FLASH
Shkruar nga Amanda Moore
As Albania's May 11 elections approach, HuffPost has learned that LaCivita's team has expanded, including renowned pollster Tony Fabrizio and longtime Manafort associate Phil Griffin. In addition, representatives from the American Conservative Union — which organizes the annual CPAC conference — have joined the team.
Sali Berisha has been declared persona non grata by the US and the UK over corruption allegations and is therefore not allowed to travel to those countries. However, his presidential campaign is being supported by some of Donald Trump's closest allies.
A growing group of Trump-linked political figures are helping the election campaign of an Albanian politician who has been sanctioned for major corruption. Sali Berisha, who has called Trump’s victory a “miracle,” appears to have engaged some of the former president’s closest associates in consulting work — while his team suggests that the ultimate goal is to lift sanctions.
Chris LaCivita, co-chair of Trump’s 2024 campaign, was in Albania in February as part of a contract to help the campaign of Berisha — a candidate for prime minister who is under U.S. sanctions — The New York Times reported. He was accompanied by Paul Manafort, who was previously convicted of failing to register as a foreign agent in 2018. (Manafort was pardoned by Trump in December 2020.)
As Albania’s May 11 elections approach, HuffPost has learned that LaCivita’s team has expanded to include renowned pollster Tony Fabrizio and longtime Manafort associate Phil Griffin. In addition, representatives from the American Conservative Union — which organizes the annual CPAC conference — recently met with Berisha. The meeting resulted in plans for a CPAC Balkans event in late April, to be co-hosted by Berisha’s party, according to a post he made on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
This comes after the Trump administration’s efforts to soften the impact of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), paving the way for large payments to lobbyists representing foreign interests without any meaningful oversight by U.S. authorities. FARA registration remains mandatory in theory, but there are no longer criminal penalties — unlike before, when it was used to prosecute Manafort himself. The administration has also disbanded the Foreign Influence Task Force, which investigated cases of unregistered lobbying. A check of the FARA registry on Friday morning showed that none of those involved in Berisha’s campaign were registered to lobby on his behalf.
Berisha, the leader of the right-wing Democratic Party of Albania, has been under sanctions by the US and the UK for several years. The US State Department declared him and his family “persona non grata” in May 2021 for “involvement in serious corruption”. In July 2022, the UK banned him from entering the country for “criminality and corruption reasons”, stating that his presence was “not in the public interest”. Last autumn, Berisha was formally charged with corruption, in connection with a scheme in which his son-in-law had obtained building permits for apartments in Tirana, from which he is suspected of profiting millions of euros. Berisha was placed under house arrest after refusing to comply with court-ordered measures, claiming that he is a victim of political persecution.
He has previously expressed hope that a new Trump administration would lift sanctions against him. On the day of the US presidential inauguration, Berisha told Albanian media that Trump's election was a "miracle" and that he would ask him to lift the decision declaring him "persona non grata".
In an interview given on January 27, Democratic Party spokesperson Floriana Garo was asked if Trump would lift sanctions on Berisha. In a statement given to HuffPost, she responded: “The sanctions on Mr. Berisha, I believe – as I see it – will be lifted. They will be lifted, but not just for Mr. Berisha; they will be lifted as a bloc. They will also include other people.”
But on February 5, according to a report in the Albanian Times, Berisha declared at a press conference that he no longer had any hope that Trump would intervene to lift his travel ban. He insisted that he had not undertaken any lobbying efforts to be removed from the blacklist.
On February 10, LaCivita and Manafort arrived in Albania to meet with Berisha's campaign team. LaCivita told The New York Times that he was not there to lobby, but only to provide advice to the campaign.
That same day, Belind Këlliçi, a leader of the Democratic Party, shared a live broadcast of the conference with LaCivita, writing: “Greetings to all those concerned about the sanction.”
Rreth një javë më vonë, “Euronews Albania” publikoi një video ku thuhej se drejtues të Partisë Demokratike sugjeronin se ndikimi i LaCivitas mbi Trumpin do të ndihmonte në heqjen e sanksioneve.
Në janar, “The New York Times” raportoi se LaCivita, Manafort dhe Fabrizio po kërkonin kontrata konsulence me parti të djathta në vende të ndryshme.
