control measures.

Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC — founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt, and her husband Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut — calls for people to “use every means available” to ensure Congress “puts communities’ interests ahead of the gun lobby’s.”

This election cycle, the super PAC is supporting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as well as a number of U.S. Senate candidates.

“Stopping gun violence takes courage,” Giffords told the crowd during a break in the nearly hour-long set by the Drive-By Truckers, a Georgia-based alt-country rock band whose latest albums has songs specifically dealing with gun violence and mass shootings. “Be courageous. The nation’s counting on you.”

Added Kelly: “Go out and vote on this issue.”

The party, following the Democratic Nationa Convention’s Tuesday session, was a hot ticket.

Even with one, admission wasn’t guaranteed: The venue filled up fast, with high-profile political attendees including the likes of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who resigned as the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee earlier this week, and Jim Messina, President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager.

By around midnight, the line outside stretched down the block and security at the door was telling would-be concert-goers they couldn’t go in until someone left.

Taking the stage about 1:15 a.m., Kesha played for roughly 15 minutes. Her brief set included hit songs “We R Who We R” and “Tik Tok.”

The music arrived after Kesha was introduced by actress Elizabeth Banks, who described herself as the “hugest, hugest fan” of Giffords and called Kelly a “national hero.” On Tuesday night, Banks also served as de facto master of ceremonies during the Democratic National Convention’s proceedings.

For her part, Kesha also added her voice in support of the Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC’s cause, saying that while we may not be able to control who feels hurt or pain in this country, “what we can control is who we give f—ing weapons to.”

Since it was formed in January 2013, the Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC has raised more than $31 million, including $3.7 million so far this year, according to disclosures submitted to the Federal Election Commission. It entered July with about $5 million in the bank, according to its most recent campaign finance filing.

Roughly half of the money the Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC has raised over its existence is from small-dollar donors who have given $200 or less, records show.

But some wealthy donors are also among its supporters, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and the Texas law firm of Democratic super donors Steve and Amber Mostyn. All have made six-figure contributions to Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC.

— Michael Beckel and Carrie Levine

YOUR 15 SECONDS OF FAME

7:57 a.m. Wednesday, July 27: Wish you could have introduced the keynote speaker at the New American Leaders Project event today in Philadelphia?

The privilege could have been yours for a cool $15,000 — which would have also included photo-ops with elected officials, candidates, delegates and other special guests, along with other perks.

Other sponsorship packages existed at the $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 level, according to materials obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.

The New York-based New American Leadership Project touts itself as the “only national, nonpartisan organization focused on bringing New Americans into the political process.” In its five years of existence, it has trained nearly 400 people to run for office, according to material on its website. Its focus is on first- and second-generation immigrants.

What it hasn’t done yet: rake in the big bucks. Tax records filed with the Internal Revenue Service show the New American Leaders Project has yet to raise more than $50,000 during a single year.

— Michael Beckel

Lead-up to securing nomination unofficially began 3 1/2 yrs ago — with a super PAC

— Dave Levinthal

 

ROOM FOR ALL KINDS OF INTEREST GROUPS

4:24 p.m. Tuesday, July 26: Fundraisers and corporate lobbyists aren’t the only ones who take advantage of the conventions to conduct events and make sure members of Congress hear about their issues.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which advocates for reproductive freedom and against restrictions on abortion, partnered with Cosmopolitan Magazine for a lunchtime panel on “Congress, the Courts and Your Body” this afternoon at the National Museum of American Jewish History.

The panel, which included U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, both Democrats, drew a crowd that lunched on salmon and grilled vegetables. Attendees lauded the Supreme Court’s decision last month in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstadt, which overturned Texas restrictions on abortion clinics, a ruling Blumenthal described as a “landmark.”

Spotted among the crowd: actresses Constance Wu and Eva Longoria, a Democratic party fundraising stalwart who introduced U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey at the convention last night (an assistant said she wasn’t giving interviews today). Several other members of Congress, including U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell of Michigan and Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts, also attended.

Blumenthal, the sponsor of legislation that he said would require clear medical proof of necessity for state restrictions on abortion, and Watson Coleman encouraged supporters to reach out to members of Congress.

Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the Whole Woman’s Health ruling is a “new tool” that will help the center and others take on other state laws. In addition, she said that in addition to such defensive work, advocates could now “push for affirmative laws.”

For example, she said it could be time to lay groundwork to “make sure that women who can’t afford abortion care can get it in federal programs.” Her comments appear aimed at the so-called Hyde Amendment, versions of which have for decades restricted the use of federal funds for abortion.

This year, the Democrats’ platform, passed yesterday, calls specifically for repealing the Hyde Amendment, a controversial proposal.

Carrie Levine

Dem takes batting practice at park during charity event

 

CONCERNS ABOUT CORPORATE-SPONSORED DAY AT THE BALLPARK? ‘OVERBLOWN’ CONGRESSMAN SAYS

2:06 p.m. Tuesday, July 26: Batting practice during the Democratic All Star Challenge at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, was briefly interrupted this morning for a few words from the event’s hosts and biggest sponsor.

James C. Greenwood, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who now serves as the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s chief executive officer, praised the House and Senate Energy and Commerce Committees for “working in a bipartisan fashion” to help cure diseases such as AIDS, Alzheimer’s and cancer.

“Bad policies,” Greenwood admonished, could “kill innovation.”

As the main sponsor of the charity baseball event — money donated by its corporate sponsors will go to three charities — the Biotechnology Innovation Organization had given $50,000, according to marketing materials obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.

Other sponsors — including Blue Cross Blue ShieldMicrosoft and Monsanto — had donated between $5,000 and $20,000.

Part of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the charity event was held “in honor of” the Democrats on the House and Senate energy and commerce committees. (A similar event was held in Cleveland last week during the Republican National Convention.)

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, also spoke briefly at the charity fundraiser.

Sporting khaki shorts, a black Pittsburgh Pirates t-shirt and a yellow Pirates baseball cap, Doyle called the event “a great thing” and a chance to “benefit some great charities.”

Speaking to the Center for Public Integrity after the event, Doyle dismissed the idea that he, or any of the other lawmakers, would be unduly influenced by the companies’ charitable donations to support the event.

“It’s frustrating that people think we are somehow influenced by that,” Doyle said. “It’s really easy to believe that there’s always something bad going on,” he continued, calling concerns that any lawmaker would be swayed by these types of contributions “overblown.”

“We’re public servants,” he said.

He added that the best way to assess who was influencing him was to look at his voting record in Congress.

