Politician: Ex-Austrian chancellor part of Manafort lobbying

By YURAS KARMANAU

Published February 24, 2018

A Ukrainian opposition lawmaker who helped uncover off-the-books payments to President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman says a one-time Austrian chancellor was among the European politicians secretly paid to lobby for Ukraine.

The lawmaker's claim to The Associated Press on Saturday came after the United States indicted Paul Manafort for paying former politicians to lobby on behalf of his client at the time, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Serhiy Leshchenko, a lawmaker in Ukraine, said Saturday that he saw the information about the former Austrian chancellor in a ledger of off-the-books payments to Manafort.

Leshchenko said: "I don't remember the name, but I remember the position."

The lobbying by unnamed political figures, identified in the indictment as the "Hapsburg Group," allegedly took place in 2012-13, when Ukraine was moving toward integration with the European Union.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/world/politician-ex-austrian-chancellor-part-of-manafort-lobbying