AFRICA/HUMAN RIGHTS/LOBBYING/RUDY GIULIANI/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “On a July evening, Trump administration officials and allies, including the president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, gathered with investors atop the Hay-Adams hotel overlooking the White House for a cocktail reception featuring a short presentation by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s special envoy to the United States. An invitation for the reception billed it as an opportunity to learn about ‘the role Africa plays in gaining access to critical minerals, such as cobalt’ and to discuss ‘the strategic relationship’ between the United States and the nations of Africa. In fact, the reception was part of an aggressive $8 million lobbying and public relations campaign that used lobbyists with ties to the Trump administration to try to ease concerns about the Congolese president, Joseph Kabila, whose government was facing threats of additional sanctions from the Trump administration for human rights abuses and corruption.”
– Kenneth P. Vogel, “Targets of U.S. Sanctions Hire Lobbyists With Trump Ties to Seek Relief,” The New York Times online, December 10, 2018