At one point in the interview, Doyle even pulled a list of the events’ sponsors out of his pocket to stress that he wasn’t beloved by many of them.

“There are a lot of people on that list that don’t like me,” he said.

Throughout the morning, a few dozen people milled about the stadium, in the dugout and on the field near home plate as guests with VIP tickets took a few swings during batting practice. Among them? both Doyle and Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, another member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who was also present at the event.

Michael Beckel

 

THE MUSIC-LOVERS’ LOBBYISTS

2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 26: Colorado’s Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper has played his banjo on stage with the likes of the String Cheese Incident and Old Crow Medicine Show. And today, he’ll be one of the featured panelists at an event in Philadelphia called ArtsSpeak, with the likes of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon.

Also featured at the event: entertainer Ben Vereen and musician Ben Folds, who will both perform.

ArtsSpeak will be hosted by the Arts Action Fund, in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Music Merchants and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

For its part, the National Association of Music Merchants has spent $160,000 lobbying Congress so far this year regarding access to music education programs in schools, according to federal records. Also among its concerns? Regulations that prohibit the sale of products containing ivory and that ban the importation of illegally harvested wood.

Not in Philadelphia? The discussion — and musical performances — will be broadcast online live here at 4 p.m. EDT.

— Michael Beckel

 

HUD SECRETARY HONORED AT LAVISH LUNCHEON

12:57 p.m. Tuesday, July 26: He may not have been selected as Hillary Clinton’s vice president, but Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro has at least received a leadership award by the Latino Leaders Network.

Castro collected the award — and give a speech to the group — at a luncheon today in Philadelphia at the lavish Crystal Tea Room, a venue complete with “carved columns and opulent crystal chandeliers.” (A wedding reception there typically runs between $20,500 and $33,550.)

According to promotional materials for the invitation-only event obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, “special guests” included Reps. Xavier Becerra of California, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and Linda Sanchez of California, as well as former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Sponsors of the affair, meanwhile, included the Anheuser-Busch Foundation, GEICO, ComEd, PECO and Southwest Airlines, as well as NextGenClimate, an advocacy group formed by billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer.

On the Latino Leaders Network’s website, Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest beer maker, is the sole company listed as a “premier sponsor” of the quarterly luncheon series. Tax records show the Anheuser-Busch Foundation has contributed $100,000 annually to the Latino Leaders Network in recent years.

Michael Beckel

COURT SAYS CONVENTION DONORS’ IDENTITIES CAN STAY SECRET

9:45 a.m., Tuesday, July 26: Comcast’s logo is splashed across signs welcoming Democratic delegates to the Wells Fargo Center.

Tents in the “convention village” offering video games, cocktails, and buffets are sponsored by a series of firms and trade associations that want lawmakers’ attention and goodwill.

Unions have filed paperwork disclosing seven-figure contributions to the host committee of the Philadelphia convention.

The host committee itself has posted a thank-you to a list of especially generous corporate sponsors on its website.

And yet, despite all that exposure, the host committee has fought to keep its official donors list secret. State authorities have ruled the records should be public. But yesterday the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas handed convention planners a major victory, allowing the host committee to maintain donor anonymity for another two months.

The host committee is required to file reports about its finances with the city of Philadelphia because the city has extended a $15 million line of credit to the host committee as a backstop to its fundraising efforts. A state agency said the records had to be disclosed, but the host committee appealed.

The host committee’s executive director, Kevin Washo, and lawyers for the committee said the information is confidential and proprietary, and the committee is still fundraising, and releasing the information sooner could hurt their efforts. Federal election law allows the host committee to wait to disclose its donors until after the election.

Anna Adams-Sarthou, a spokeswoman for the host committee, said it has raised about $58 million in cash and pledges and $16 million in in-kind contributions so far, and is working to raise another $1 million in cash.

“We appreciate that the Court has recognized that the Host Committee is required to be among the most transparent of all organizations by federal law,” she said in a statement. “This ruling emphasizes the fact that we have been following federal guidelines for the last two years and will help us complete the work to put on a successful convention.”

Carrie Levine

Charity batting practice w/ Dem lawmakers draws special interest $ at

THE ‘GRAND SLAM PACKAGE’

8:07 a.m. Tuesday, July 26: The Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Microsoft, AT&T, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Consumer Technology Association and Monsanto are among the special-interest groups paying for the privilege of taking batting practice and socializing with lawmakers today at Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, according to materials obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.

The “Democratic All Star Challenge” charity batting practice event honors the Democratic members of the House and Senate’s Energy and Commerce committees, while raising money for the D.C.-based Washington Literacy Center, the Pittsburgh-based Center of Life and Phillies Charities, the charitable arm of the baseball team.

According to marketing materials obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, sponsorships range from $5,000 for the “sports fan package” to $50,000 for the “grand slam package,” which the Biotechnology Innovation Organization appears to have purchased.

Each tier includes a number of perks such as general admission tickets to the event, as well as tickets for either regular batting practice and VIP batting practice with former Phillies outfielder Milt Thompson. (Former Phillies pitcher Dickie Noles will also lead a pitching clinic during the event.)

Another apparent perk of being the top sponsor? Giving a speech to attendees.

James C. Greenwood, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who now serves as the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s chief executive officer, is scheduled to deliver remarks during the event. So is Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who sits on its Communications and Technology subcommittee as well as its Energy and Power subcommittee.

Doyle is also the longtime coach of the Democrats’ congressional baseball team, which plays against a Republican team once a year each summer in Washington, D.C., for charity.

— Michael Beckel

 

CONVENTION MONEY … AND MAYHEM

11:57 p.m. Monday, July 25: How do the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention contrast?

And what about the money behind them both?

Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal today spoke with KALW-FM 91.7’s “Your Call” in San Francisco and TRT World’s “The Newsmakers” program about these and other convention-related issues.

Listen and watch.

— The Center for Public Integrity

Here’s what had to say about campaign finance issues & the Koch brothers in speech

So, says will fight ‘Citizens United’ decision But, this: &

Inbox: a Michelle Obama email to Clinton’s list, asking for donations.

How Financially Rabid is the DNC Leadership?

DNC Shared Its Donor Appointment List With White House

New details have emerged about a possible “pay-to-play” scheme that surfaced in the Democratic National Committee documents released by Wikileaks last week.

DailyCaller: The Democratic National Committee’s national finance director sent a White House official who handles personnel matters a list of Democratic donors that the DNC hand-picked for appointments to federal boards and commissions.

