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Trump Campaign Press Release - Democrats' Big Headliner Tonight: A Former Registered Lobbyist for Vladimir Putin

August 17, 2020

When they say "country first," do they mean Russia?

From the Department of You Just Can't Make It Up, former lobbyist for Russia Susan Molinari is tonight's featured speaker at the Democrat convention. In the 2000s, she specifically lobbied then-Senator Joe Biden's staff on behalf of Vladimir Putin, even potentially after Russia invaded its neighbor, the country of Georgia.

"Tonight's theme at the Democrat convention is 'country over party' and they've actually chosen a headline speaker who was a registered lobbyist for Russia," said Hogan Gidley, Trump 2020 national press secretary. "I'm not sure what's worse, the sheer ignorance of this decision or the fact that Democrats are proud of it. Either way, it just highlights a half-century of Joe Biden's failures in elected office and his consistent refusal to put America first."

To fully appreciate the stunning hypocrisy (or is it ineptitude?) of Joe Biden's party, read the full article below:

Fox News: Ex-GOP rep speaking at Dem convention once lobbied Biden office while representing Russia

Former GOP Rep. Susan Molinari is expected to speak in Monday's convention lineup

A former Republican congresswoman who is expected to speak Monday night at the Democratic National Convention once led a major Washington firm that lobbied for Russia —and even reached out to then-Sen. Joe Biden's staff as part of that work.

Former GOP Rep. Susan Molinari represented Staten Island for three terms until she left Congress in 1997. Shortly after her retirement, she joined the Washington Group as president and chief executive in 2001.

Several years later, though, in 2007, the Washington Group became part of a contract with global public relations firm Ketchum in representing Russia, which was later revealed to be worth $7.5 million, according to a 2009 report from The New Republic.

The Hill reported that much of the Washington Group's lobbying at the time was in regard to Russia's energy policy, as well as its status with the World Trade Organization.

As part of that work, the Washington Group had contact with the office of the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who, at the time, was Joe Biden.

The Hill, in 2008, reported specifically that Molinari herself contacted aides to Biden, as well as the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who, at the time was Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., during the military conflict between Russia and the country of Georgia.

There is no indication, however, that Biden or his aides did anything improper with regard to that outreach or Russia.

In fact, Biden at the time traveled to Georgia and, upon return to the U.S., called for $1 billion in emergency aid for the country to "rebuild" and "preserve its democratic institutions."

Molinari, who went on to work for Google, is included in the Democratic convention lineup Monday night as one of several Republicans speaking in support of now-presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, alongside former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Republican New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, among others.

Molinari's remarks are expected to fall under the convention's "Putting Country over Party" theme.

While she was with the firm, the Washington Group faced scrutiny for its business relationship with Russia — a country that Democrats have slammed ever since 2016 for pro-Trump election meddling that is thought to be continuing to this day.

Molinari, in 2015, told Politico that the firm eventually limited their relationship with Russia to lobbying for membership in the World Trade Organization.

"Tonight's theme at the Democrat convention is 'country over party' and they've actually chosen a headline speaker who was a registered lobbyist for Russia," Trump 2020 press secretary Hogan Gidley told Fox News on Monday. "I'm not sure what's worse, the sheer ignorance of this decision or the fact that Democrats are proud of it."

Gidley added: "Either way, it just highlights a half-century of Joe Biden's failures in elected office and his consistent refusal to put America first."

Fox News could not reach Molinari for comment.

The Daily Beast reported that there also could be surprise speakers at the convention.

Molinari gave the keynote speech at the GOP's 1996 convention.

Donald J. Trump, Trump Campaign Press Release - Democrats' Big Headliner Tonight: A Former Registered Lobbyist for Vladimir Putin Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/345633

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