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<\/a>John Podesta, chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, addresses the crowd at Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s election night rally in New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS\/Carlos Barria<\/p><\/div>\n
Richard Pollock
\nThe Daily Caller<\/p>\n
John Podesta, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton\u2019s 2016 national campaign chairman, may have violated federal law by failing to disclose the receipt of 75,000 shares of stock from a Kremlin-financed company when he joined the Obama White House in 2014, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation\u2019s Investigative Group.<\/p>\n
Joule Unlimited Technologies \u2014 financed in part by a Russian firm \u2014 \u00a0originally awarded<\/a> Podesta 100,000 shares of stock options when in 2010 he joined that board along with its Dutch-based entities: Joule Global Holdings, BV and the Stichting Joule Global Foundation.<\/p>\n When Podesta announced his departure from the Joule board in January 2014 to become President Obama\u2019s special counsellor, the company officially\u00a0issued<\/a> him 75,000 common shares of stock.<\/p>\n The Schedule B section of the federal government\u2019s form 278 which \u2014 requires financial disclosures for government officials \u2014 required Podesta to \u201creport any purchase, sale or exchange by you, your spouse, or dependent children\u2026of any property, stocks, bonds, commodity futures and other securities when the amount of the transaction exceeded $1,000.\u201d<\/p>\n Podesta\u2019s form 278<\/a>\u00a0Schedule B is blank regarding his receipt of any stock from any company.<\/p>\n Liberals and conservatives alike tell TheDCNF Podesta should have disclosed the stock.<\/p>\n \u201cWell Podesta should certainly have been more upfront in filling this out. \u00a0Clearly, it should have been fully disclosed,\u201d said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the liberal group Public Citizen which was founded by Ralph Nader. \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s the point of the personal financial disclosure forms, especially for anyone entering the White House,\u201d he told TheDCNF in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the transfer of stock took place, it had to be disclosed,\u201d added former U.S. Attorney Joseph DiGenova in an interview. \u201cIf he didn\u2019t, clearly it\u2019s a violation.\u201d<\/p>\n The same year Podesta joined Joule, the company agreed to accept 1-Billion-Rubles \u2014 or $35 million \u2014 from Rusnano, a state-run and financed Russian company with close ties to President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n Anatoly Chubais, the company CEO and two other top Russian banking executives worked together with Podesta on the Joule boards. The board met six times a year.<\/p>\n Ron Hosko, a former FBI assistant director said because of the Kremlin backing, it was essential Podesta disclose the financial benefits he received from the company.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in this case where you\u2019re talking about foreign interests and foreign involvement, the collateral interest with these disclosure forms is put in the forefront of full disclosure of any foreign interest that you may have,\u201d he told TheDCNF in an interview.<\/p>\n He added that Russian money was a continuing concern because it could \u201cbecome a counterintelligence concern for America.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a troubled question if you deliberately omit this information on the form,\u201d Hosko, a 30-year veteran of the FBI told TheDCNF. \u201cWere you completely truthful on this form that you filled out, yes or no?\u201d<\/p>\n Podesta took possession of the stock in January 2014, the same month he entered the White House, according to WikiLeaks.<\/p>\n The existence of the 75,000 shares of Joule stock was first revealed by the Government Accountability Institute report<\/a> issued last year.<\/p>\n But Podesta didn\u2019t pocket all the shares. Correspondence from Podesta to Joule instructed the firm to transfer only 33,693 shares to Leonidio Holdings, a brand-new entity he incorporated only on December 20, 2013, about ten days before he entered the White House.<\/p>\n