John McCain, his campaign manager Rick Davis, & the questionable Russian billionaire

[Rick Davis, John McCain's current campaign manager and current or former president of the McCain-associated Reform Institute] helped arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire [Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska] whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his visa...

There is no evidence that McCain did anything for Deripaska after they met at a social gathering over drinks and dinner. Deripaska was grateful for the introduction, writing a thank-you note to Davis and his partner and offering to assist them in a subsequent business deal, according to a copy of the note...

...Deripaska is one of the richest men in Russia and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. McCain has been one of Putin's sharpest U.S. critics, calling for Russia to be kicked out of the Group of Eight industrialized nations because of Putin's anti-democratic activities. The Arizona Republican has also repeatedly complained about the negative impact of Kremlin-linked oligarchs such as Deripaska.

When Deripaska met McCain, Davis was part of Davis Manafort, a lobbying firm that was being paid to provide political advice to pro-Russian and oligarch-funded candidates in Ukraine, according to interviews and news accounts. At the same time, McCain was publicly supporting those candidates' Western-oriented democratic rivals...

Politics · Sat, 01/26/2008 - 13:57 · · Importance: 1