Joe Biden's new super PAC is a registered foreign agent lobbying for Azerbaijan, say reports
Former vice president Joe Biden, who is currently running for the presidential office, is in the middle of a battle with President Donald Trump over his past links with Ukraine. The president has accused Biden of corruption by favoring his son in the East European nation where he too had professional connections. The Bidens have found themselves under a moral pressure even if Trump’s outreach to Ukraine has landed him under the lens of impeachment. And now, the vice president could be in for more storm.
According to a report in The Federalist, the treasurer for a new super PAC for Joe has been found to be a registered agent lobbying for another country. “Larry Rasky, a lobbyist who previously worked as a top campaign operative for Biden, is listed as the treasurer of the PAC, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC),” Sean Davis wrote.
On Tuesday, October 29, Politico reported that a former aide of Biden filed paperwork to form a super PAC named Unite the Country, registered on Monday, October 28, to boost the Democratic candidate with millions of dollars in the run-up to the 2020 presidential primary.
Earlier this month, Biden said in Iowa that if elected as the president, he will not allow any of his family members or associates to work for a foreign company and present a clean administration to the people of America.
Rasky reports directly to Azerbaijan ambassador to US
According to the Federalist report, records filed with the Department of Justice showed that Rasky is a registered foreign agent lobbying on behalf of the Azerbaijan government. The records that were filed as per the Foreign Agent Registration Act show that Rasky was hired by Baku in April this year. Even federal documents signed by Rasky show that he reports directly to Elin Suleymanov, the Azerbaijiani ambassador to the US, the report added.
According to Rasky’s contract with Azerbaijan, the latter will pay him a minimum monthly non-refundable fee of $15,000 for the services provided, besides a five percent administrative fee. “The Monthly Fees totaling $94,500 shall be paid in two equal installments. The initial payment of $47,250 is due upon the signing of this agreement. The second payment of $47,250 is due on July 15, 2019,” it said.
According to another report in Politico in August, Rasky has had other links with the Biden family. It said that James Biden, brother of Joe, along with Hunter, was mulling purchasing Paradigm. “James and Hunter brought in Larry Rasky, a lobbyist and longtime Biden adviser, who at one point, according to court records, was going to provide $1 million in financing. Rasky did not respond to a request for comment,” the report added.
The latest issue is certainly adding more to the arsenal of Biden’s critics. The septuagenarian’s campaign has already been hit by allegations that he unfairly used his clout as the vice president in the Barack Obama presidency to divert foreign business contracts to Hunter. During a mission to lead Washington’s efforts in Ukraine at a time when the US and Russia locked horns over the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea, Biden boasted of threatening to withhold a billion-dollar loan guarantee to Kiev if it did not remove a prosecutor who was reportedly probing a gas company that featured Hunter in its board.
Meanwhile, CBS News reported on Tuesday that Biden’s campaign warned Unite the Country not to target other Democratic hopefuls.