McCain's campaign head lobbied for Nigerian govt. and Argentine politician

According to a 2007 article from the Washington Post, a lobbyist named Rick Davis is currently managing McCain's campaign. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Davis is a name partner to the lobbying firm Davis, Manafort & Freedman, Inc.

Now, go to the DoJ's FARA search page and put "DAVIS MANAFORT & FREEDMAN" in the "Registrant Name" field. Two of the objects under "FOREIGN PRINCIPAL NAME" column should catch your eye: an Arentine Politician named "ALBERTO PIERRI" and the "FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA."

Lets dig deeper and see who these two entities are, shall we?

First, some Lexis-Nexis stuff on this "Aleberto Pierri" guy.

New York Times, 1 September 1993, A7:

When a reporter for the Buenos Aires daily Pagina/12 reached his apartment building at 3:30 A.M. last Wednesday, two men were waiting.
Hitting him over the head and slashing his cheek, they warned, "Don't keep publishing those things or the next time it will be worse."

The reporter, Hernan Lopez Echague, had quoted officials of the city's huge produce market as saying that senior members of the Peronist Government regularly recruited thugs from the market to be the party's front line against protests.
[...]
The Wrong Message

Though no one is accusing the Menem Government of orchestrating the attacks, it is being blamed for creating an environment hostile to the press.

Early in 1991, Mr. Menem called reporters investigating Government corruption criminals, and he has frequently accused newspapers critical of his policies of being associated with Communists.

The Pagina/12 article said Alberto Pierri, leader of the House of Deputies and No. 3 in line to be President, was involved in the hiring of market thugs. Mr. Pierri denied this, and said the reports were part of a smear campaign by the opposition Radical Party.

But the Peronist Party has a history of violent factions.

Inter Press Service, 26 January 1994:

Following the beating of Argentina's most prominent rabbi, the country's principal Jewish organization blamed anti-Semitic statements made by the president of the House of Deputies, Alberto Pierri, for laying the groundwork.

Today, Ruben Beraja, President of the Argentine Delegation of Israelite Associations (ADIA), sounded the alarm over the beating of Grand Rabbi Salomon Ben Hamu by four youths.

Beraja pointed out that Pierri had laid the groundwork for anti-Semitic aggression by calling journalist Roman Lejtman "a lousy jew," after the latter published a book on the laundering of drug money in Argentina.

So, possible involvement in hiring thugs and probable anti-Semitism. Juicy stuff.

Now, as to Nigeria, let's just let the human rights orgs fill us in:

Human Rights Watch
State Department
Amnesty International

Thanks to Fire The Lobbyists for inspiration for this diary. Do your own research on former lobbyists for shady interests who became McCainsmen, it's fun!

•  Tip Jar

  n/t

  by Daisy Cutter on Tue May 13, 2008 at 12:46:59 PM PDT

•  McCain does business with people who love...

  ...corruption and tyrannical governments?

  Birds of a feather!

  (nice find BTW)

  by CA Libertarian on Tue May 13, 2008 at 12:49:30 PM PDT

•  There's a Nigerian oil scam in this somewhere n/t

  by A Mad Mad World on Tue May 13, 2008 at 12:51:28 PM PDT

  •  ::snarfles Pepsi::

    I was just about to say that it's so appropriate McCain would hire people cozied up to corrupt governments.  Then again, you could say he's just gaining more "experience" to make him more attractive to his base--people who'd really like to see America reinterpret Italy's Fascist experiment.

    by Gemina13 on Tue May 13, 2008 at 12:57:42 PM PDT

•  If I get another E-Mail from that Nigerian prince

  so help me God...

  by aaraujo on Tue May 13, 2008 at 12:54:12 PM PDT

•  What did he...

  ...lobby for with the Nigerian Government? If your going to bring it up you should use specifics. The Nigerian government, since the death of dictator Sani Abacha, has been a leader in Africa. The Obasanjo administration has been a beacon of hope on the continent and people like Jimmy Carter have worked with them tirelessly to stamp out the corruption they are famous for. Olesegun Obasanjo is constantly called on to oversee elections and to mediate conflict throughout the continent.

  Let's do facts here. His lobbying could quite possibly be for bad causes but we should know the facts before we insinuate.

  by bradreiman on Tue May 13, 2008 at 01:03:14 PM PDT

•  Also...

  ...your links are from the nineties except for the Amnnesty one which is broken. During this time Nigeria was still under the dictator Sani Abacha not the democratically elected Olesegun Obasanjo.

  by bradreiman on Tue May 13, 2008 at 01:05:13 PM PDT

  •  Sooo true ...

    The lobbying for the Nigerian government could have been perfectly legitimate - debt relief, funding for the African Union peacekeeping forces etc  Let's not rush to judgment.

    by tosan1212 on Tue May 13, 2008 at 01:13:31 PM PDT