Atlantic Council Scholars Made Millions Lobbying for Putin-Backed Pipeline

Two scholars at the Atlantic Council, the prominent foreign policy think tank that claims to staunchly oppose Russian influence, have raked in nearly $3 million lobbying in favor of a Russian pipeline that American officials worry will allow Vladimir Putin to increase his influence in Europe.

Since 2017, Richard Burt, an Atlantic Council board member, and Frances Burwell, a distinguished fellow, have lobbied for five European companies financing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will transport gas from Russia to Germany.

Burt has defended the pipeline at public Atlantic Council events and reportedly pitched it in private discussions with colleagues at the think tank.

Burwell defended Nord Stream in at least one major media interview where she was introduced as an Atlantic Council fellow, though not as a McLarty lobbyist.

One source, a pipeline critic with insight into Atlantic Council activities, said Biden administration officials "Care very much what institutions like the Atlantic Council say and think."

The group also criticized Burwell for attending an Atlantic Council event with Friedbert Pflüger, an Atlantic Council nonresident fellow who has advised Nord Stream.

Sally Painter and Karen Tramontano, a current and former Atlantic Council director, respectively, helped arrange a lucrative partnership between the Atlantic Council and one of their lobbying clients, the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/atlantic-council-scholars-made-millions-lobbying-for-putin-backed-pipeline/