More details on Podesta Group's final days

By THEODORIC MEYER and MARIANNE LEVINE 05/14/2018 02:32 PM EDT

With David Beavers and Garrett Ross

MORE DETAILS OF THE PODESTA GROUP’S LAST DAYS: A new disclosure filed with the Justice Department sheds a little more light on what happened at the Podesta Group last fall as the firm came apart. The disclosure, which details the firm’s foreign lobbying work in the last six months of 2017, was filed last week, more than three months after it was due. (Foreign agents are required to file reports on their activities every six months under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.) A spokeswoman for Tony Podesta declined to say why the disclosure was filed late.

The disclosure shows that lobbying for the Podesta Group’s foreign clients ground to a halt around the time Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were indicted in October. (Tony Podesta announced he was stepping down hours after the release of the indictment, which accused Manafort and Gates of breaking U.S. law regarding lobbying for foreign clients as part of a campaign for which they hired the Podesta Group.) Podesta Group lobbyists held dozens of meetings and phone calls on behalf of the Azerbaijani government during the second half of last year, for instance, but activity abruptly ceased after a phone call with a staffer for Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) on Nov. 6, according to the filing. Lobbying for Saudi Arabia’s Center for Studies and Media Affairs ceased on Oct. 23, as did work for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council on Oct. 11. Lobbying for the Indian government stopped on Sept. 29, and lobbying for the Japanese government stopped on Oct. 24. Lobbying for the Democratic Party of Moldova ceased on Sept. 12.

— Just because the lobbying stopped doesn’t mean the Podesta Group stopped getting paid, though. The Japanese government made a final payment of $48,000 to the firm on Dec. 15, a month after most Podesta lobbyists had been told to expect their last paycheck. Azerbaijan’s government paid nearly $78,000 a couple of days earlier. Other foreign clients, including the Democratic Party of Moldova, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Indian government and the Saudi Center for Studies and Media Affairs, made their final payments in November. Despite its troubles, the firm brought in nearly $4.5 million in foreign lobbying revenue in the second half of the year.

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://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2018/05/14/more-details-on-podesta-groups-final-days-269662