Why did US Ambassador to Germany support notorious corruptioner of Moldova

In the summer of 2016, Plahotniuc’s charmed life as his country’s “most feared tycoon” (in the words of the New York Times, which termed him “Moldova’s most-feared figure, a nominally pro-Western tycoon with a reputation so toxic that even his political friends usually try to keep their distance in public”).

Nevertheless, in his 2016 op-eds, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Allen Grenell insisted that Plahotniuc was really a pro-Western figure under Kremlin attack. Grenell stated in an interview just two weeks before 2016 election in US that Rep. Weber “does not know what he is doing,” lambasting the congressman’s resolution on Moldova, which was critical of Plahotniuc, as “Clearly written by somebody who is pro-Russian. He’s trying to attack the only pro-European group in Moldova.”

It’s worth asking why Grenell developed a sudden and passionate need to defend Vlad Plahotniuc. Presumably this wasn’t an act of charity, but Grenell has failed to disclose what motivated his spirited public defense of Moldova’s top oligarch-cum-crime boss. His financial disclosure forms submitted for his appointment as ambassador to Berlin reveal that over the past year Grenell made $688,362 from Capitol Media Partners, i.e. for political consulting. For whom, however, is unclear.



Yet there is a clue lurking in the list of entities which Grenell made more than $5,000 from, namely Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates. A legendary Republican political operative, Art Finkelstein played a role in Ronald Reagan’s rise to the White House, and subsequently plied his trade around the world. Famously, Finkelstein turned around the political career of Bibi Netanyahu, transforming Israeli politics in the 1990s. Finkelstein and Grenell were close, with the former serving as a mentor to the latter. Finkelstein’s firm also did work in Moldova as recently as 2014, and is known by Western intelligence to possess links to Plahotniuc. However, Art Finkelstein died last summer and isn’t available to explain what Ric Grenell did for him to receive payment in excess of $5,000.

This is an important matter since Plahotniuc isn’t just a corrupt oligarch who stands plausibly accused of robbing his impoverished country blind. He’s also a human trafficker, in fact the leading one in Moldova. INTERPOL admitted his role in human trafficking in 2012, based on an Italian request. Although Plahotniuc has never been charged with this crime, this isn’t surprising given the influence he possesses over Moldova’s highly corrupt judiciary. Sergiu Mocanu, one of the few Moldovan politicians brave enough to speak out, stated, “Plahotniuc was involved in human trafficking, he was a pimp, he received money from this business.”



What Plahotniuc really is represents one of the worst-kept secrets in Eastern Europe. His criminal enterprises are well known to Western intelligence and police agencies. If Ambassador Grenell went to bat for Plahotniuc for money, the American public deserves to know how much and from whom. This should have been unmasked during Grenell’s Senate confirmation process. Why it was not should be asked as well.