The Democratic Party website ExxonMcCain [2], delineating the Big Oil connections of several advisors to the GOP candidate, includes the dish on Randy Scheunemann [3]—recently identified by Robert Scheer as a lobbyist for the Georgian government to grease NATO entry, and a veteran of the Project for a New American Century:
Randy Scheunemann—McCain foreign policy adviser and former lobbyist for BP Amoco
McCain's Top Foreign Policy Advisor Lobbied for BP Amoco. From 1999 until 2000, McCain's top foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann lobbied for BP Amoco, for which his firm was paid $120,000. Scheunemann lobbied on issues related to BP-Amoco’s investments, as well as issues concerning international oil production. [Scheunemann/BP Amoco Lobbying Disclosures, Senate Office of Public Records]McCain Chief Foreign Policy Advisor Lobbied for Caspian Alliance; "Sole U.S. Representative" for Kazakhstan's State-Owned Oil & Gas Company, KMG. From 2005 until the end of 2006, McCain's chief foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann lobbied for the Caspian Alliance through his firm Scheunemann & Associates. Caspian paid Scheunemann between $40,000 and $50,000 to "monitor energy and foreign policy legislation and development that affects Caspian Alliance," and to lobby on "issues concerning energy development in the Caspian region." According to the UK's Sunday Times, the Caspian Alliance—based in Azerbaijan—is a subsidiary of, Worldwide Strategic Energy (WSE), and "the sole US representative for KMG." After being contacted by reporters, "staff at the Caspian Alliance, which is based in Azerbaijan, confirmed that it is a subsidiary of WSE and represents KMG in America." [Sunday Times (UK), 7/20/08; Scheunemann/Caspian Alliance Lobbying Disclosures, Senate Office of Public Records]
See our last post on McCain/Palin and the petro-elite [4], Kazakhstan [5] and the struggle for Central Asia [6].
