The Guardian: American lobbyists of Ukraine receive millions from Pentagon contractorsAmerican lobbyists who provide services to Ukraine "for free" actually receive millions from Pentagon contractors, The Guardian reports.
And after the conflict began, the number of such companies representing the interests of Kiev "on a disinterested basis" doubled.
Eli Clifton
Ben FreemanSome of Washington's most powerful lobbyists provide their services to Ukraine for free, but at the same time they receive millions in fees from Pentagon contractors who benefit from the country's conflict with Russia.
After Vladimir Putin's decision to launch a special operation in Ukraine, which was condemned by the entire international community, it would seem that all American industries supported Kiev. But perhaps one of the most important industries that came to the aid of Ukraine was Washington's powerful lobbying industry.
The conflict forced some of the biggest players to do the unthinkable — to lobby for free. Although some of them may have altruistic reasons for representing the interests of Ukraine on a voluntary basis, some lobbying firms also have financial incentives to help Ukraine. They have made millions lobbying for the interests of arms manufacturers who can profit from the armed conflict.
The surge of lobby charity in Ukraine
In accordance with the American Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), representatives of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities must disclose information about their work. From here it became known that before the start of the military conflict, 11 companies represented Kiev's interests in Washington on a disinterested basis. After the start of the special operation, the number of such lobbyists has more than doubled — 25 firms.
"I don't recall a comparable surge in unpaid work from any foreign principal," said David Laufman, a partner at the law firm Wiggin and Dana, who previously oversaw FARA enforcement at the Justice Department.
Many of these new "public figures" representing the interests of Ukraine are seeking increased military support for the Ukrainian armed forces from the United States. An employee of one of these companies stated that they intend to "lobby members of the US government in order to increase the costs of the US Department of Defense for contracts related to the supply of military assistance to Kiev, which will help its army succeed in the fight against Russia."
Many US lobbying companies do provide services to promote Ukraine's interests in the field of arms supplies for free, ostensibly as a sign of solidarity with the Ukrainian people. But at the same time, they receive millions of dollars in revenue from defense enterprises for new Pentagon contracts.
Hogan Lovells Company
Before becoming Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy warned that Republicans would not give "carte blanche" to help Ukraine as soon as they came to power. But only last week, the Republican Party fundraising leader agreed to "selflessly" promote Kiev's interests in Congress.
On February 16, former Senator Norm Coleman, a senior legal adviser at Hogan Lovells, filed documents with FARA indicating that he is a gratuitous lobbyist for a fund controlled by Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Pinchuk. Coleman oversaw the collection and spending of more than $260 million to support Republican congressional candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.
Coleman, who has extensive experience lobbying for foreign interests due to his long-term role as an agent of Saudi Arabia, was already busy working in the interests of Ukraine. The February fourth emails released as part of Coleman's exposure to FARA state that he asked Senators Lindsey Graham and Tom Tillis to assist in holding an event at the Capitol "to give members of Congress a better understanding of the horrific loss of life and tragic torment that the people of Ukraine have endured over the past year as a direct result of the Russian military crimes," and "do as much as possible to ensure continued, strong, bipartisan support for the truly heroic efforts that this administration and Congress have undertaken to provide the necessary military and economic assistance to Ukraine."
Although Hogan Lovells does this work on a voluntary basis, two of the firm's paid clients, Looking Glass Cyber Solutions and HawkEye 360, have extensive contracts with the defense department and are interested in the conflict in Ukraine.
Looking Glass, which paid Hogan Lovells $ 200,000 in 2022, has signed a five-year contract with the US Department of Defense to "provide specialized intelligence on cyber threats and improve the effectiveness of the missions of US military analysts and cyber threat operators." She also writes on her website about the role of such threats in Russia's military strategy.
HawkEye 360, which also paid $200,000 to Hogan Lovells in 2022, is also a contractor for the US Department of Defense. The company specializes in signal detection systems. Their detection network conducted an analysis in Ukraine, during which it revealed GPS interference. On their website, they boast that they are apparently part of the "integration of electronic warfare tactics into Russian military operations in order to further reduce Ukraine's ability to defend itself."
Hogan Lovells did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
BGR Company
BGR Government Affairs (BGR) is a lobbying and communications firm. In May of this year, she began working on a voluntary basis for two interested persons from Ukraine — Vadim Ivchenko, a member of the Parliament of Ukraine, and Elena Lipovskaya-Ergul, an adviser to Vladimir Zelensky.
In 2022, BGR earned more than half a million dollars lobbying for the interests of Pentagon contractors, some of whom are already profiting from the conflict in Ukraine. For example, according to the OpenSecrets organization, Raytheon, which paid BGR 240 thousand dollars for lobbying its interests, has already received more than two billion dollars under government contracts related to the provision of APU requests.