The Daily Caller reported earlier this week that Jordan Kaplan, the DNC finance director, sought guidance from his colleagues on what donors to choose for federal appointments. Names were collected, and a spreadsheet entitled “Boards and Commissions” was created.

(RELATED: Leakes DNC Documents Show Plans To Reward Big Donors With Federal Appointments)

Following up on that report, OpenSecrets, the blog of the Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors political spending, found an email from Kaplan to Amanda Moose, a special assistant to the President for presidential personnel, which appears to show coordination about the appointments between the DNC and the White House.

“For your review,” Kaplan wrote to Moose in an April 26 email which had the “Boards and Commissions — Final” spreadsheet attached.

As TheDC reported, most of those included on the list are major Democratic party donors. Most have donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. None contributed to Bernie Sanders.

“That is unethical, if not illegal,”Ken Boehm, the chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, told TheDC earlier this week of the apparent DNC quid pro quo.

One entry on one iteration of the DNC donor spreadsheet is telling as it suggests that one party donor expressed his desire to someone at the DNC about an appointment to the U. S. Postal Service’s board of governors.

Next to the name of Democratic donor David Shapira is the acronym “USPS.” The CEO of Giant Eagle, Inc., a supermarket chain, Shapira was nominated by Obama to the USPS board of governors last year. The pick was blocked by Congress, however.

TheDC emailed Kaplan asking whether Shapira specifically asked anyone at the DNC to be nominated again for the USPS position or if DNC officials assumed that he would want that position given his previous nomination.

The finance chief did not respond. DNC communications director Luis Miranda did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Other emails contained in the Wikileaks trove show that Kaplan and Moose likely discussed donor appointments over the phone.

Scott Comer, the DNC’s finance chief of staff, informed Kaplan on April 28 that he had missed a call from Moose. Kaplan asked for the number.

On May 3, Comer emailed Kaplan again saying that Moose wanted to set up a time “for a 20-minute conversation.”

In a comment to OpenSecrets, White House spokesman Eric Schultz denied that donors are given roles in the administration because of their political donations.

“Being a donor does not get you a role in this administration,” Schultz said, adding “nor does it preclude you from getting one.”

“We’ve said this for many years now and there’s nothing in the emails that have been released that contradicts that.”

The Obama administration has been accused of providing plush federal jobs — including appointments to federal boards and ambassadorships — for major Democratic and Obama donors.

As a presidential candidate in 2007, Obama specifically said that political patronage would be eradicated from his administration.

“The cynics and the lobbyists and the special interests have turned government into a game that only they can afford to play,” he said at the time. “They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills. They get the access when you get to write a letter. The time for that politics is over.”

As OpenSecrets notes, none of the donors picked by the DNC have been appointed to federal spots since Kaplan provided the spreadsheet to Moose.

Moose did not respond to TheDC’s request for comment.

Yup, there is more of course.

DWS Donor Convicted of Wire Fraud Relating to Horse Murder Not Allowed to Give to DNC

Hacked emails show George Lindemann Jr.’s past eliminated him as a DNC donor

FreeBeacon: A major donor to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) was forbidden from giving to the Democratic National Committee due to a past conviction on three counts of wire fraud following his electrocution of a horse to collect an insurance payout.

George Lindemann Jr., a Miami-based real estate developer and son of billionaire New York investor George Lindemann, was vetted earlier this year as a possible donor to the committee and to attend an event with President Barack Obama, according to an exchange contained within the latest batch of hacked DNC emails released by Wikileaks.

Clayton Cox, the DNC’s regional finance director in Florida, Georgia, and the Midwest, asked for a background check into Lindemann Jr. on May 9.

The same day, Chadwick Rivard, a senior research and compliance supervisor for the DNC, returned an extended report into Lindemann Jr.’s checkered past.

Lindemann Jr., a former equestrian who had Olympic aspirations, hired a man named Tommy Burns in 1990 to kill his horse, named “Charisma,” by electrocution so he could cash out on an insurance policy worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The insurance company ruled that the horse had died from natural causes. The plan had temporarily worked, as he was issued the $250,000 policy for the horse’s life.

However, federal investigators later uncovered a conspiracy between Burns and another person, named Barney Ward, to kill numerous horses for money. The practice allowed the horse’s owner to then collect the insurance policy, as Lindemann Jr. had done.

Burns provided information to the FBI on Lindemann Jr. It was discovered during this process that a man named James Druck had taught Burns how to electrocute horses to cash in on the insurance payout. Druck was the father of Rielle Hunter, the former mistress of John Edwards, who was born Lisa Druck.

During the trial, Lindemann’s defense argued that the $250,000 insurance payout did not matter to Lindemann Jr. given his family’s net worth. A U.S. attorney later described Lindemann Jr. as a “a very wealthy kid that has a toy that he doesn’t like or gets mad at and throws it on the floor and stomps on it.”

Lindemann Jr. was convicted on three counts of wire fraud in 1995 for his role in Charisma’s death. The judge presiding over Lindemann Jr.’s case ordered him to pay $500,000 in fines and $250,000 in restitution. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison, the maximum sentence.

Alan Reed, another DNC compliance officer, responded to the email chain saying, “I vote fail….again.”

Wasserman Schultz, who recently resigned as chair of the DNC following the release of the Wikileaks emails, accepted tens of thousands in donations from Lindemann Jr. to her leadership PAC and campaign committees in recent years.

Lindemann Jr. gave a $5,000 donation to Democrats Win Seats PAC, the leadership PAC of Wasserman Schultz, in February 2014. More than a year later, in April 2015, he contributed another $5,000 to the PAC.

Additionally, he gave $2,600 to Wasserman Schultz’s primary campaign in 2014 and added another $2,400 to her general election. He also combined to give $3,500 to the Democratic Executive Committee of Florida that year.

Lindemann Jr. donated $2,700 to Wasserman Schultz’s primary in 2015 and contributed $2,700 to her general, the maximum amounts allowed by law per election.

Lindemann Jr. has donated to both political parties throughout the years. He had failed previous background checks from the committee.

Wasserman Schultz’s office did not return a request for comment on the donations by press time.

 

 

 

 

Euro Arms Pipeline to Middle East

Making a Killing: The 1.2 Billion Euro Arms Pipeline to Middle East

An unprecedented flow of weapons from Central and Eastern Europe is flooding the battlefields of the Middle East.

Lawrence Marzouk, Ivan Angelovski and Miranda Patrucic BIRN Belgrade, London, Sarajevo

BalkanInsight: As Belgrade slept on the night of November 28, 2015, the giant turbofan engines of a Belarusian Ruby Star Ilyushin II-76 cargo plane roared into life, its hull laden with arms destined for faraway conflicts.

