August 07, 2019 - 06:10 PM EDT thehill.comREAD : George Soros's...

August 07, 2019 - 06:10 PM EDT

thehill.com

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George Soros's secret 2016 access to State exposes 'big money' hypocrisy of Democrats Liberal mega-donor George Soros made some big bets during the last U.S. presidential election.

One was that Hillary Clinton would win the presidency. Another was that he could reshape Ukraine's government to his liking, and that his business empire might find fertile ground in that former Soviet state.

So when Donald Trump's improbable march to the White House picked up steam in the spring of 2016, Team Soros marched to the top of the State Department to protect some of those investments, according to newly released department memos providing a rare glimpse into the Democratic donor's extraordinary access to the Obama administration.

Then-Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland received repeated calls, emails and meeting requests from Soros, according to the memos obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the conservative group Citizens United.On May 25, 2016, for example,

Chris Canavan of the Soros Fund Management firm provided Nuland a written briefing under the heading "Russia sovereign bond issue." At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime posed a threat to Soros's vision for Ukraine.

But the 2016 State memos offer a powerful irony: In many ways, Soros is emblematic of the very financial influence and access that liberals seek to eliminate.

People close to Soros told me in interviews that he often had contact with government officials during the Obama years, including a 2010 meeting with Clinton at State. But they acknowledged the flurry with Nuland in spring 2016 was unusual both for its frequency and its intensity.

But a close examination of internal Soros organization documents show a close alignment of his political, business and philanthropic interests, especially in 2016.

Federal election records show Soros was one of the top 10 donors to Clinton's 2016 election effort, giving a whopping $10.6 million to her campaign and the super PACs supporting it.