Why is the lobbyist for a sanctioned Russian oligarch visiting Julian Assange?

A new report highlights just how frequently Oleg Deripaska's man in Washington visited the Wikileaks head.

CASEY MICHEL JUN 20, 2018, 4:21 PM

The lobbyist for a sanctioned Russian oligarch visited Julian Assange, the Wikileaks head currently holed up in London’s Ecuadorian embassy, numerous times last year.

But no one knows why.

The Guardian reported Wednesday that visitor logs at the Ecuadorian embassy show that Adam Waldman, the longtime lobbyist for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, stopped by to visit Assange a total of nine times last year, more than nearly anyone else.

Waldman’s visits bookended Trump’s 2017 inauguration, with the most recent stop by the embassy coming last November.

Neither Waldman nor Deripaska responded to the Guardian’s questions about the nature of Waldman’s visits. Assange, who recently had his Twitter access revoked by the Ecuadorian government, has also not commented.

https://thinkprogress.org/sanctioned-russian-lobbyist-meeting-with-assange-df1865627145/