This promises to be a short diary, since it's based on a story that I just read for the first time on Huffington Post. We know all about the lobbyist connections to John McCain's campaign. I use the word "connection" somewhat sarcastically; the campaign is crawling with, and being run by, some of the most influential lobbyists in Washington.
McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, has been the target of our ire for some time. Whether it's his connections to Oleg Deripaska or his status as an "unregistered lobbyist," Davis has been causing headaches for the candidate who asks us to believe that he's all about good government and all that crap.
Throw another log on the fire? Sure, why not....
Let's revisit that Deripaska story for a minute. It's a bit of controversy that broke nationally in January:
A top political adviser in Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign helped arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his visa.
Rick Davis, who is now McCain's campaign manager, helped set up the encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in Switzerland during an international economic conference. At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire.
There is no evidence that McCain did anything for Deripaska after they met at a social gathering over drinks and dinner. Deripaska was grateful for the introduction, writing a thank-you note to Davis and his partner and offering to assist them in a subsequent business deal, according to a copy of the note obtained by The Washington Post.
This probably wouldn't have been a story were it not for McCain's heavy rhetoric and podium-pounding about Barack Obama being willing to meet with foreign leaders. Oh, and this guy was full of controversy and an ally of Putin... and McCain has called for Russia's removal from G8. No other reason.
Today, the New York Times drops a Daisy Cutter on this very issue, claiming that Rick Davis' lobbying company, Davis Manafort, represented Viktor Yanukovich, a Ukranian politician and also an ally of Putin. Observe (emphasis mine):
For instance, a lobbying firm owned by Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, has worked in recent years for a Ukraine politician, Viktor Yanukovich. Both Mr. McCain and the Bush administration supported the opponent of Mr. Yanukovich, who had close ties to Vladimir V. Putin, then the president of Russia and now prime minister.
During this time, however, Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, never registered as a lobbyist for Mr. Yanukovich even though Paul Manafort, Mr. Davis’s business partner, had met with the United States ambassador in Kiev on Mr. Yanukovich’s behalf.
In a related development, Mr. McCain may have first become aware of Davis Manafort’s activities in Ukraine as far back as 2005. At that time, a staff member at the National Security Council called Mr. McCain’s Senate office to complain that Mr. Davis’s lobbying firm was undercutting American foreign policy in Ukraine, said a person with direct knowledge of the phone call who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A campaign spokesman, when asked whether such a call had occurred, referred a reporter to Mr. McCain’s office. The spokesman there, Robert Fischer, did not respond to repeated inquiries.
Such a call might mean that Mr. McCain has been long aware of Mr. Davis’s foreign clients. Mr. Davis took a leave from his firm at the end of 2006.
The current law dealing with this kind of issue requires disclosure if lobbyists meet with foreign officials on American soil. But since these meetings took place overseas, Davis Manafort never bothered to register or inform anybody. This was taking place in DIRECT CONTRADICTION to American foreign interests!!
Davis Manafort was aiding and abetting an ally of Putin over the objections of the NSC at the same time that John McCain was railing against Putin. And Rick Davis remains campaign manager. What's going on here?