Rising from the tarmac of Nikola Tesla airport, the hulking aircraft pierced the Serbian mist to head towards Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It was one of at least 68 flights that in just 13 months transported weapons and ammunition to Middle Eastern states and Turkey which, in turn, funnelled arms into brutal civil wars in Syria and Yemen, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, has found. The flights form just a small part of €1.2 billion in arms deals between the countries since 2012, when parts of the Arab Spring turned into an armed conflict.


Belgrade Airport | BIRN

Meanwhile, over the past two years, as thousands of tonnes of weapons fly south, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled north from the conflicts that have killed more than 400,000 people. But while Balkan and European countries have shut down the refugee route, the billion-euro pipeline sending arms by plane and ship to the Middle East remains open – and very lucrative.

It is a trade that is almost certainly illegal, according to arms and human rights experts.

“The evidence points towards systematic diversion of weapons to armed groups accused of committing serious human rights violations. If this is the case, the transfers are illegal under the ATT (United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty) and other international law and should cease immediately,” said Patrick Wilcken, an arms-control researcher at Amnesty International who reviewed the evidence collected by reporters.

But with hundreds of millions of euros at stake and weapons factories working overtime, countries have a strong incentive to let the business flourish. Arms export licences, which are supposed to guarantee the final destination of the goods, have been granted despite ample evidence that weapons are being diverted to Syrian and other armed groups accused of widespread human rights abuses and atrocities.

Robert Stephen Ford, US ambassador to Syria between 2011 and 2014, told BIRN and the OCCRP that the trade is coordinated by the US Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Turkey and Gulf states through centres in Jordan and Turkey, although in practice weapon supplies often bypass this process.

BIRN and the OCCRP examined arms export data, UN reports, flight records, and weapons contracts during a year-long investigation that reveals how thousands of assault rifles, mortar shells, rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons, and heavy machine guns are pouring into the troubled region, originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania,  Serbia and Slovakia.

Read all the documents used in the investigation at BIRN’s online library BIRN Source.

Since the escalation of the Syrian conflict in 2012, these eight countries have approved the shipment of weapons and ammunition worth at least 1.2 billion euros to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.

The figure is likely much higher. Data on arms export licences for four out of eight countries were not available for 2015 and seven out of eight countries for 2016. The four recipient countries are key arms suppliers to Syria and Yemen with little or no history of buying from Central and Eastern Europe prior to 2012. And the pace of the transfers is not slowing, with some of the biggest deals approved in 2015.

Eastern and Central European weapons and ammunition, identified in more than 50  videos and photos posted on social media, are now in use by Western-backed Free Syrian Army units, but also in the hands of fighters of Islamist groups such as Ansar al-Sham, Al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS, in Syria, factions fighting for Syrian President Bashar-al Assad and Sunni forces in Yemen.

On April 7, 2016, twitter User @bm27_uragan, who monitors the spread of weapons in the Syrian conflict, posted a video apparently of Free Syrian Army rebel using Serbian made Coyote M02 heavy machine gun in Southern Aleppo in Syria. The Coyote M02 has been independently identified as a Coyote M02.

Markings on some of the weapons identifying the origin and date of production reveal significant quantities have come off production lines as recently as 2015.

Out of the 1.2 billion euros in weapons and ammunition approved for export, about 500 million euros have been delivered, according to UN trade information and national arms export reports.

The frequency and number of cargo flights – BIRN and the OCCRP identified at least 68 in just over one year – reveal a steady flow of weapons from Central and Eastern Europe airports to military bases in Middle East.

The most commonly used aircraft – the Ilyushin II-76 – can carry up to 50 tonnes of cargo or approximately 16,000 AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles or three million bullets. Others, including the Boeing 747, are capable of hauling at least twice that amount.

But arms and ammunitions are not only coming by air. Reporters also have identified at least three shipments made by the US military from Black Sea ports carrying an estimated 4,700 tonnes of weapons and ammunition to the Red Sea and Turkey since December 2015.

One Swedish member of the EU parliament calls the trade shameful.

“Maybe they –[Bulgaria, Slovakia and Croatia] – do not feel ashamed at all but I think they should,” said Bodil Valero, who also served as the rapporteur for the EU’s last arms report.“Countries selling arms to Saudi Arabia or the Middle East-North Africa region are not carrying out good risk assessments and, as a result, are in breach of EU and national law.”.

OCCRP and BIRN talked to government representatives in Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovakia who all responded similarly saying that they are meeting their international obligations. Some cited that Saudi Arabia is not on any international weapons black lists and other said their countries are not responsible if weapons have been diverted.

A question of legality

The global arms trade is regulated by three layers of interconnected legislation — national, European Union, EU, and international – but there are no formal mechanisms to punish those who break the law.

Beyond the blanket ban on exports to embargoed countries, each licence request is dealt with individually.

In the case of Syria, there are currently no sanctions on supplying weapons to the opposition.

As a result, the lawfulness of the export approval hinges on whether countries have carried out due diligence on a range of issues, including the likelihood of the arms being diverted and the impact the export will have on peace and stability.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia are signatories of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty, which entered into force in December 2014, and lists measures to prevent the illicit trade and diversion of arms.

Member states of the EU are also governed by the legally-binding 2008 Common Position on arms exports, requiring each country to take into account eight criteria when accessing arms exports licence applications, including whether the country respects international human rights, the preservation of “regional peace, security and stability” and the risk of diversion.

As part of their efforts to join the EU, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro have already accepted the measures and have amended their national law. Serbia is in the process of doing so.

Weapons exports are initially assessed based on an end-user certificate, a key document issued by the government of the importing country which guarantees who will use the weapons and that the arms are not intended for re-export.

Authorities in Central and Eastern Europe told BIRN and the OCCRP that they also inserted a clause which requires the buyer to seek approval if they later want to export the goods.

Beyond these initial checks, countries are required to carry out a range of other risk assessments based on national and EU law and the ATT, although conversations with, and statements from, authorities revealed little evidence of that.

OCCRP and BIRN talked to government representatives in Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovakia who all responded similarly saying that they are meeting their international obligations. Some cited that Saudi Arabia is not on any international weapons black lists and other said their countries are not responsible if weapons have been diverted. The three other countries did not respond to requests for comment.

The Czech Foreign Ministry was the only public body to directly address concerns about human rights abuses and diversions, saying it took into account both when weighing up an export licence and had blocked transfers on that basis.

