[big campaign] Re: McCain's 70th Bday bash with Russian tycoon...

From:ddonnelly@campaignmoney.org To: mwhelan@nsnetwork.org, bigcampaign@googlegroups.com Date: 2008-06-13 18:23 Subject: [big campaign] Re: McCain's 70th Bday bash with Russian tycoon...

Check out the EADS/Airbus connection. Seven lobbyists for EADS/Airbus are helping McCain. McCain¹s raised more money from EADS/Airbus than any other politician. McCain intervened on Airbus¹s behalf in a contract worth up to $100 billion. Here¹s the ad we ran this week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8OXXZCn9QI DD On 6/13/08 4:15 PM, "Moira Whelan" <mwhelan@nsnetwork.org> wrote: > #35 > Online Journal > http://onlinejournal.com > June 12, 2008 > John McCain's 70th birthday bash held on boat of Russian tycoon By Wayne > Madsen Online Journal Contributing Writer > > (WMR) -- John McCain's campaign is trying to make political hay out of the > conviction of Chicago tycoon Tony Rezko, a one-time fundraiser for presumptive > Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. However, the McCain campaign > wants to bury the story of McCain's 70th birthday bash held on board the yacht > of a Russian aluminum tycoon in the Adriatic Sea. The party was held on August > 29, 2006, McCain's birthday and followed a congressional junket by McCain and > five other GOP senators to the Republic of Georgia. > > The host for McCain's yacht party off the coast of the Republic of Montenegro > was, according to WMR sources with close links to the Republican Party, Oleg > Deripaska, one of Russia's most powerful tycoons who made his billions in > cornering Russia's aluminum market in the 1990s. > > The 40-year old Deripaska is also > politically-connected, having married the daughter of Russia's late President > Boris Yeltsin. Unlike most other Russian tycoons, who now live in exile abroad > and are protected by Israeli passports, Deripaska maintains close relations to > Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and another Russian tycoon, Roman > Abramovich, who was also invested in Russia's aluminum industry. In 2000, > Deripaska merged his firm, Basic Element, with Abramovich's firm, RusAl. Both > tycoons maintain expensive homes in London. > > Deripaska has attracted the attention of U.S. law enforcement and he has been > the subject of several civil law suits filed against him because of his > business practices. However, no federal criminal charges have been brought > against Deripaska. That is because Yeltsin's son-in-law counts, in addition to > McCain, former GOP Senator and 1996 GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole among > his most ardent supporters. In 2005, Deripaska paid Dole $500,000 in lobbying > fees and was granted a visa to enter the United States. > However, in 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. government > refused to grant Deripaska another visa because the FBI discovered he made > "inaccurate statements" to the bureau. > > In the past, the Canadian firm Magna > International, in which Deripaska is a $1.5 billion investor, attempted to buy > Daimler Chrysler. The deal ultimately fell through. > > McCain and Deripaska first met at a dinner party held concurrently with the > Davos World Economic Forum in January 2006 in Switzerland. The party was > hosted by Canadian gold mining billionaire Peter Munk, owner of Barrick Gold, > which has counted former President George H. W. Bush, former Canadian Prime > Minister Brian Mulroney, former Senator Howard Baker, major Democratic Party > lawyer/lobbyist Vernon Jordan, and former German Central Bank President Karl > Otto Pohl among the members of its International Advisory Board. The party was > arranged by McCain's 2000 campaign manager Rick Davis of the Washington > lobbying group Davis Manafort. Attending the meeting in Davos were McCain, > Davis, Deripaska, and Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and John Sununu (R-NH), > as well as the host, Munk. > > On August 29, 2006, McCain attended a dinner party in Montenegro that was > followed by a champagne reception on a yacht that was hosted by Deripaska. > Also reportedly in attendance was Davis, whose lobbying firm was representing > the government of Montenegro; Munk; and Nathan Rothschild who, on March 20 of > this year held a controversial fundraiser for McCain at Spencer House in > London. The fundraiser raised questions about McCain receiving illegal "in > kind" contributions from a foreign national. > > The 70th birthday bash was reportedly a promise of huge cash donations to > McCain's forthcoming presidential campaign, another indication of violations > of law prohibiting donations from foreign sources. The quid pro quo for > Derpaska was that McCain and his top lobbyists were pushing the European > Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) and its Airbus subsidiary to > receive the lucrative US Air Force contract to replace the Air Force's fleet > of refueling tankers. The reported source for the aluminum in the Airbus > tanker aircraft is Deripaska's Russian Aluminum Company (RusAl). > > Some two weeks after the McCain birthday bash in Montenegro, the Russian > state-owned Vneshtorgbank announced that it was acquiring more than 5 percent > of EADS. At the same time, it was announced that RusAl was in negotiations to > merge with a Russian aluminum competitor, SUAL, and Glencore of Switzerland, > the firm owned by billionaire American fugitive Marc Rich. > > The nexus of McCain with Russian oligarchs like Deripaska, as well as Munk, > Rothschild, and Rich signifies that McCain is owned and operated by the very > same entrenched global interests who have held sway in Washington during the > seven-plus years of the George W. Bush administration. > > Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report. > Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based > investigative journalist and > nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne > Madsen Report. > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group. 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