title: comment on are the obamas the clintons and the bushes going to seek refuge in countries that dont extradite to the us if trump wins by marlene
text: posted on october   by claire bernish 
  tony podesta  brother of the nowdisgraced hillary clinton campaign chair john podesta  whose files wikileaks has been publishing  is not only a powerful democratic party lobbyist but a registered foreign agent receiving a hefty monthly paycheck from the nefarious government of saudi arabia 
  no  as tinfoilhat conspiracy theorist as it might sound  that scenario is the absolute truth 
  in  john and tony podesta formed the podesta group and have used their bigwig partyinsider status to lobby and influence government policies  while at various times simultaneously holding positions of power  which has created a number of glaring conflicts of interest 
  according to the march  filing made in accordance with the foreign agents registration act of  tony podesta is an active foreign agent of the saudi government with the  center for studies and media affairs at the saudi royal court  and acts as an officer of the saudi arabia account 
  at this point the web of payforplay between the washington political heavyweights and foreign governments comes lurching into the spotlight 
  for starters the podesta brothers lobbying firm receives  every month from the saudi government which in no uncertain terms  and despite a status as privileged us ally  wages a bloody campaign of censorship murder suppression human rights abuse and worse against its civilian population while bombing hospitals schools and aid convoys in neighboring nations 
  john podesta previously served as president bill clintons chief of staff founded the think tank center for american progress which ohsocoincidentally touts the need to reframe saudi arabias hopelessly tarnished image counseled president obama and now chairs hillary clintons campaign 
  tony podesta acts as a foreign agent for the kingdom of saudi arabia  lobbying to influence government policy in favor of the kingdom  while also contributing to and bundling for hillary clintons campaign 
  think about that for a moment 
  one brother uses the influence of money to both affect united states foreign policy and infuse the clinton campaign with cash  while the other wields the influence of power as a political insider for the same entities 
  as the washington post reported months ago in july tony podestas lobbying efforts raised  for the campaign and  for the victory fund 
  the saudis hired the podesta group in  because it was getting hammered in the press over civilian casualties from its airstrikes in yemen and its crackdown on political dissidents at home including sentencing blogger raif badawi to ten years in prison and  lashes for insulting islam alternet reported  since then tony podestas fingerprints have been all over saudi arabias advocacy efforts in washington dc when saudi arabia executed the prominent nonviolent shia dissident sheikh nimr alnimr causing protests throughout the shia world and inflaming sectarian divisions the new york times noted that the podesta group provided the newspaper with a saudi commentator who defended the execution 
  notably the saudis reputation has only worsened as further atrocities pile up  concerning not only a record number of barbaric beheadings this year but suspiciously reckless and errant usbacked coalition bombings of civilian sites in several regions of active conflict 
  additionally tony podestas status as a registered foreign agent for saudi arabia is at least obliquely discussed in an email from april    ironically revealed by wikileaks publishing of his brothers personal communiques  in which former clinton foundation chief development officer and now campaign national finance director dennis cheng wrote to a small group of insiders 
  hi all  we do need to make a decision on this asap as our friends who happen to be registered with fara foreign agents registration act are already donating and raising 
  i do want to push back a bit its my job i feel like we are leaving a good amount of money on the table both for primary and general and then dnc and state parties and how do we explain to people that well take money from a corporate lobbyist but not them that the foundation takes  from foreign govts but we now wont either way we need to make a decision soon 
  to which general counsel to the clinton campaign attorney marc elias replied all errors original and emphasis added 
  responding to all on this i was not on the call this morning but i lean away from a bright line rule here it seems odd to say that someone who represents alberta canada cant give but a lobbyist for phillip morris can just as we vet lobbyists case by case i would do the same with fara while this may lead to a large number of fara registrants being denied it would not be a flat our ban a total ban feels arbitrary and will engender the same eyerolling and ill will that it did for obama 
  as the exchange continues how to precisely handle the campaigns image with potentially controversial donors  while at all costs maintaining the flow of cash  becomes even more apparent as strategist and campaign manager robby mook responds 
  where do we draw the line though 
  elias suggests a particularly intricate solution 
  if we do it case by case then it will be subjective we would look at who the donor is and what foreign entity they are registered for in judging whether to take the money we would consider the relationship between that country and the united states its relationship to the state department during hillarys time as secretary and its relationship if any to the foundation in judging the individual we would look at their history of support for political candidates generally and hillarys past campaigns specifically 
  put simply we would use the same criteria we use for lobbyists except with a somewhat more stringent screen 
  as a legal matter i am not saying we have to do this  we can decide to simply ban foreign registrants entirely im just offering this up as a middle ground 
  mook eventually decides plainly 
  marc made a convincing case to me this am that these sorts of restrictions dont really get you anythingthat obama actually got judged more harshly as a result he convinced me soin a complete uturn im ok just taking the money and dealing with any attacks are you guys ok with that 
  all of this political wrangling appears to have had the desired effect  despite increasing calls for the united states to either rein in or sever completely its support for the bloody saudi regime  the us approved a stunning  billion sale of smart bombs to the kingdom in november  
  tony podestas specific contract with the governmentrun center for studies and media affairs at the saudi royal court which will earn  million by years end does indeed suggest the infusion of a prosaudi message into the us media propaganda machine 
  saudi arabia is consistently one of the bigger players when it comes to foreign influence in washington sunlight foundation spokesman josh stewart told the washington post  that spans both what youd call the inside game which is lobbying and government relations and the outside game which is pr and other things that tend to reach a broader audience than just lobbying 
  that broader audience  the american public  has indeed been manipulated courtesy of at least the thoroughlycorrupt clinton campaign if not surreptitiously by the saudis as well 
  as the free thought project has repeatedly reported  the evidence of collusion among the democratic national committee hillary clintons campaign and the mainstream presstitutes is indisputable  including no less than  socalled journalists listed by name in various leaks as darlings of the campaign 
  although this level of corruption and collusion would be considered intolerable in nearly any other nation on the planet and yet at the center of this shit storm of contention is an official nominee for the white house  who will not be held responsible for any number of questionable and criminal acts 
  the system isnt rigged  its performing exactly as intended  and always will as long as the vote validates its existence dont forget to follow the dc clothesline on facebook and twitter please help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks share this