May 1, 2008 – Flashback to when Hillary Clinton was tougher on Illegal immigrants

Hillary Clinton in 2008:

“If they’ve committed a crime, deport them, no questions asked. They’re gone.”

If they’re working and law-abiding, here are the conditions for you to be staying:

You have to pay a stiff fine because you came here illegally. You have to pay back taxes and you have to learn English.

You have to get in line.

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May 01, 2008

“I salute the many Americans who have worked so hard in support of a comprehensive immigration reform that honors our history as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. As President, I am committed to working with Congress to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill within my first 100 days in office. I am also committed to continue working to end the demagoguery and divisiveness that has too often marked the immigration debate so that we can bring the American people together to achieve the reform we so badly need.

“I am proud to have been one of only two co-sponsors of Senator Kennedy’s original comprehensive reform legislation back in 2004. I believe that reform must include — as essential ingredients– a strengthening of our border security, greater cross-cooperation with our neighbors, strict but fair enforcement of our laws, federal assistance to our state and local governments, strict penalties for those who exploit undocumented workers, and a path to earned legal status for those who are here, working hard, paying taxes, respecting the law, and willing to meet a high bar.

“Along with these changes, I believe we must repair those broken portions of our immigration system that irrevocably damage families and force citizens and lawful immigrants to live apart from their spouses and children overseas.

“Today’s marches add to the urgency of passing comprehensive immigration reform that finally solves the problems of our broken system.” ` Hillary Clinton

May 2008-August 2013: Jonathan Winer is senior director of APCO and lobbying for the Russian nuclear power industry

(…) In another message sent from his State Department email account, Winer also touted Steele to an executive at APCO Worldwide, Ariuna Namsrai.“Ariuna, my friend Chris Steele from London is in town and working on Russian matters as always,” Winer emailed Namsrai on Nov. 20, 2014. “I thought it might make sense for the two of you to get together if you had any time tomorrow.”

“Great to hear from you!” she enthused in reply. “I met Chris before so it’s nice to hear that he is in DC.” In the same email, Namsrai asks, “Chris — what time is convenient for you?”

The arrangements having been made for Namsrai to meet with Steele, she closed by saying, “Miss you Jonathan, and hope to see you soon! Hugs, Ariuna.”

As one lawyer who specializes in federal employment law told RealClearInvestigations, it is “wildly inappropriate” for a State Department official to be recommending contractors to lobbyists with business before the department.

But there’s more to it. Who, after all, is Ariana Namsrai, with whom Winer is on a “hugs” basis? She is APCO’s managing director for Russia. Born in Mongolia, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

APCO is of particular interest because Winer was a senior director and “business diplomacy consultant” for the firm from May 2008 to August 2013. After he left the State Department in 2017, Winer returned to APCO as a “senior counselor.”

During his first stint, Winer worked with Namsrai representing a Russian nuclear power company called Techsnabexport. Or at least they did their best to make it appear they were primarily working for that company when they were actually working for the Russian government.

APCO’s 2011 Foreign Agents Registration Act filing names Techsnabexport as the “foreign principal” for which it was working. The firm described their client as “an open joint-stock company wholly owned by the JSC Atomenergoprom.” In the fine print, one discovers that the company in turn is “wholly owned by State corporation for Atomic Energy, ‘Rosatom,’ which is wholly owned by the Russian government.”

A “Contract for Lobbying Services and Consulting Services” was drawn up by APCO in April 2010, a copy of which was attached as a secondary appendix to the FARA filing. The “Scope of Work” includes “Creating and promoting a new image of State Atomic Energy Corporation ‘Rosatom,’” supporting “the interests of Rosatom in the USA,” and overcoming “existing political and trade barriers.”

In October 2010, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved Rosatom’s controversial acquisition of Uranium One, a Canadian company with extensive mining projects in the U.S.

Namsrai did not respond to emails from RealClearInvestigations asking why APCO listed Techsnabexport as its “foreign principal” client and not the official Russian state nuclear power enterprise, Rosatom, and whether Steele performed any work for the company.” (Read more: RealClearInvestigations, 8/25/2020)  (Archive)