 Tony Podesta |
Tony Podesta, founder of Podesta Group, is stepping down, a move that follows today’s release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of Paul Manafort regarding his work for Ukraine.
PG had represented the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine in a PR push that was organized by Manafort.
In the indictment, Mueller called the Centre “a mouthpiece” for ousted Ukraine president Vicktor Yanukovych, who is living in exile in Russia, and his political party.
Manafort used the Centre, which ceased to operate in 2014 with the exit of Yanukovych, "to lobby and conduct a PR campaign in the US and Europe on behalf of the existing Ukraine regime."
PG says it fully disclosed its representation of ECFMU and complied with FARA filing regulations five years ago within weeks of starting its work. “Any insinuation to the contrary is false,” said a spokesperson.
The firm maintains that ECFMU was a non-profit think tank formed to support Ukraine’s admission to the European Union and that it “provided formal certification that it was neither funded by nor directed by a government or political party.”
Podesta told staff that he plans to fight any charges and doesn’t want the firm to fight them, according to Politico.
He handed operational and financial control to CEO Kimberly Fritts, who plans to launch a new firm with senior PG executives this week.
There is a huge chasm when it comes to support the Iranian invasion between Americans and Israelis.
Tricia McLaughlin, the combative spokesperson for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, is leaving her post.
While finding the right solution to a problem is still important, the work that differentiates effective communications leaders is problem-finding—identifying the real risk before it becomes visible, reputational or irreversible.
Orchestra has recruited Deepika Sandhu for the senior VP-legal & crisis communications slot.
Apologies are often seen as a weakness or as proof that a leader has lost control of the narrative. But Donald Trump's failure to apologize after he posted—and then deleted—a video with a racist clip of Barack and Michelle Obama shows how flawed this mindset is.
