NBCNews: 'Podesta Group' is the 'Company B' listed in Manafort and Gates indictments

> Shortly after we learned that Tony Podesta would be abandoning his post as top lobbyist at "the Podesta Group," we learned that the group would be changing its name. While no new moniker has been announced, NBC News seems to have a suggestion. If their sources are correct, the former "Podesta Group" should probably just be re-labeled "Company B" - since that's how they're listed in the Manafort indictments.

The lobbying firms the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs are the unnamed companies in the grand jury indictment of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, according to three sources with knowledge of the investigation.

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The indictment, unsealed Monday, refers to "Company A" and "Company B" as the firms Manafort and Gates solicited in 2012 to lobby on behalf of the Ukranian government. Company A is Mercury Public Affairs and Company B is the Podesta Group, the sources said.

So, what did "Company B" do, exactly?

The Podesta Group previously withheld from disclosing its work under the Foreign Agents Registrant Act (FARA), claiming they believed the group was not affiliated with the Ukrainian government. According to the indictment, the lobbying firms were paid $2 million from offshore accounts controlled by Manafort. Their work included lobbying "multiple members of Congress and their staffs about Ukraine sanctions, the validity of Ukraine elections" that the reasons for imprisoning Yulia Tymoshenko, the political rival of Russian-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The indictment also revealed that Gates told Company A, now known to be Mercury, in February 2012 that it would be "representing the Government of Ukraine in [Washington] D.C."

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There's a clunky grammatical issue in that quote

There's a clunky grammatical issue in that quote, but basically NBC News is saying that the brother of Hillary's campaign chair (working with Paul Manafort) was lobbying D.C. elites in the interest of a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. If we had an honest mainstream media, that would probably be big news - particularly in light of the extant Uranium One scandal. It also confirms a lot of what appeared last week in the following Tucker Carlson segment. Spokespeople for Companies A & B have refused to comment, which is hardly surprising.

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