How legal are these arms sales to the Middle East? Find out more here

Saudi Arabia – The weapons king

The Central and Eastern European weapons supply line can be traced to the winter of 2012, when dozens of cargo planes, loaded with Saudi-purchased Yugoslav-era weapons and ammunition, began leaving Zagreb bound for Jordan. Soon after, the first footage of Croatian weapons in use emerged from the battleground of Syria.

According to a New York Times report from February 2013, a senior Croatian official offered the country’s stockpiles of old weapons for Syria during a visit to Washington in the summer of 2012. Zagreb was later put in touch with the Saudis, who bankrolled the purchases, while the CIA helped with logistics for an airlift that began late that year.

While Croatia’s government has consistently denied any role in shipping weapons to Syria, former US ambassador to Syria Ford confirmed to BIRN and the OCCRP the New York Times account from an anonymous source of how the deal was hatched. He said he was not at liberty to discuss it further.

This was just the beginning of an unprecedented flow of weapons from Central and Eastern Europe into the Middle East, as the pipeline expanded to include stocks from seven other countries. Local arms dealers sourced arms and ammunition from their home countries and brokered the sale of ammunition from Ukraine and Belarus, and even attempted to secure Soviet-made anti-tank systems bought from the UK, as a Europe-wide arms bazaar ensued.

Prior to the Arab Spring in 2011, the arms trade between Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, and Turkey – four key supporters of Syria’s fractured opposition – was negligible to non-existent, according to analysis of export data.

But that changed in 2012. Between that year and 2016, eight Eastern European countries approved at least 806 million euros worth of weapons and ammunition exports to Saudi Arabia, according to national and EU arms export reports as well as government sources.

Jordan secured export licences worth 155 million euros starting in 2012, while the UAE netted 135 million euros and Turkey 87 million euros, bringing the total to 1.2 billion euros.

Qatar, another key supplier of equipment to the Syrian opposition, does not show up in export licences from Central and Eastern Europe.

Jeremy Binnie, Middle East arms expert for Jane’s Defence Weekly, a publication widely regarded as the most trusted source of defence and security information, said the bulk of the weapon exports from Eastern Europe would likely be destined for Syria and, to a lesser extent, Yemen and Libya.

“With a few exceptions, the militaries of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and Turkey use Western infantry weapons and ammunition, rather than Soviet-designed counterparts,” said Binnie. “It consequently seems likely that large shipments of such materiel being acquired by – or sent to – those countries are destined for their allies in Syria, Yemen, and Libya.”

BIRN and the OCCRP obtained confidential documents from Serbia’s Ministry of Defence and minutes from a series of inter-ministerial meetings in 2013. The documents show the ministry raised concerns that deliveries to Saudi Arabia would be diverted to Syria, pointing out that the Saudis do not use Central and Eastern European stock and have a history of supplying the Syrian opposition. The Ministry turned down the Saudi request only to reverse course more than one year later and approve new arms shipments citing national interest. Saudi security forces, while mostly armed by Western producers, are known to use limited amounts of Central and Eastern European equipment. This includes Czech-produced military trucks and some Romanian-made assault rifles. But even arms exports destined for use by Saudi forces are proving controversial, given their involvement in the conflict in Yemen.

The Netherlands became the first EU country to halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia as a result of civilian deaths in Yemen’s civil war, and the European Parliament has called for an EU-wide arms embargo.

Supply Logistics: Cargo flights and airdrops

Weapons from Central and Eastern Europe are delivered to the Middle East by cargo flights and ships. By identifying the planes and ships delivering weapons, reporters were able to track the flow of arms in real time.

Detailed analysis of airport timetables, cargo carrier history, flight tracking data, and air traffic control sources helped pinpoint 68 flights that carried weapons to Middle Eastern conflicts in the past 13 months.  Belgrade, Sofia and Bratislava emerged as the main hubs for the airlift.

Most frequent were flights operated from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The flights were either confirmed as carrying weapons, were headed to military bases in Saudi Arabia or the UAE or were carried out by regular arms shippers.

The Middle East Airlift 

At least 68 cargo flights from Serbia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have carried thousands of tons of munitions in the past 13 months to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, three key suppliers of the Syrian rebels.

These were identified through detailed analysis of airport timetables, cargo carrier history, flight tracking data, leaked arms contracts, end user certificates, and air traffic control sources.

Cargo flights from Central and Eastern Europe to the Middle East, and particularly military bases, were extremely uncommon before late 2012, when the upsurge in weapons and ammunition purchases began, according to EU flight data and interviews with plane-spotters.

The most commonly used aircraft – the Ilyushin II-76 – can carry up to 50 tonnes of cargo or approximately 16,000 AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles or three million bullets. Others, including the Boeing 747, are capable of hauling at least twice that amount.

Of the 68 flights identified, 50 were officially confirmed to have carried arms and ammunition:

  • Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate confirmed that 49 flights departing or passing through Serbia were carrying arms and ammunition from June 1, 2015 to July 4, 2016. The confirmation came following weeks of refusal to comment on grounds of confidentiality and after BIRN and the OCCRP presented its evidence, including photographs showing military boxes being loaded onto planes at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport on four different occasions.
  • An official at the Bulgarian National Customs Agency confirmed one flight, operated by Belarussian cargo carrier Ruby Star Airways, was carrying arms from the remote Bulgarian Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport to Brno–Turany Airport, the Czech Republic, and on to Aqaba, Jordan.
  • An additional 18 flights were identified as very likely to have been carrying arms and ammunition based on one of three variables: the air freight company’s history of weapons supplies; connections to earlier arms flights; or a destination of a military airport:
    • Ten flights were made to Prince Sultan Air Base in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia and Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, indicating the likely presence of weapons or ammunition. Additionally, 14 flights to Prince Sultan and Al Dhafra air bases are confirmed as having carried weapons during the same period by Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate.
    • Seven flights were operated from Slovakia and Bulgaria by Jordan International Air Cargo, part of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, which were revealed to have carried weapons and ammunition from Croatia to Jordan in the winter of 2012. Bulgarian retired colonel and counter-terrorism expert Slavcho Velkov, who maintains extensive contacts with the military, told BIRN and the OCCRP that the Sofia-Amman flights “were transporting weapons to Saudi Arabia, mostly for the Syrian conflict.” Additionally, one other flight operated by this airline is confirmed as having carried weapons during the same period by Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate.
    • One flight was operated by a Belarussian cargo carrier TransAVIAexport Airlines, which has a long history of transporting weapons.  In 2014, the airline was hired by Serbian arms dealer Slobodan Tesic to transport Serbian and Belarussian weapons and ammunition to air bases in Libya controlled by various militant groups. The United Nations, UN, Sanctions Committee investigated the case and found potential breaches of UN sanctions, according to a 2015 UN report. Additionally, five flights operated by this airline are confirmed as having carried weapons during the same period by Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate.

