Time again to expose real problems with the so-called Amazon Defense Coalition - which fails to sue Ecuador, or any other oil company save for one that's no longer there (Chevron) and regarding environmental damage in the Amazon River Delta - where it is an organization that's really just a front for a group of savvy trial lawyers to make a financial killing.
According to the work of blogger Bob McCarty and blogger Carter Wood, of Bob McCarty Writes and The Shop Floor respectively, the Amazon Defense Coalition is actually named "Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia" in Spanish, and was formed by lawyer Steve Donziger to file for personal injuries Donziger claims Ecuadorians suffered by Chevron / Texaco oil production activities that stopped in 1992.
Donziger formed the group in Ecuador, thus making it a foreign nonprofit. Moreover Ben Barnes, a powerful lobbyist who represents a number of American firms, including the law firm Kohn, Swift, and Graf, failed to mention he also provided services to ADC in his 2008 lobbying registration file, which you can see here.
But Barnes has another lobbying registration document (here) filed September 9, 2009, that listss "Frente" as his client, but at a New York City address of 245 W. 104th Street.
That listing just happens to match the address (again 245 W. 104th Street) used for a Federal Elections Commission Itemized Receipts form (here) completed by "Udall for Us All Committee", a group which McCarty says raised money for Democrat Tom Udall's U.S. Senate run in New Mexico.
The problem is that Barnes claimed not to represent a foreign company when Frente itself is just that.
Now, there's nothing wrong with having a foreign client, but listing that client with an American address raises a red flag. If Barnes is involved with any State Department issue that impacts Frente, he would have to recuse himself from that activity.
Stay tuned.
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