NEW: Former RUDY GIULIANI associates PAVEL FUKS & ANDRII TELIZHENKO are sued by an estranged associate of Fuks who alleges Fuks (a developer who once discussed a Moscow project with TRUMP) is "an agent of Russian intelligence services, & a money launderer" documentcloud.org/documents/2080…
The suit was brought by YURI VANETIK, a prominent GOP fundraiser & sometime lobbyist.
In 2019, PAVEL FUKS had sued Vanetik for bilking him out of $200k he paid for VIP tickets to TRUMP's inauguration.
The suit alleges PAVEL FUKS sought contacts with
TRUMP by retaining well-connected lawyers & consultants, including RUDY GIULIANI.
Fuks paid Giuliani Security & Safety, which is now under scrutiny in the probe of Giuliani for possible FARA violations. thedailybeast.com/federal-invest…
Rudy Giuliani says he wasn't require to register under FARA, because didn't lobby for Pavel Fuks, or anyone else.
But Fuks has disputed that, telling me in 2019: “I would call him the lobbyist for Kharkiv & Ukraine — this is stated in the contract.” nytimes.com/2019/06/30/us/…
Yuri Vanetik alleges in a RICO suit that Pavel Fuks & Andrii Telizhenko (who worked as a consultant for Fuks) tried "to smear & extort" Vanetik "& destroy his business & reputation & arrange for his assassination as part of Fuks’ criminal enterprise." documentcloud.org/documents/2080…
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NEW: Federal investigators executed a search warrant on Wednesday at RUDY GIULIANI’s NYC apartment, seizing his electronic devices.
It’s a sign that the criminal investigation is ramping up into his dealings in Ukraine, including whether he violated FARA. nytimes.com/2021/04/28/nyr…
UPDATE: @FBI also executed a search warrant at the home of @VicToensing, a lawyer who worked with GIULIANI on the BIDEN dirt-digging campaign.
She had dealt with, & discussed representing, YURIY LUTSENKO, the Ukrainian prosecutor who provided info to Rudy nytimes.com/2021/04/28/nyr…
A spokesman for @VicToensing tells me she's been informed "she is a not a target of the investigation.”
*When I initially revealed TOENSING's involvement in the Ukrainian dirt-digging, GIULIANI described her as LUTSENKO's lawyer, but he later backtracked. nytimes.com/2019/05/09/us/…
Government watchdogs should call out transparency & influence concerns regardless of partisan affiliation.
@POGOwatchdog has exemplified this, flagging links between BIDEN's inner circle & shadowy consultancies like WESTEXEC as emblematic of the DC swamp. pogo.org/topics/legaliz…
.@POGOwatchdog has asserted WestExec "circumvents" lobbying disclosure laws, "sells influence & connections” & called it “disappointing” that Biden tapped so many WestExec alumni “because I thought the message was clear … that the swamp is unacceptable & it’s time for a change.”
So it’s puzzling to see @POGOwatchdog’s Senior Ethics Fellow @waltshaub accusing me of being a partisan for using the words “Dem Swamp” to describe WestExec’s merger with another opaque corporate consultancy (@Teneo) that grew out of its ties to Clinton.
.@BernieSanders to @neeratanden: “Your attacks were not just made against Republicans. There were vicious attacks made against progressives, people who I have worked with — me personally… Can you reflect a little bit about some of your decisions…?”
For reference: in 2008, @NeeraTanden, then a top @HillaryClinton aide, punched @fshakir in the chest after he asked Clinton about her Iraq war vote.
Neera’s reaponse: “I didn’t slug him, I pushed him.”
NEW: ALAN DERSHOWITZ helped craft & push proposals for GEORGE NADER to be released from a 10-year sentence (for child pornography/sex trafficking) & returned to the U.A.E. (on an Emirate jet) so he could play a role in backchannel Middle East peace talks. nytimes.com/2021/02/08/us/…
GEORGE NADER's allies believed @AlanDersh was pushing for clemency from TRUMP.
DERSHOWITZ says that was a small part of his work for Nader, who didn't get out.
But the episode shows how DERSHOWITZ was sought after by people seeking relief from TRUMP. nytimes.com/2021/02/08/us/…
ALAN DERSHOWITZ used his access to lobby TRUMP for clemency for clients, & played a role in at least 12 clemency grants, including JONATHAN BRAUN.
SHELDON ADELSON was portrayed as a master political manipulator.
But his giving was often feckless & driven by relationships.
When I asked why he was funding a @newtgingrich '12 super PAC, he said “I’m just a loyal guy," then compared NEWT's ill-fated campaign to a steak dinner
That interview (which was in my book) came after @maggieNYT & I wrote for @politico that ADELSON had committed to donating $20M to a super PAC supporting GINGRICH's 2012 campaign.
NEW: Allies of @WikiLeaks founder JULIAN ASSANGE have ramped up a push for a last-minute pardon from TRUMP, filing a clemency petition with the WH & enlisting a lobbyist with connections to the administration, ROBERT STRYK. nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/…
The Australia-based press freedom group @BPFreeSpeech retained ROBERT STRYK to seek a pardon for JULIAN ASSANGE.
Stryk says he is working for free "in solidarity with Julian Assange" & will continue seeking a pardon under BIDEN, if TRUMP doesn't grant it. nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/…
NEW DOCUMENT: The pardon petition filed by JULIAN ASSANGE’s lawyer.
It seems tailored for TRUMP, highlighting revelations in the @DNC hack & noting Assange's prosecution stems from publishing material related to "wars initiated by a prior administration." int.nyt.com/data/documentt…