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514. Casey Michel - Foreign Agent Lobbyists are Acting as Foot-Soldiers for Brutal Authoritarian Regimes
For years, one group of Americans has worked as foot-soldiers for the
most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the process, they've
not only entrenched dictatorships and spread kleptocratic networks, but
they've secretly guided U.S. policy without the rest of America even
being aware. And now, journalist Casey Michel contends some of them have
begun turning their sights on American democracy itself.
These Americans are known as foreign lobbyists, and many of them spent
years ushering dictatorships directly into the halls of Washington, all
while laundering the reputations of the most heinous, repressive regimes
in the process. Many of these lobbyists have transformed into proxies
for dictators and strongmen wherever they can be found. And for years,
they've escaped scrutiny.
These lobbyists include figures like Ivy Lee, the inventor of the public
relations industry - a man who whitewashed Mussolini, opened doors to
the Soviets, and advised the Nazis on how to sway American audiences.
They include people like Paul Manafort, who invented lobbying as we know
it - and who then took his talents to autocrats from Ukraine to the
Philippines, and then back to the White House. And they now include an
increasing number of Americans elsewhere: in law firms and
consultancies, among PR specialists and former lawmakers, and even
within think tanks and universities.
----------
Casey Michel is head of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human
Rights Foundation, focusing on how dictators and autocrats use illicit
finance and dirty money to remain in power. He’s the author of AMERICAN
KLEPTOCRACY, on America's transformation into an offshore haven. His new
book, FOREIGN AGENTS, will examine the explosion of the foreign
lobbying industry in Washington, and how that industry has helped
entrench dictatorships and upend American foreign policy. FOREIGN AGENTS
will be published in 2024.
----------
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain
https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain
----------
LINKS:
http://www.caseymichel.com/
https://x.com/cjcmichel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseymichel/
https://www.rusi.org/people/michel
https://www.hudson.org/experts/1381-casey-michel
----------
BOOKS:
https://read.macmillan.com/lp/american-kleptocracy/
American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money
Laundering Scheme in History (2021)
Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy
Around the World (2024)
----------
TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:
Save Ukraine
https://www.saveukraineua.org/
Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas
https://superhumans.com/en/
UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in
Ukraine
https://unbroken.org.ua/
Come Back Alive
https://savelife.in.ua/en/
Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen
https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine
UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy
https://u24.gov.ua/
Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation
https://prytulafoundation.org
NGO “Herojam Slava”
https://heroiamslava.org/
kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and
Przemyśl
https://kharpp.com/
NOR DOG Animal Rescue
https://www.nor-dog.org/home/
----------
View all episodes
By Jonathan Fink
4.9
6262 ratings
For years, one group of Americans has worked as foot-soldiers for the
most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the process, they've
not only entrenched dictatorships and spread kleptocratic networks, but
they've secretly guided U.S. policy without the rest of America even
being aware. And now, journalist Casey Michel contends some of them have
begun turning their sights on American democracy itself.
These Americans are known as foreign lobbyists, and many of them spent
years ushering dictatorships directly into the halls of Washington, all
while laundering the reputations of the most heinous, repressive regimes
in the process. Many of these lobbyists have transformed into proxies
for dictators and strongmen wherever they can be found. And for years,
they've escaped scrutiny.
These lobbyists include figures like Ivy Lee, the inventor of the public
relations industry - a man who whitewashed Mussolini, opened doors to
the Soviets, and advised the Nazis on how to sway American audiences.
They include people like Paul Manafort, who invented lobbying as we know
it - and who then took his talents to autocrats from Ukraine to the
Philippines, and then back to the White House. And they now include an
increasing number of Americans elsewhere: in law firms and
consultancies, among PR specialists and former lawmakers, and even
within think tanks and universities.
----------
Casey Michel is head of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human
Rights Foundation, focusing on how dictators and autocrats use illicit
finance and dirty money to remain in power. He’s the author of AMERICAN
KLEPTOCRACY, on America's transformation into an offshore haven. His new
book, FOREIGN AGENTS, will examine the explosion of the foreign
lobbying industry in Washington, and how that industry has helped
entrench dictatorships and upend American foreign policy. FOREIGN AGENTS
will be published in 2024.
----------
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain
https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain
----------
LINKS:
http://www.caseymichel.com/
https://x.com/cjcmichel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseymichel/
https://www.rusi.org/people/michel
https://www.hudson.org/experts/1381-casey-michel
----------
BOOKS:
https://read.macmillan.com/lp/american-kleptocracy/
American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money
Laundering Scheme in History (2021)
Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy
Around the World (2024)
----------
TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:
Save Ukraine
https://www.saveukraineua.org/
Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas
https://superhumans.com/en/
UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in
Ukraine
https://unbroken.org.ua/
Come Back Alive
https://savelife.in.ua/en/
Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen
https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine
UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy
https://u24.gov.ua/
Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation
https://prytulafoundation.org
NGO “Herojam Slava”
https://heroiamslava.org/
kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and
Przemyśl
https://kharpp.com/
NOR DOG Animal Rescue
https://www.nor-dog.org/home/
----------
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