Emails between Manafort’s deputy, Rick Gates, also a top Trump adviser, and the lobbying firm Mercury LLC showed that Manafort’s firm, DMP International LLC, directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s then-ruling political party.
The effort included not just legislative outreach but also attempts to sway American public opinion and gather political intelligence on competing lobbying efforts in the U.S.
[…] current and former employees at Mercury and a second lobbying firm, the Podesta Group, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they are subject to non-disclosure agreements, told the AP that Manafort oversaw the lobbying …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle