Former Burisma lobbyist Karen Tramontano, who is also a donor to Joe Biden and Senate Democrats, has just picked up a new Ukrainian energy client, one who deals in green energy, according to federal lobbying filings.
Tramontano was deputy chief of staff to Bill Clinton in his second term, and is a consistent donor to Democrats, having given more than $100,000 to Democratic campaigns over the years, according to FEC data, and more than $2,500 to elect Biden this election.
Tramontano’s lobbying firm, Blue Star Strategies, worked for Burisma during the Obama-Biden administration, and emails show that Tramantano threw around the name of Burisma board member Hunter Biden to get access to the State Department in those days.
Joe Biden has said Hunter did nothing wrong in his work for Burisma.
Tramontano, last Wednesday, filed a new lobbying registration related to Ukrainian energy. TIU Canada Ukraine is a Canadian company that does green energy projects in Ukraine. TIU is currently battling Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Pinchuk over access to Ukraine’s grid. Green energy subsidies and the whole energy industry is very tied up with governments and oligarchs.
The new lobbying filing says Tramontano and COO Sally Painter are now lobbying the U.S. government on “Sustainable energy investments in Ukraine.” The registration was filed around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, and states that the contract began Dec. 1.
Blue Star was not registered to lobby for Burisma, but the emails, made public through the Freedom of Information Act, show that Tramontano set up multiple meetings between Burisma officials and U.S. State Department officials, and state Department official Amos Hochstein implied that Tramontano lobbied him.
Blue Star has also lobbied the U.S. government to provide more aid to Ukraine.
