The following all the more interesting given 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis

http://infodio.com/20170114/fusion/gps/derwick/associates/venezuela/corruption http://archive.is/koSjj ( thanks @Arrvee )

Before getting to Fusion GPS associations to Venezuela, let me just say that that country is, by far, Latin America's most corrupt. Its president, Nicolas Maduro, has the unique distinction of being the "individual who has done the most in the world to advance organized criminal activity and corruption" according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Maduro had some very talented competitors in Vladimir Putin, Bashar Al-Assad and Rodrigo Duterte. In the advancement of "criminal activity and corruption", Venezuela's regime has allowed and encouraged emergence of different criminal gangs. One of the most notorious of them all is Derwick Associates. Here is where Fusion GPS comes into this story...continue

2014 Adam Kaufmann & Peter Fritsch: Derwick's newest associates

Peter Fritsch formerly with the Wall Street Journal, is now part of FusionGPS a research firm that Venezuelan sources say has been hired by none other than Derwick Associates, the same company being probed by Federal Agencies and New York's DA's office according to the Wall Street Journal, Fritsch's former employer.

Steal a few hundred millions in some banana republic, and you can get the very best defence attorneys, spin doctors, research specialists, and former investigative journalists money can buy. There seem to be no ethical issues at play. Adam Kaufmann, for instance, is quoted as saying

“If you’re going to use U.S. financial institutions, you have to play by U.S. rules.” ... Mind you if a thug like Nursultan Nazarbayevcan get Tony Blair to white wash widely reported killing of protesters by his regime, who is to stop the Derwick boys from ordering the likes of Fritsch and Kaufmann to defend their little known corruption racket in Venezuela?

Steele Dossier and Whistleblower

2017

Thor Halvorssen, a prominent human-rights activist, has submitted sworn testimony outlining a Fusion attempt to undercut his investigation of Venezuelan corruption. Mr. Halvorssen claims Fusion “devised smear campaigns, prepared dossiers containing false information,” and “carefully placed slanderous news items” to malign him and his activity.

Halvorssen is providing the Senate Judiciary Committee with new information on Wednesday about Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm behind the dossier of anti-Trump research compiled last year by former British spy Christopher Steele.

Thor Halvorssen, the founder of the Human Rights Foundation, says in a letter to the committee that Fusion GPS targeted him and several other people because of their criticism of Derwick Associates, a Venezuelan energy company reportedly under investigation for an alleged multi-billion dollar kickback scheme.

Fusion GPS are “highly paid smear experts,” Halvorssen says in the testimony, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Caller. Halvorssen alleges that Fusion GPS — which was founded by a group of ex-Wall Street Journal reporters — was working for Derwick Associates when it spread false rumors in the media that he is a pedophile and drug addict. Halvorssen also details what he says was told to him by Jose de Cordoba, a Wall Street Journal reporter who worked on an investigative piece about Derwick Associates in July 2014.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/25/trump-dossier-firm-are-highly-paid-smear-experts-human-rights-activist-will-tell-senate/

related: 2014 How to steal 70 million dollars in a day: Derwick Associates Style

There are many things we still don't know about Derwick Associates, but there's one we do know: Alejandro Betancourt (left), Pedro Trebbau and Jeff Canon (right) swindled -at the very least- $70 million USD from the Venezuelan State.

Do readers remember Adam Kaufmann? Former New York's District Attorney's Office über prosecutor cum Derwick Associates lawyer, who went on the record, on the Wall Street Journal no less, saying "We are a transparent company and have nothing to hide"? Well, vindication's a bitch, isn't Adam? As it turns, someone has leaked documents straight from within Derwick Associates' office in Caracas, and what do we find about this "transparent company"? We find a $277 million purchase order from BARIVEN (a PDVSA subsidiary), addressed to Pedro Trebbau (one of Derwick Associates main execs) for a bunch of turbines. We also find a $207 million "Equipment Purchase Agreement" between Alejandro Betancourt (another of Derwick Associates execs) and Jeff Canon from Energy Parts Solution (a division of ProEnergy Services). What else do we find? We find that both documents refer to the same equipment and have the same date: December 30, 2009.

Which means, in Kaufmann's own words, it is "transparent" that in concurrent transactions that took place the same day Derwick Associates stole $70 million from BARIVEN. Take it away Adam, all the way to discovery mate!