A Republican lobbyist and former Reagan administration official reportedly advised Donald Trump on his first major foreign policy speech at the same time he was promoting the interests of Vladimir Putin’s state-run energy corporation.
According to a Politico report out Friday morning, Richard Burt received $365,000 in the first two quarters of 2016 to advocate on behalf of the Nord Stream II pipeline. Gazprom, the Russian state energy corporation, owned a 50 percent share of the company behind the pipeline, New European Pipeline AG, when it paid Burt; it later took full ownership of the company.
In that timeframe, Burt helped shape Donald Trump’s first major foreign policy address, in which he said “I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia—from a position of strength—is possible.”
“Common sense says this cycle of hostility must end. Some say the Russians won’t be reasonable. I intend to find out,” Trump said on April 27, as the Russian ambassador listened in the front row.
The United States, Poland, and other European nations have taken official stances against the Nord Stream II pipeline, which would strengthen Russia’s energy presence on the continent.
Previously, two high-level members of the Trump campaign, campaign chairman Paul Manafort and foreign policy advisor Carter Page, resigned from the campaign after details about their own dealings with a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine and top Kremlin officials, respectively, came to light.
Politico reports that Burt has in recent weeks began a tour of American think tanks to promote the pipeline. “There are huge holes in what he’s saying,” the article quotes one anonymous attendee saying of Burt’s presentation at the Atlantic Council, “but I can imagine that to many congressmen, senators and officials, it’s all very convincing.”
