Just weeks after a prominent lobbying firm officially acknowledged its role in a foreign-influence campaign spearheaded by Donald Trump’s now-imprisoned campaign chairman, the firm pitched European aerospace giant Airbus on a plan to get the company out from under its own withering corruption scandal.
In a May 2017 letter to Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders, Kieran Mahoney, the chief executive of Mercury Public Affairs, hawked its extensive political connections in an effort to convince Airbus to enlist its services.
“I am aware of the unfortunate challenges facing you and your company concerning various compliance issues, and I sincerely hope that these matters are addressed quickly and resolved to your complete satisfaction,” Mahoney wrote. At the time, Airbus was facing French and British investigations into potential fraud and bribery in its sale of jetliners.
ADVERTISEMENT
“If there is any way that Mercury can assist you in those efforts, please let me know—we would be pleased to help,” Mahoney told Enders. “Our company is comprised of a number of people who work regularly at the highest levels of domestic and international government, politics, elections, communications, etc. In fact, we have a former US Senator on our team, along with three former Members of the US House of Representatives… Both our professional and personal relationships could prove very valuable to you.”
It was a bold moment for Mercury’s pitch. The firm had found itself embroiled in allegations of illicit foreign lobbying against Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison this year on a number of bank- and tax-fraud charges.
About three weeks before Mahoney’s letter, Mercury had admitted to the Department of Justice that its work with Manafort on behalf of a Russian-allied political party in Ukraine should have been disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Enders was surely aware of those developments when he wrote back to Mahoney two months later. After enlisting “legal and forensic advisers” to conduct an “enhanced due-diligence review of our relationship with you,” he wrote, “we regret to confirm in writing that we cannot continue any relationship with you… consistent with our policies, our procedures, and international norms.”
Both letters were contained in filings in a federal court in New York, where Mercury is suing Airbus over what it says is more than $170,000 in unpaid consulting fees for its work in securing foreign military buyers for Airbus planes. Airbus declined to comment on the lawsuit. A Mercury spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Mercury was not the only firm implicated in Manafort’s Ukraine work. The Podesta Group, once a K Street powerhouse, folded entirely last year due in large measure to the financial and public-relations pressures imposed by scrutiny of its collaboration with Manafort. Greg Craig, a former Obama White House official and former partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, was indicted for his role in the Manafort saga, but acquitted of all charges last week.
Initially, Mercury appeared to be faring far better in spite of the Manafort scandal. But late last month, Vin Weber, a Mercury partner who worked closely with Manafort, resigned from the firm, telling Mahoney in a letter that he felt it necessary “to remove the distraction for Mercury’s clients and to focus my time and energy on protecting my reputation.”
Mahoney’s 2017 letter to Enders suggests that, behind the scenes, the Manafort saga may have taken an even greater toll.
Get the data:
