According to freshly filed documents, a potential Trump White House appointee, Monica Crowley who withdrew in the face of plagiarism accusations is now lobbying on behalf of a Ukrainian tycoon who recently called for further concessions to the Russian government.
Victor Pinchuk, a millionaire, will be represented by Monica Crowley in negotiations with U.S. government representatives “and other policymakers” about “problems of importance to Mr Pinchuk,” according to the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Before reports from CNN and Politico revealed that Crowley, a Fox News contributor, had plagiarised significant amounts of both her Columbia University PhD dissertation and her 2012 book What the (Bleep) Just Happened, she was in line for a senior position at the White House National Security Council.
In her first statements to the public regarding the incident last week, Crowley refuted the accusations of plagiarism. During an interview on the Fox News programme Hannity, she declared,
[quotation]”What happened to me was a despicable straight-up political hit job.”[/quotation]
[quotation]“It’s been debunked, my editor has completely supported me and backed me up.”[/quotation]
However, shortly after the claims were made public, she withdrew from contention for the position. According to a Friday filing with the DOJ’s foreign agent registration office, Crowley will now be “performing outreach services on behalf of Mr Victor Pinchuk.”
Former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, who would have been Crowley’s boss at the NSC, recently registered as a foreign agent as well, months after beginning work for a Turkish firm connected to that nation’s government.
Flynn resigned from his position as head of the NSC last month when it was discovered that he had neglected to disclose contacts with Russia’s ambassador during the 2016 presidential campaign about American sanctions against that nation over its annexation of Crimea, a portion of Ukraine.
Europeans who oppose Russian aggression in Ukraine are concerned that Pinchuk is softening in light of Crowley’s new position. He urged Ukrainian officials to give Moscow even more in a Wall Street Journal column from December.
According to him, [/quotation]”Ukraine may have a chance to help find a solution to Russia’s intervention with the next administration in Washington.”[quotation] .
He suggested that Ukraine give up its intentions to accredit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.
The president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, reportedly said he would not attend Pinchuk’s annual Yalta European Strategy meeting this year as a result of the WSJ essay, which was instantly criticised by Ukrainian politicians.
Trump has been quite critical of NATO, even implying that if Eastern European member nations do not increase their domestic defence spending, the United States might not uphold its mutual defence obligations in the case of Russian aggression against such states.
Now, Monica Crowley will seek to foster communication between Pinchuk and representatives of the US government. When questioned about her new position, she remained silent.
Crowley’s efforts as a foreign agent lobbyist will support that of Democratic pollster and fellow Fox contributor Doug Schoen, who has been Pinchuk’s representative since 2011. Her Foreign Agent Registration Act declaration indicates that she would receive compensation for her part-time work.
According to Schoen, he only approached Monica Crowley after her NSC position fell through, as he admitted to the Washington Examiner.
He claimed in a statement that until she made the decision to leave her job in the administration, “no discussions about any potential work she might do for my firm” existed.
For work that includes facilitating conversations between [Pinchuk] and American policymakers regarding Democratization in Ukraine and European integration, Schoen gets paid $40,000 per month, according to his registration form.
Since last year, Schoen has scheduled meetings with representatives from the NSC, the State Department, numerous House and Senate members, journalists, and media figures, including Monica Crowley herself, as evidenced by a recent disclosure form.
In Ukraine’s steel and pipeline businesses, Pinchuk amassed a wealth estimated to be worth $1.5 billion. Currently, his EastOne Group has investments in the banking, media, and industrial sectors.
The relationship between Pinchuk and the unsuccessful 2016 Democratic presidential nominee came under scrutiny after emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act revealed that Pinhuck had attended a dinner at her home, despite the campaign’s public insistence to the contrary. Pinchuk was a high-dollar donor to the Clinton Foundation.
Pinchuk’s financial assistance to the Clinton Foundation was described by Trump as “crooked.” But Pinchuk also had financial ties to Trump, which sparked questions among charity observers worried that Trump was using his tax-exempt foundation as a source of funding.
Carter Page, the campaign’s foreign policy advisor who is acquainted with Russia, provided additional Pinchuk contacts. In 2004, just before opening Merrill Lynch’s Moscow branch, Page reportedly told his fellow Merrill Lynch employees that he was friendly with Pinchuk.
In exchange for a video appearance by Trump at the Pinchuk Foundation’s yearly Yalta European Strategy meeting, the Trump Foundation received a $150,000 payment from the Pinchuk Foundation in 2015. When the payment was made, a former employee of the IRS’ Exempt Organizations division told The Daily Beast that it prompted concerns about whether Trump was avoiding taxes by channelling revenue through his foundation.
