By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--October 31, 2017
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Democratic power lobbyist Tony Podesta, founder of the Podesta Group, is stepping down from the firm that bears his name after coming under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Podesta’s decision to leave the firm came on the same day that former Donald Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were indicted on multiple charges, including money laundering, operating as federal agents of the Ukrainian government, failing to disclose overseas bank accounts and making false statements to federal authorities. Trump campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier this month for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials, according to court records.
The investigation into Podesta and his firm grew out of investigators’ examination of Manafort’s finances. Manafort organized a PR campaign on behalf of a nonprofit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine. Podesta Group was one of several firms that were paid to do work on the PR campaign to promote Ukraine in the U.S.Podesta is the brother of Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, who was infamously savaged by the content of his leaked emails. However, the departure of Tony Podesta isn't the end of the road for the "Podesta Group." There's still money on the table and, as mentioned above, people in D.C. love money. So, they're going to change their name and hope everyone forgets about their former figurehead.
Don't worry, "lobbying group formerly known as the Podesta Group." We'll make sure everyone knows your new name once you choose it. Maybe you should just go with "Company B." After all, if NBC is correct, that's already been selected for you by the feds.NEW: @PodestaGroup partners, in effort to staunch client exodus, plan to relaunch firm without "Podesta" in the name https://t.co/OhBGoeL3fR
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) October 31, 2017
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