Many of these flights made an additional stop in Central and Eastern Europe – meaning they were likely picking up more weapons and ammunition – before flying to their final destination.

EU flight statistics provide further evidence of the scale of the operation. They reveal that planes flying from Bulgaria and Slovakia have delivered 2,268 tons of cargo – equal to 44 flights with the most commonly used aircraft – the Ilyushin II-76 – since the summer of 2014 to the same military bases in Saudi Arabia and UAE pinpointed by BIRN and OCCRP.

Distributing the weapons

Arms bought for Syria by the Saudis, Turks, Jordanians and the UAE are then routed through two secret command facilities – called Military Operation Centers (MOC) – in Jordan and Turkey, according to Ford, the former US ambassador to Syria.

These units – staffed by security and military officials from the Gulf, Turkey, Jordan and the US – coordinate the distribution of weapons to vetted Syrian opposition groups, according to information from the Atlanta-based Carter Center, a think tank that has a unit monitoring the conflict.

“Each of the countries involved in helping the armed opposition retained final decision-making authority about which groups in Syria received assistance,” Ford said.

A cache of leaked cargo carrier documents provides further clues to how the Saudi military supplies Syrian rebels.

According to the documents obtained by BIRN and the OCCRP, the Moldovan company AeroTransCargo made six flights in the summer of 2015 carrying at least 250 tonnes of ammunition between military bases in Saudi Arabia and Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, reportedly an arrival point for weapons and ammunition for Syrian rebels.

Pieter Wezeman, of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a leading organisation in tracking arms exports, said he suspects the flights are part of the logistical operation to supply ammunition to Syrian rebels.

From the MOCs, weapons are then transported by road to the Syrian border or airdropped by military planes.

A Free Syrian Army commander from Aleppo, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his safety, told BIRN and OCCRP that weapons from Central and Eastern Europe were distributed from centrally controlled headquarters in Syria. “We don’t care about the county of origin, we just know it is from Eastern Europe,” he said.

The Saudis and Turks also provided weapons directly to Islamist groups not supported by the US and who have sometimes ended up fighting MOC-backed factions, Ford added.

The Saudis are also known to have airdropped arms and equipment, including what appeared to be Serbian-made assault rifles to its allies in Yemen.

Ford said that while he was not personally involved in negotiations with Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania over the supply of weapons to Syria, he believes that the CIA is likely to have played a role.

“For operations of this type it would be difficult for me to imagine that there wasn’t some coordination between the intelligence services, but it may have been confined strictly to intelligence channels,” he said.

The US may not have just played a role in the logistics behind delivering Gulf-sponsored weapons from Eastern Europe to the Syrian rebels. Through its Department of Defense’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM), it has also bought and delivered vast quantities of military materiel from Eastern Europe for the Syrian opposition as part of a US$500 million train and equip programme.

Since December 2015, SOCOM has commissioned three cargo ships to transport 4,700 tons of arms and ammunition from ports of Constanta in Romania and Burgas in Bulgaria to the Middle East likely as part of the covert supply of weapons to Syria.

The shipments included heavy machine guns, rocket launchers and anti-tank weapons – as well as bullets, mortars, grenades, rockets and explosives, according to US procurement documents.

The origin of arms shipped by SOCOM is unknown and the material listed in transport documents is available from stockpiles across Central and Eastern Europe.

Not long after one of the deliveries, SOCOM supported Kurdish groups published an image on Twitter and Facebook showing a warehouse piled with US-brokered ammunition boxes in northern Syria SOCOM would not confirm or deny that the shipments were bound for Syria.

US procurement records also reveal that SOCOM secured from 2014 to 2016 at least 25 million euros (27 million dollars) worth of Bulgarian and 11 million euros (12 million dollars) in Serbian weapons and ammunition for covert operations and Syrian rebels..

A Booming Business

Arms control researcher Wilcken said Central and Eastern Europe had been well positioned to cash in on the huge surge in demand for weapons following the Arab Spring.

“Geographical proximity and lax export controls have put some Balkan states in pole position to profit from this trade, in some instances with covert US assistance,” he added. “Eastern Europe is rehabilitating Cold War arms industries which are expanding and becoming profitable again.”

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic boasted recently that his country could produce five times the amount of arms it currently makes and still not meet the demand.

“Unfortunately in some parts of the world they are at war more than ever and everything you produce, on any side of the world you can sell it,” he said.

Arms manufacturers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are running at full capacity with some adding extra shifts and others not taking new orders.

Saudi Arabia’s top officials – more used to negotiating multi-billion-dollar fighter-jet deals with Western defence giants – have been forced to deal with a handful of small-time arms brokers operating in Eastern Europe who have access to weapons such as AK-47s and rocket launchers

Middlemen such as Serbia’s CPR Impex and Slovakia’s Eldon have played a critical role in supplying weapons and ammunition to the Middle East

The inventory of each delivery is usually unknown due to the secrecy surrounding arms deals but two end-user certificates and one export licence, obtained by BIRN and the OCCRP, reveal the extraordinary scope of the buy-up for Syrian beneficiaries.

For example, the Saudi Ministry of Defence expressed its interest in buying from Serbian arms dealer CPR Impex a number of weapons including hundreds of aging T-55 and T-72 tanks, millions of rounds of ammunition, multi-launch missile systems and rocket launchers. Weapons and ammunition listed were produced in the former Yugoslavia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic.

An export licence issued to a little-known Slovakian company called Eldon in January 2015 granted the firm the right to transport thousands of Eastern European rocket-propelled grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and almost a million bullets worth nearly 32 million euros to Saudi Arabia.

BIRN and OCCRP’s analysis of social media shows weapons that originated from the former states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, and Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria are now present on the battlefields of Syria and Yemen.

While experts believe the countries continue to shirk their responsibility, the weapons pipeline adds more and more fuel to a white hot conflict that leads to more and more misery.

“Proliferation of arms to the region has caused untold human suffering; huge numbers of people have been displaced and parties to the conflict have committed serious human rights violations including   abductions, executions, enforced disappearances, torture and rape,” said Amnesty’s Wilcken.

Additional reporting by Atanas Tchobanov, Dusica Tomovic, Jelena Cosic, Jelena Svircic, Lindita Cela, RISE Moldova and Pavla Holcova.

