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According to a report by the Oversight and Accountability Committee in the US House of Representatives, the Albanian government tried to influence Trump by spending money at his hotel in Washington DC
Between the years 2017-2020, the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama and his advisers spent about 6 thousand USD in the hotel of the former American president, Donald Trump in Washington.
The specific spending details are part of a 156-page report titled: "The White House for Sale," prepared by Democratic members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. The report describes such payments as attempts to influence the former US president.
Using documents obtained through a legal battle by the company 'Mazars', the report details the expenditures of foreign officials in favor of President Trump's businesses, which total a value of 8.7 million USD.
"By elevating his personal financial interests and the political priorities of corrupt foreign powers above the American public interest, former President Trump has violated both the clear mandates of the Constitution and the careful precedent established and respected by every president of the previously at the helm," Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, wrote in an introduction to the report.
According to the report, in January and March of 2018, Rama's advisers Dorjan Ducka, Endri Fuga and Keisi Seferi each spent over 1,000 USD. Rama himself spent USD 1,158 during a visit in March 2018. Also, Damian Gjiknuri, then Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, spent USD 1,025 for a stay in June 2018.
The spending coincides with a turbulent period in Albanian politics that came after the election of President Trump.
At that time, the Democratic Party of Albania in opposition, led by Lulzim Basha, undertook a campaign that coincided with Trump's rhetoric (Make Albania great again) and accused the socialists led by Edi Rama of corruption and links to organized crime. The 2017 elections in Albania were characterized by boycotts, protests and accusations of vote manipulation.
According to the report, the local political clash in Tirana was transferred to an overseas effort by DP and SP to influence the Trump administration through lobbying.
Rama's Socialist Party hired lobbyist Brian Ballard, a prominent Trump fundraiser and Washington lobbyist, for a fee of $20,000 a month. His political rival, Basha, enlisted Nicholas Muzin, a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz and adviser to the Trump campaign.
Through the lobbyist Nicholas Muzin, the head of the Democratic Party Luzlim Basha managed to secure a photo with Donald Trump and used it extensively in the campaign for the parliamentary elections in 2017, where he was unsuccessful.
"The fact that foreign politicians can get a meeting, shake hands and take a photo that is widely shared in their country is of great value to them," the report said, citing a US lobbyist. "They would do almost anything to achieve that."
According to the report of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, Prime Minister Edi Rama's stay at Trump's hotel in Washington on March 3 and 4, 2018, is related to a meeting with the former FBI agent, Charles McGonigal, who was charged by Federal prosecutors for not declaring the relationship with Rama and the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.
Also, McGonigal is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from an Albanian-American businessman from New Jersey, Agron Neza, related to Edi Rama's adviser, Dorian Ducka.
"The [US] Department of Justice determined that Mr. McGonigal had previously traveled to Albania to meet with Mr. Rama several times and, by the March 4 meeting, Mr. McGonigal had received USD 225,000 in cash payments from Mr. Neza," he writes . report.
"Also, it is alleged that Mr. McGonigal passed potentially damaging information about Mr. Muzin—the U.S. lobbyist for Mr. Rama's main opponent—from Mr. Rama's office to other officials in the U.S.," the report added.
According to federal prosecutors in the USA, Edi Rama had dinner with Charles McGonigal and Agron Neza on March 4, 2018 at the Trump Hotel in Washington. McGonigal has pleaded guilty to concealing his activities in favor of the Albanian prime minister.
Prime Minister Edi Rama chose to frequent the Trump International Hotel in Washington during his visit in March 2018. During two nights, Rama and his aides spent 3,474 USD at the hotel. They stayed on the same floor as Agron Neza. There is no record of McGonigal staying at the Trump International Hotel during this period.
Meanwhile, Dorjan Ducka, another adviser to Rama mentioned in the McGonigal case, booked four rooms for two nights at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, on January 18 and 19, 2018, at a cost of USD 1,503.
Records provided by US congressmen also show that former Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Damian Gjiknuri, also stayed at the Trump International Hotel in Washington from June 24 to June 26, 2018, spending USD 1,025.66.
In addition to the Albanian governors, the former Foreign Minister of Kosovo, Behgjet Pacolli and his advisors have spent almost 5 thousand USD at the Trump International Hotel in Washington./ BIRN
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