Somali Embassy Hires BGR Lobbying Firm After Biden Admin Grants $1.1 Billion Debt Relief

by Seamus Othot | Dec 19, 2024

The Somali Embassy in Washington, D.C., hired the services of the political lobbying firm BGR Group last month, just weeks after the Biden administration forgave the war-torn nation’s billion dollar plus debt.

“This $1.1 billion in debt relief is in addition to the $1.2 billion of development, economic, security, and humanitarian assistance the United States has provided to Somalia just this fiscal year. The United States continues to be a steadfast partner in support of the people of Somalia,” said the U.S. Embassy in Somalia on X.

The debt forgiveness came alongside another $1.2 billion in U.S. taxpayer-funded aid sent to the country this year, according to the embassy’s statement.

Just weeks after the Biden Administration decided to essentially give Somalia a billion dollars in American taxpayer funds by forgiving its debt, the third-world nation used its newfound wealth to hire a public relations and political lobbying firm.

The BGR Group will “provide government relations services concerning U.S.-Somalia relations,” meaning that it will work to further Somalia’s interests in U.S. politics.

Somalia will pay $600,000 of its newfound wealth to the lobbying firm to secure a yearlong contract, according to records highlighted by Libs of TikTok.

In other words: Somalia is using money given to them by American taxpayers to hire a politically connected lobbying firm to help them lobby for even more money from American taxpayers.

According to OpenSecrets, a political financial watchdog organization, the BGR Group lobbied on behalf of 208 clients in 2024 and took in $33,370,000.

Their clients include numerous pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including Pfizer, insurance companies, and the infamous BlackRock investment corporation.

The governments of Azerbaijan, India, Kurdistan, along with the Chinese tech company Xiaomi Inc., all retained BGR’s services this year.

They also lobby on behalf of Vineyard Wind, a wind turbine company that caused an environmental crisis earlier this year when the blade of a turbine off Nantucket broke off and shed fiberglass into the ocean.

Seamus Othot is a reporter for The Maine Wire. He grew up in New Hampshire, and graduated from The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, where he was able to spend his time reading the great works of Western Civilization. He can be reached at [email protected]

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