Five years ago, Mother Jones magazine broke a story that rocked Albanian politics: a mysterious company based in Scotland had paid an American lobbyist to help a presidential candidate in Albania with the Trump administration, and the money was apparently linked to Russia.
Now a new part of the puzzle has been revealed as journalists Dan Friedman and David Corn have brought other details, about the story involving the president of the DP, Lulzim Basha.
In 2017, Nick Muzin, a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), reported in Justice Department filings that he was hired to drum up support in the United States for Lulzim Basha, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Albania (PD), who then challenged the current Prime Minister of Albania. There was nothing unusual about an influential person in DC being retained by a foreign politician. But a $150,000 payment for Muzin’s services had come from an odd source: Biniatta Trade LP, a shell company registered in Scotland out of two other shell companies based in the islands of Belize.
The story that a person or entity in Russia was using an American lobbyist to influence elections in Albania generated front page headlines in Albania. The possibility of Russian covert intervention made sense. Basha’s party opposed the government led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, and warned of increasing Russian influence in the Balkans. Moscow certainly had an interest in Basha removing Rama.
DPA denounced the article and Mother Jones, claiming the piece was part of a conspiracy involving billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Eventually, Albanian prosecutors charged Basha with money laundering and document forgery, but this charge was later dropped.
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