Muajin e kaluar, një politikan shqiptar konservator dhe aleat i ngushtë i Berishës publikoi një video me LaCivitan në Uashington, në platformën Threads. Ai pretendoi se kishte zhvilluar një takim me LaCivita-n dhe Griffin-in, dhe publikoi një foto me ta në Facebook. Ai tha se të dy po punonin me Fabrizion. Megjithëse kjo nuk u raportua në mediat amerikane, media shqiptare raportoi për përfshirjen e Fabrizio-s që në shkurt.
Fabrizio ka një histori të gjatë bashkëpunimi me Manafortin. Para se të ftohej në fushatën e Trumpit më 2016, firma e tij kishte punuar për Manafortin në Ukrainë gjatë viteve 2012–2013. Ai ishte gjithashtu pronari i fshehur i një kompanie që mori rreth 19 milionë dollarë nga një “super PAC” ( komitet politik në SHBA që mund të mbledhë dhe shpenzojë fonde pa kufizime për të ndikuar zgjedhjet, por pa bashkëpunuar drejtpërdrejt me kandidatët) që Manaforti ndihmoi të ngrinte gjatë fushatës së 2016-ës.
Pas zgjedhjeve të 2024-ës, Fabrizio dhe LaCivita u angazhuan si këshilltarë të lartë për “Building America’s Future”, një organizatë e financuar nga Elon Musk.
Griffin ka një bashkëpunim shumëvjeçar me Manafortin, që prej vitit 2004, kur punonte në firmën “Davis Manafort Partners”. Ai ka qenë përgjegjës për klientët ukrainas dhe rekrutoi më pas Konstantin Kilimnik – i cili u bë njeriu i besuar i Manafortit në Ukrainë. Sipas një raporti të vitit 2020 nga Komisioni i Inteligjencës i Senatit Amerikan, Kilimnik shërbeu “si kanal komunikimi me shërbimet ruse të inteligjencës, të cilat me shumë gjasë kërkuan të përfitonin nga qasja e Manafort-it për të nxjerrë informacion mbi fushatën elektorale”.
Griffin është aktualisht në Shqipëri, në kuadër të përgatitjes së nisjes zyrtare të fushatës së Partisë Demokratike, e planifikuar për të premten në mbrëmje. Më herët gjatë javës, Garo postoi një foto me Griffin-in dhe Alfred Lela-n, drejtorin e komunikimit për shtyp të partisë. Në shkurt, “Washington Examiner” botoi një artikull të Lelës ku i bënte thirrje Sekretarit të Shtetit Marco Rubio të rishqyrtonte sanksionet ndaj Berishës. (Lela ka jetuar në Boston në vitet 2000 dhe në biografinë e tij thuhet se është shtetas amerikan.)
Së fundmi, Këlliçi ka pretenduar se sanksionet ndaj Berishës janë hequr. Ky pretendim duket i pabazë, dhe as Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë dhe as Departamenti Amerikan i Shtetit nuk janë përgjigjur për të konfirmuar nëse sanksionet janë ende në fuqi.
Despite Berisha’s statement that CPAC Balkans will be held this month, the event still does not have a functional website and does not provide information on dates. CPAC has aimed to hold events in countries with right-wing governments that align with Trump’s line. A conference co-organized with Berisha’s party would constitute a tacit endorsement of his candidacy. Asked about the meeting with Berisha and whether the event would go ahead as planned, a CPAC spokesperson said: “CPAC is holding meetings with leaders all over the world and plans to expand to more countries throughout the year. We are aiming for a CPAC in the Balkans as a call for sensible policies and a challenge to the globalists.”
LaCivita, Fabrizio, Manafort, Griffin and Berisha did not respond to requests for comment.
But on Thursday evening, LaCivita posted twice on X about Albania. In one post with a video of an owl, he wrote: “Who is the ‘owl’ and who is the mouse …#Albania”
This comment is related to the debate between Berisha and Prime Minister Edi Rama. Rama has called Berisha a “marsh owl,” and the latter has embraced the nickname, bringing an owl statue to the press conference. Rama has also expressed sympathy for Trump and has signed contracts with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Both parties – Berisha’s and Rama’s – have been investigated by SPAK, the Albanian anti-corruption structure, supported by the United States Agency for International Development. Since Trump came to power, SPAK and the US embassy have not provided much information about this cooperation, and some reports in Albania have suggested that American representatives involved in this program have briefly left the country.
In another post, LaCivita shared an article describing him as “the sheriff who has returned to town.” The article was published on an information page belonging to Berisha’s son.
Berisha's team has announced that LaCivita will be present at the official launch of the campaign. Albanian media reported his arrival in the country on Friday morning. /Adapted from Pamphlet by Huffpost /
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