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OPENSECRETS NEWS

Ukrainian election shakes up foreign influence operations targeting the US
By Anna Massoglia and Reid Champlin
August 13, 2019

"...As she ran for president of Ukraine in 2019, Tymoshenko’s foreign influence and lobbying presence in the U.S. gained momentum. 

But just months after Tymoshenko lost in the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election and Zelensky was voted into office, all the firms with disclosed influence operations and lobbying work for shell companies or individuals tied to Tymoshenko officially terminated their contracts. 

“The work has completed,” former Congressman Jim Slattery (D-Kan.), a partner at Wiley Rein LLP who has represented Tymoshenko’s interests for a number of years, told OpenSecrets...

FARA records revealed that foreign agents on the payroll of the Livingston Group accompanied Tymoshenko during her December 2018 trip to U.S. Capitol. One prominent revolving door foreign agent working for Livingston Group, former Rep. Bob McEwen (R-Ohio), introduced her to former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani recently faced media scrutiny for suspected foreign “shadow lobbying” operations and joined President Trump’s personal legal team in the heat of Mueller’s investigation. OpenSecrets confirmed that Livingston himself joined Tymoshenko at meetings with multiple members of Congress, including House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)...

Now, months later, both firms have severed their ties with the Tymoshenko-linked shell companies and individuals. 

A new Ukrainian foreign influence operation has already begun targeting Washington, D.C. But this time, instead of Tymoshenko, the efforts appear to support Zelensky.

After surviving the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election, Zelensky’s own foreign influence operation kicked off.

The firm behind that influence operation was Signal Group Consulting, a fully-owned subsidiary of Washington law firm Wiley Rein, revealed in FARA disclosures. Although both firms have represented a handful of other foreign interests over the years, all of the activities reported in FARA records filed directly by Wiley Rein were later revealed to benefit Tymoshenko.

Signal Group was hired on behalf of Zelensky through a contract with a low-profile U.S. lawyer named Marcus Cohen, according to FARA registration records obtained by OpenSecrets. Like Tymoshenko, Zelensky vehemently denied any involvement in the lobbying and influence operations purporting to support him.

Cohen’s address listed in the FARA filing matches that of a shopping mall in Kiev and has also been listed in contact information for the Zelensky campaign on its official website.

A delegation of Zelensky campaign officials and supporters visited Washington, D.C., in April, according to recent FARA records obtained by OpenSecrets and first reported on by Voice of America. Signal Group disclosed meetings with the White House, National Security Council and U.S. State Department as well as think tanks such as the libertarian Cato Institute and conservative Heritage Foundation.

Signal Group was paid nearly $70,000 through mid-2019 for services and reimbursements related to its operations for Zelensky commencing in April, according to the FARA records.

“I paid for it,” Cohen said in an interview with RFE/RL claiming that Zelensky had no role in the operation. 

Cohen told RFE/RL that he bankrolled the operation “out of good will” after a brief meeting with Zelensky in Kyiv during his presidential campaign but declined to elaborate on how he came about the large sum of money..."

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/08/ukraine-election-shakes-up-foreign-influence/