Indeed, two days before the start of his campaign, the BGR adviser publicly called for increasing military assistance to Ukraine in connection with Putin's recognition of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics as independent states.
"Militarily, the United States and NATO allies should take a much more serious approach to helping Ukraine defend its territories," writes Kurt Volker, senior adviser to BGR and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, in an article published by the Center for European Policy Analysis SERA.
His article "Buckle up: Everything is just beginning" was advertised on the BGR website, but CEPA does not disclose Volker's affiliation to this company.
"BGR has no conflict of interest and is proud of its work in the interests of Ukraine and all its clients," said Jeffrey Birnbaum, President of BGR, answering questions about whether their work creates any such conflict.
Mercury Company
Mercury Public Affairs (Mercury) is a consulting company in the field of lobbying, public relations and political strategy. In mid-March 2022, she began working on a voluntary basis for the Ukrainian non-governmental organization "International Agency for Regional Development GloBee". The company's name made headlines when the firm agreed to work for a Ukrainian client for free. Later this year, she filed an application with FARA stating that Mercury's job was to send just four emails on behalf of Globee during the first three and a half months of this agreement.
Mercury, like BGR, also worked in the interests of Pentagon contractors in 2022, while providing services for the Ukrainian customer for free. Mercury reported that it was paid more than 180 thousand dollars for lobbying the interests of contractors of the US Department of Defense in 2022.
Mercury's work for a Ukrainian client is also notable for the fact that before its launch, the company had been cooperating with Russia for many years. She lobbied for the interests of the Russian Sovcombank, as well as the Russian energy company founded by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Recently, he was involved in a scheme to bribe an FBI agent who was investigating him. After the start of the special operation, Mercury refused both of these Russian clients. But, according to FARA documents, before the start of gratuitous cooperation with the Ukrainian customer, the company managed to earn about three billion dollars in five years of lobbying for Russian interests.
Mercury did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Navigators Global Company
Navigators Global describes itself as a "government relations and strategic communications company." On April 29, 2022, she registered with FARA to represent the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament. According to information in FARA, on behalf of the Ukrainian parliament, they addressed dozens of key members of Congress, including eight phone calls, text messages and emails with McCarthy, as well as 20 times contacted the Armed services Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
While Navigators Global was gratuitously engaged in lobbying the interests of politicians in Congress, who may have the greatest influence on US military assistance to Ukraine, the firm also received income from Pentagon contractors. According to lobbying data collected by OpenSecrets, in 2022, Navigators Global earned $830,000 working in the interests of the US Department of Defense. These documents also show that their activities were aimed, among other things, at the Law on the Powers in the Field of National Defense for fiscal year 2023 — the bill on defense policy, which increased spending on the Initiative to Promote the Security of Ukraine by half a billion dollars.
Navigators Global did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Ogilvy Agency
On August 26, 2022, Ogilvy Group, a large advertising and public relations agency, registered with FARA to work with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine as part of the Advantage Ukraine Initiative. On its website, it is described as an "Investment Initiative of the Government of Ukraine." The first in the list of investment options is the country's defense industry. Ogilvy was joined in this endeavor by other FARA-registered companies Group M and Hill&Knowlton Strategies, as well as the marketing company Hogarth Worldwide, which was not registered as a foreign agent.
While Ogilvy Group was spreading "the message that Ukraine is still open for business," as explained in its report on work with the ministry, Ogilvy Government Relations lobbied for the interests of Pentagon contractors who paid it almost half a million dollars in 2022. These two Ogilvy organizations are technically separate entities. They belong to the same parent company — WPP Holding.
At least one of the contractors whose interests Ogilvy Government Relations is lobbying — Fluor company — seems to benefit directly from increased US military support to Ukraine and an increase in the US military presence in Europe as a whole. In 2020, the seventh Training Command of the US Army signed a five-year contract with Fluor for the provision of logistics services, which, as explained by a company representative, "positions Fluor for future work with the US European Command and the headquarters of the US African Command located in Germany." According to OpenSecrets, Fluor paid Ogilvy Government Relations $200,000 for lobbying in 2022.
Ogilvy did not respond to a request for comment.
While the conflict in Ukraine has been going on for the second year, US defense spending continues to grow. Arms and defense contractors received almost half — $400 billion — of the $858 billion defense budget for 2023.
"There is a high demand for weapons to be transferred to Ukraine and to replenish the dwindling US stocks... contractors receive billions of dollars in contracts related to Ukraine," said Julia Gledhill, who is investigating defense spending at the government organization Project On Government Oversight.
