4 ms·

Huawei paid Tony Podesta $500k to lobby the White House

73 points by andrenth 5y ago

mc32 5y ago
Not even government blacklists mean anything if you have money. And then the CEO gets released not long after the negotiations? One administration is as corrupt as the next. What chance do regular folks have when you can be sent to jail for "lying" rather than a proven crime (ala Martha) but then people like this can pay half a million and get strings pulled and be set free?
- sushsjsuauahab 5y ago
  I think game theory on this would dictate "if a situation is unwinnable for a participant, then they should not spend any time or energy trying to influence it"
- 1cvmask 5y ago
  The daughter of the CEO, the CFO, who was held under house arrest in Canada at the request of the Trump administration. The allegations could have been real or trumped up (pun not intended). We won't get a chance to see that day now. Julian Assange the journalist and publisher of Wikileaks is also held under captivity in England at the request of the Biden administration now. Extraterritorial arrests are clearly bipartisan in nature. No high powered highly paid lobbyists for Julian though, as he languishes in captivity. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/julian-assange-extradition-wikileaks-partner-b1945106.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/julian-ass...
  - jszymborski 5y ago
    > The allegations could have been real or trumped up (pun not intended). We won't get a chance to see that day now. I'm no fan of Huawei or the PRC Regime, but the theory of the case against Meng Wanzhou was made in Canadian court by Crown prosecutors. While they were just trying to argue that the US government had a case to try, and not guilt, the judge found the US case to be a bit tortured and convoluted. So while we are deprived of a legal outcome in US courts, we do know that the US wasn't exactly trying Wanzhou for crimes against humanity (regardless of those she or her organisation may or may not have committed). More information https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-judge-in-meng-extradition-hearing-suggests-fraud-charge-is-unusual/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-judge-in-meng...
tiahura 5y ago
Who should they hire, Ric Flair?
- 1cvmask 5y ago
  He was known to be a rule breaker and amongst the dirtiest players in the game. Hulk Hogan was a boy scout next to him.
- Proven 5y ago
  Hunder Biden would have been a better choice. No doubt that would have set them back more than $500K. But the optics of it... Who knows, maybe they did buy some of his paintings?
mint2 5y ago
Why is this on hacker news? It’s not even about John podesta but even he isn’t relevant. Is hacker news going to devolve into a message board for every story about lobbyists?
- throwntoday 5y ago
  Huawei is a fairly large tech company and this whole situation with the last administration is in-line with the subject matter typically discussed on this site.
mclightning 5y ago
Case in point; the whole concept of "lobbyist" in US is crazy. It feels so from an outsider, european perspective. There are non-elected officials, openly charging money for their very open connections with politicians to manipulate political discourse. How is this even legal... It's like bribery but legal and shamelessly open.
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  I don't think it's much different in Europe? E.g. the German car industry has good lobbyists in Berlin, they were probably lobbying against speed limits on the Autobahn, and also against stricter emissions tests: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/24/uk-france-and-germany-lobbied-for-flawed-car-emissions-tests-documents-reveal https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/24/uk-franc... Maybe the difference is that Podesta is "freelance" and can be hired by anyone (like Huawei did here), but maybe the car industry lobbyists are also close to politics, we just don't know their names...
  - hulitu 5y ago
    Not only the car industry. Big farma and Nestle are also good friends of some ministers.
- vibrato2 5y ago
  Don’t forget pharma spends 100% more on lobbying than the second leading industry. Mandates and all…

73 points by andrenth 5y ago

mc32 5y ago

Not even government blacklists mean anything if you have money. And then the CEO gets released not long after the negotiations? One administration is as corrupt as the next. What chance do regular folks have when you can be sent to jail for "lying" rather than a proven crime (ala Martha) but then people like this can pay half a million and get strings pulled and be set free?

sushsjsuauahab 5y ago
I think game theory on this would dictate "if a situation is unwinnable for a participant, then they should not spend any time or energy trying to influence it"
1cvmask 5y ago
The daughter of the CEO, the CFO, who was held under house arrest in Canada at the request of the Trump administration. The allegations could have been real or trumped up (pun not intended). We won't get a chance to see that day now. Julian Assange the journalist and publisher of Wikileaks is also held under captivity in England at the request of the Biden administration now. Extraterritorial arrests are clearly bipartisan in nature. No high powered highly paid lobbyists for Julian though, as he languishes in captivity. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/julian-assange-extradition-wikileaks-partner-b1945106.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/julian-ass...
- jszymborski 5y ago
  > The allegations could have been real or trumped up (pun not intended). We won't get a chance to see that day now. I'm no fan of Huawei or the PRC Regime, but the theory of the case against Meng Wanzhou was made in Canadian court by Crown prosecutors. While they were just trying to argue that the US government had a case to try, and not guilt, the judge found the US case to be a bit tortured and convoluted. So while we are deprived of a legal outcome in US courts, we do know that the US wasn't exactly trying Wanzhou for crimes against humanity (regardless of those she or her organisation may or may not have committed). More information https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-judge-in-meng-extradition-hearing-suggests-fraud-charge-is-unusual/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-judge-in-meng...

tiahura 5y ago

Who should they hire, Ric Flair?

1cvmask 5y ago
He was known to be a rule breaker and amongst the dirtiest players in the game. Hulk Hogan was a boy scout next to him.
Proven 5y ago
Hunder Biden would have been a better choice. No doubt that would have set them back more than $500K. But the optics of it... Who knows, maybe they did buy some of his paintings?

mint2 5y ago

Why is this on hacker news? It’s not even about John podesta but even he isn’t relevant. Is hacker news going to devolve into a message board for every story about lobbyists?

throwntoday 5y ago
Huawei is a fairly large tech company and this whole situation with the last administration is in-line with the subject matter typically discussed on this site.

mclightning 5y ago

Case in point; the whole concept of "lobbyist" in US is crazy. It feels so from an outsider, european perspective. There are non-elected officials, openly charging money for their very open connections with politicians to manipulate political discourse. How is this even legal... It's like bribery but legal and shamelessly open.

bellyfullofbac 5y ago
I don't think it's much different in Europe? E.g. the German car industry has good lobbyists in Berlin, they were probably lobbying against speed limits on the Autobahn, and also against stricter emissions tests: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/24/uk-france-and-germany-lobbied-for-flawed-car-emissions-tests-documents-reveal https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/24/uk-franc... Maybe the difference is that Podesta is "freelance" and can be hired by anyone (like Huawei did here), but maybe the car industry lobbyists are also close to politics, we just don't know their names...
- hulitu 5y ago
  Not only the car industry. Big farma and Nestle are also good friends of some ministers.
vibrato2 5y ago
Don’t forget pharma spends 100% more on lobbying than the second leading industry. Mandates and all…