CARLHAYDEN
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« on: January 26, 2008, 11:07:24 AM » |
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Funny how Hillary can meet with some unsavory types and it becomes a big deal while when McCain does so, the story gets buried.
McCain aide arranged meeting with Russian
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and John Solomon
Washington Post
Jan. 26, 2008 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - 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.
With a net worth of more than $13 billion, Deripaska is one of the richest men in Russia and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.
Davis was part of Davis Manafort, a lobbying firm that was being paid to provide political advice to pro-Russian and oligarch-funded candidates in Ukraine, according to interviews and news accounts.
The socializing with Deripaska provides a case study in the challenges faced by McCain, a longtime foe of Washington lobbyists who has a well-known lobbyist as his top political aide. Davis, who has been a political adviser to McCain on and off since 1999, is part of a lobbying firm that worked not only for Ukrainian politicians but also for telecommunications firms, a lottery services provider and freight companies.
Davis declined to comment, saying by e-mail that his activities regarding Deripaska "all relate to my private business and have nothing to do with Senator John McCain.
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