This investigation is produced by BIRN as a part of Paper Trail to Better Governance project.

 

Spooky Dude Soros is Back with Big Bucks for Hillary

Image result for george soros NYT’s

When some new policy, decision or regulation comes out from government that we question, it generally has Soros behind it. Lately we are hearing so much about prison reform and criminal sentencing reform. Well, when it comes to these discussions, seems Soros was behind much of this as well going back to 2010 funding legal assistance for terrorists. What you say? Yup…..for a summary go here and you will find names like Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, “the Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel Rahman and Weather Underground terrorist David J. Gilbert.

George Soros rises again

The billionaire, who had dialed back his giving, has committed more than $25 million to supporting Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates and causes.

PHILADELPHIA — George Soros is back.

Politico: The billionaire investor, who scaled back his political giving after a then-unprecedented $27 million spending spree to try to defeat George Bush in 2004, has quietly reemerged as a leading funder of Democratic politics — and as a leading bogeyman of conservatives.

Soros has donated or committed more than $25 million to boost Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates and causes, according to Federal Election Commission records and interviews with his associates and Democratic fundraising operatives. And some of his associates say they expect Soros, who amassed a fortune estimated at $24.9 billion through risky currency trades, to give even more as Election Day nears.

The 85-year-old Hungarian-born New Yorker had planned to attend his first-ever Democratic convention here to watch Clinton, with whom he has a 25-year relationship, accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday. But an associate said he decided to cancel the trip this week because Soros, who recently returned to active trading, felt he needed to closely monitor the economic situation in Europe.

 

Nonetheless, people close to Soros say he seems more politically engaged than he’s been in years, motivated they say by a combination of faith in Clinton and fear of her GOP rival Donald Trump, who Soros has accused of “doing the work of ISIS” by stoking fears.

Soros’s political adviser Michael Vachon said his boss “has been a consistent donor to Democratic causes, but this year the political stakes are exceptionally high.” Vachon added: “They were high even before Trump became the nominee because of the hostility on the other side toward many of the issues George cares most about and has worked to support for many years, including immigration reform, criminal justice reform and religious tolerance.”

The willingness of Soros to turn on the cash spigot full force to beat Trump is seen in Democratic finance circles as a very good sign for Clinton. Perhaps more than any other donor on the left, Soros is seen as having the potential to catalyze giving by others rich activists.

To be sure, other elite liberal donors are also stroking big checks, including San Francisco environmentalist Tom Steyer (who has donated $31 million in 2016, albeit almost entirely to a super PAC he controls), New York hedge funder Don Sussman ($13.2 million to various campaigns and committees) and media moguls Haim Saban and Fred Eychaner ($11.1 million each). But few have the bellwether effect of Soros.

The cumulative effect of the mobilization of the left’s richest benefactors has helped Clinton’s campaign and its allied outside groups mount a massive financial advantage over committees backing Trump, who is regarded with suspicion at best by the GOP donor class. That’s allowed Clinton and her allies to build a humming campaign machine that dwarfs Trump’s.

Soros has had a hand in funding many pieces of that.

Through the end of June, Soros had donated $7 million to a super PAC supporting Clinton called Priorities USA Action, according to FEC filings, making it the biggest recipient of his political largesse this cycle. And three Democratic operatives say he’s considering donating another $3 million to the group.

FEC records also show Soros gave $2 million to American Bridge 21st Century, an opposition research super PAC that has been targeting Trump and other Republican candidates, and $700,000 to an assortment of Democratic party committees, PACs and campaigns, including Clinton’s.

Soros has committed $5 million to a super PAC called Immigrant Voters Win that’s devoted to increasing turnout among low-propensity Hispanic voters in key swing states, though FEC records show he’d donated only $3 million through the end of June, the period covered by the most recent filings.

Soros has committed another $5 million to a non-profit devoted to fighting conservative efforts to restrict voting, according to the associate. That group, the Voting Rights Trust, is run partly by Clinton’s campaign lawyer Marc Elias. It’s registered under a section of the tax code that doesn’t require it to disclose its donors, meaning that Soros’s donations and those of other donors will never be formally publicly reported to the government, and also that it could be possible that some donations might be passed through from other groups.

Likewise, Vachon said Soros has committed or donated $2 million to a voter mobilization group called America Votes that doesn’t disclose its donors and another $1 million or so to a handful of state-based voter mobilization groups that are not required to disclose their donors.

And this month, according to Vachon, Soros donated $1.5 million each to Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC boosting Democratic Senate candidates, and to Planned Parenthood Votes, a super PAC that boosts candidates who support abortion rights, including Clinton.

The giving pattern and motivations seem similar to 2004, when Soros, motivated by a deep and abiding opposition to the Iraq War and other Bush administration policies, sprinkled $27 million around a handful of liberal groups boosting John Kerry’s unsuccessful challenge to Bush.

That spending, coupled with Soros’s inflammatory rhetoric — he compared the Bush administration’s rhetoric to that of the Nazis and described defeating the Bush as “a matter of life and death” — made him a target of sometimes vicious personal attacks from conservative politicians and media outlets casting him as a puppet-master, a self-hating Jew, a communist or worse.

Some allies say the public chastisement ate at Soros, as did the inability of his political spending spree to oust Bush, and his perhaps slightly ironic concerns that campaign finance laws allowed rich Americans like himself too much influence in politics.

And, after 2004, he dialed back his political giving, suggesting he might never again spend as heavily on politics, characterizing his involvement during the 2004 election as “an exception.”

Instead, he focused his philanthropic attention on his international foundations, which have donated more than $13 billion over the past three decades to non-profits that aim to defend human rights, shape the democratic process in Eastern Europe and expand access to healthcare and education in the U.S. and around the world.

And he played a formative role in the 2005 launch of a secretive club of major liberal donors called the Democracy Alliance. It sought to steer cash away from groups fighting short-term electoral battles and towards ones seeking to build intellectual infrastructure for long-term fights outside the Democratic Party, such as combating climate change, income inequality and the outsize role of big money in politics.

One liberal operative this week recalled asking someone close to Soros why the billionaire had reduced his spending on partisan politics.

“The answer was that he found it ‘odious’ for any one individual to throw too much political weight around through donations,” recalled the operative. “Maybe, in light of what’s happened in the last few cycles, it seems less so, or he feels like he needs to help balance the outside-money scales a bit,” the operative added.

