AUR Signs $1.5M Lobbying Deal in U.S., DOJ Filing Shows

The United States Department of Justice has registered a $1.5 million contract between an American lobbying firm and the AUR party for a lobbying campaign in the United States, consisting of a series of interviews and meetings with American officials, according to G4Media.

“This is disinformation. We have not signed any contract nor have we given any money to an entity in the United States or any other country as falsely claimed!” claims the party led by presidential candidate George Simion. A week ago, George Simion gave a series of interviews in the United States, including to Steve Bannon, former advisor to Donald Trump, in which he spoke of a “coup d’état” in Romania and the “parallel state.”

According to documents registered by the American authorities, the first vice-president of AUR, Marius Lulea, signed a contract to conduct a lobbying campaign for George Simion, in order to secure support from well-known American personalities, especially promoters of the MAGA (Make America Great Again – n.r.) movement.

This is a document that was also published on the official website of the US Department of Justice, the American institution where American companies that provide lobbying services are obliged to report contracts concluded both domestically and internationally with entities foreign to the United States of America, such as the AUR party in this case. On the part of AUR, it is a media promotion contract in the United States. It also mentions services related to political promotion, organization of meetings, political networking, and the amount of 1,500,000 dollars for the contracted services, payable within 30 days of signing the contract.

The amount spent could come from the money the party gets from the subsidy paid by the state to parliamentary parties.

AUR press office stated the following: “The information appearing in the public space regarding a so-called contract between AUR and a campaign in the US is false. There is no contract signed by AUR with the company referred to in the public space. It is disinformation. We have not signed any contract nor have we given any money to an entity in the United States or any other country, as they say falsely! Our expenses are transparent.”

Last week, AUR President George Simion was in the United States and published several photos on social media, as well as parts of interviews with American figures with conservative views, including Steve Bannon, one of Donald Trump’s former close advisors.

“Călin Georgescu won the previous election in Romania fair and square, but the deep state in Romania and the unelected bureaucrats in Brussels didn’t like him. It was a coup d’etat”, George Simion said at Steve Bannon’s podcast. The X post is available here.

On the other hand, the Permanent Electoral Authority, the institution that analyzes the legality of election campaign expenses, will begin the procedure to verify the possible lobbying contract in the US.

The control was announced “given the information that appeared in the public space regarding the fact that the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party may have carried out possible political propaganda activities in violation of the provisions of Law no. 334/2006 on the financing of the activity of political parties and electoral campaigns, republished, with subsequent amendments and supplements.”

The American firm BGD Legal and Consulting does not deny the existence of the document, but says it is not in force. AUR called it a “draft”. BGD Legal and Consulting states, in a response provided to Hotnews.ro, that no contract with the AUR party has entered into force and that it has not received any payment from the political party or affiliated companies.