Katsyv
also formed a group called the Human
Rights Accountability Global Initiative
Foundation, which first registered to
lobby last April.
The group
is run by lobbyists Rinat Akhmetshin and
Robert Arakelian and spent nearly
$200,000 on lobbying last year. It says
in its disclosure forms that it focuses
on 'foreign adoption issues,' a term
that has become shorthand for opponents
of the Magnitsky Act.
The Magnitsky Act is a suite of
financial sanctions targeting Russian
officials and businesses that was passed
by congress in 2012. The law is named
after dissident lawyer Sergei Magnitsky,
who died after injuries he sustained in
Russian prison in 2009.
In response to the sanctions, the
Russian government banned Americans from
adopting children in the country.
Critics of
the Magnitsky Act imply that Russia
would end the adoption ban in exchange
for concessions on the Magnitsky law.
They have
also raised questions about Sergei
Magnitsky's death, suggesting he was not
abused in prison and that he was
financially corrupt despite claiming to
be a government whistleblower.
At the
height of the lobbying campaign last
June, Veselnitskaya managed to obtain a
meeting with Trump's son and other
members of his inner circle, and also
secured a front-row seat at a Senate
hearing right behind Michael McFaul,
then the U.S. ambassador to Russia.
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Meanwhile,
Fusion GPS pitched the New York Times,
NBC and other outlets on stories that
were critical of Magnitsky and his
former client, businessman Bill Browder.
However, none of the stories gained
traction.
Other
lobbyists working for Katsyv sought
sit-downs with prominent congressmen on
foreign affairs, including Rep. Gregory
Meeks, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. French
Hill.
They also
set up a screening on Capitol Hill last
summer for a film that questioned
Magnitsky's reputation as a
whistleblower called The Magnitsky Act
Behind the Scenes.
The
screening drew State Department
officials and Capitol Hill staffers,
including aides from Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher's office
.
While he was awaiting trial,
Veselnitskaya and Katsyv's legal
team enlisted numerous lobbyists and
operatives – including Fusion GPS,
the research firm that went on to
compile the explosive 'dossier' that
claimed the Trump campaign was
colluding with the Kremlin.
Veselnitskaya is seen above in this
November 2016 photo
Largely unsuccessful. Most
significant outcome was the fallout
faced by Trump over his son's
meeting with Veselnitskaya.
The
meeting was arranged by Goldstone,
the portly British music manager
whose links to Veselnitskaya remain
unclear.
Goldstone told Don Jr. that
Veselnitskaya wanted to give the
campaign damaging information about
Hillary Clinton on behalf of the
Russian government. However, Don Jr.
said Veselnitskaya never produced
the Clinton material and instead
spent the time discussing Russia
policy issues.
Whether the lobbying campaign
was directly coordinated with
the Kremlin is up for debate.
Katsyv had personal financial
interests. But his motivations
were also in line with the
Kremlin, which has also fought
to unravel the Magnitsky Act.
The outcome however was clearly
good news for Katsyv.
U.S. prosecutors claimed that
companies owned by Katsyv
through his Prevezon Holdings,
and other prominent Russians,
evaded taxes on hundreds of
millions of dollars by
laundering it through foreign
banks.
Katsyv reportedly sought a deal
with the federal government in
2015 by offering to act as an
informant on Russian criminal
activity, but no settlement was
reached at the time.
At that point the case was
under the supervision of
Preet Bhrarara, the U.S.
Attorney in Manhattan who
was fired by Donald Trump in
March.
Despite pursuing the case
for years, the U.S.
government unexpectedly
agreed to a settlement
before going to civil trial,
which was announced in May.
Under the agreement, the
companies will have to pay
around $6million in
penalties.
The link to Fusion GPS also
raises new questions. The
firm, founded by ex-Wall
Street Journal reporters,
was behind the now notorious
dirty dossier.
The dossier written by
former British spy
Christopher Steele included
claims that Trump was being
blackmailed by the Russian
government over his
escapades with Russian
prostitutes in Moscow.
The document quoted
anonymous Russian
sources who said the
government had videotape
of Trump paying escorts
to urinate on a hotel
room bed that President
Obama once slept in.
That salacious claim,
and others in the
dossier that linked
Trump insiders to
Russian officials, has
not been corroborated.
The dossier was released
after the presidential
election, and prompted
calls from Democrats to
investigate possible
collusion between the
Trump campaign and
Russia.
That salacious
claim, and others in
the dossier that
linked Trump
insiders to Russian
officials, has not
been corroborated.
The dossier was
released after the
presidential
election, and
prompted calls from
Democrats to
investigate possible
collusion between
the Trump campaign
and Russia.
This article was
first published by
The Daily Maily
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