Additionally, though Soros backed Barack Obama over Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, he quickly soured on the Democratic president, who he felt was insufficiently aggressive in pursuing liberal priorities. He expressed frustration with Obama during a private Democracy Alliance meeting in 2010, which some interpreted as a willingness to back a primary challenger in 2012. And though he backed Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, that year he told a close Clinton ally that he regretted supporting Obama over her, and praised Clinton for giving him an open door to discuss policy, according to emails released late last year by the State Department.

Soros “said he’s been impressed that he can always call/meet with you on an issue of policy and said he hasn’t met with the President ever (though I thought he had),” Clinton ally Neera Tanden wrote to the then-Secretary of State. Tanden continued that Soros “then said he regretted his decision in the primary — he likes to admit mistakes when he makes them and that was one of them. He then extolled his work with you from your time as First Lady on.”

The Soros associate dismissed the conversation characterized in Tanden’s email as “idle dinner party chatter,” suggesting it did not represent Soros’s full assessment of Obama.

But Jordan Wood, the national finance director for a PAC called End Citizens United, on Tuesday suggested Soros’s giving may have slumped in recent years partly because of Obama. “With George, his giving has spiked because of Hillary. He really likes Hillary Clinton and he didn’t like Obama as much,” said Wood, in an interview at a reception at a Center City bar for the campaign finance reform group Every Voice.

End Citizens United, which supports candidates including Clinton who pledge to push campaign finance reforms, this year received a $5,000 check from Soros, the maximum he could legally give to that group. He also has donated to Every Voice, as has his son Jonathan Soros, who attended Tuesday’s reception.

Jonathan Soros wouldn’t comment on his father’s increased political giving, but he pointed to George Soros’s recent writing about Trump, which includes one column in which Soros warned voters that it’s important to “resist the siren song of the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz” if the U.S. is to effectively fight terrorism.

 

 

What About Those Lawyers Hired by the DNC?

Perkins Coie’s Myriad Roles Raise DNC Conflict Questions

Beck/Law.com: Perkins Coie’s domination of the Democratic federal election scene has long been a point of pride for the firm and the envy of its competitors.

But now, with the uproar triggered by the release of emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee, the firm’s multiple roles for Democratic committees and candidates have raised questions about potential conflicts, and whether these conflicts contributed to the DNC’s troubles.

Since at least March 2015, Perkins Coie partner Marc Elias, chair of the firm’s political law practice, has been lead outside counsel to Hillary Clinton for America, the presidential candidate’s campaign entity. Elias’ partner, Graham Wilson, has worked with him for the Clinton campaign. (For her ill-fated 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton did not use Perkins Coie, having instead relied on Lyn Utrecht of Washington, D.C.’s Utrecht, Kleinfeld, Fiori, Partners.)

In another corner of Perkins Coie’s office in Washington, D.C., is partner Robert Bauer, a former White House counsel to President Barack Obama. Bauer now serves as lead outside counsel to the DNC.

Since March 2015, the Clinton campaign has paid the firm $905,219.93, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Perkins Coie has also earned at least $1,318,375.92 from DNC affiliates, including $657,340.20 from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $661,035.72 from the DNC Services Corp. (Expenditure filings for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are not available electronically.)

A review of DNC emailsposted online by WikiLeaks raises questions about whether Perkins Coie lawyers blurred the lines between its clients. Elias, the Clinton campaign’s lead counsel, was included in several email exchanges in which DNC staffers discussed strategy. In one email, Elias urged DNC officials to attack Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for allegedly lying when he accused the DNC of improperly using campaign money in a “Joint Victory Fund” to help Clinton.

Both Bauer, counsel to the DNC, and Wilson, counsel to the Clinton campaign, are included in other email discussions about how to defuse this issue with the press.

“I can understand why the Sanders’ campaign might be uncomfortable with this,” said Lawrence Noble, general counsel of the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, about Perkins Coie’s multiple roles. Noble, a former general counsel at the FEC, also previously worked in the political law group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. “If Perkins Coie represents the party people, and you’re not represented by Perkins Coie, you may feel you’re at a disadvantage,” Noble said.

The Sanders campaign, which has now publicly thrown its support behind Clinton at the Democratic National Convention this week in Philadelphia, declined to comment on the matter. Perkins Coie did not return requests for comment.

Two lawyers who do political work and asked not to be named said Perkins Coie’s near monopoly on federal Democratic politics has drawn criticism before this scandal erupted. One said it wasn’t a good idea for the DNC to be advised by the same firm that’s representing one of the party’s candidates. “You really do have to be careful about appearances as well as actual conflicts,” this person said.

The leaked emails have roiled the Democratic Party nomination process because they indicate that some DNC officials tried to sabotage Sanders’ presidential campaign. Sanders supporters heckled DNC chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who resigned Sunday as a result of the controversy, during an appearance Monday that showed some Democratic disunity in the City of Brotherly Love.

The DNC has professed publicly that it did not favor Clinton before she became the party’s official nominee. On Monday it issued a statement offering “a deep and sincere apology” to Sanders, his supporters and the Democratic Party “for the inexcusable remarks made over emails.” The organization added: “These comments do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process.”

The Republicans have not concentrated so much of their work in one law firm. The Republican National Committee is using more than a dozen firms, according to FEC filings, with no firm earning more than $45,000 in the month of May, the most recent month for which data is available. The RNC is relying on at least one major firm that also represents nominee Donald Trump—it paid $13,367.46 in May to Jones Day, but that was not the RNC’s largest payment to a law firm.

Katelyn Polantz and Meghan Tribe contributed to the reporting of this story.

**** As a reminder going back to 2008, Bob Bauer worked for the Obama campaign and was for a time White House counsel. His wife, Anita Dunn –> Anita Dunn: A corruptocrat flack and a Mao cheerleader  Oh and another item from history, Shore Bank.

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Attorney Robert Bauer has been mentioned as a possible pick for White House Counsel in an Obama administration. The ABA Journal recently assessed his chances:

HuffPo: As a partisan regular with a street-fighter’s zeal, Bauer has earned a reputation among some Republicans as the “focus of all evil.” But they weren’t all that crazy about him in the Hillary Clinton campaign either. In March, Bauer crashed a Clinton campaign conference call with reporters, calling into question a charge that Obama workers had violated Texas party rules during post-primary caucuses. An early Obama supporter, Bauer is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post website.

He helped represent Minority Leader Tom Daschle during the Senate impeachment trial of Bill Clinton and was general counsel to Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign. He’s considered one of the nation’s top experts on the intricacies of campaign finance and writes about it regularly on More Soft Money Hard Law, a law blog devoted to campaign finance.

Bauer has also blogged for HuffPost. Read his work here.