A research and advocacy group that has published extensively about the civil war in South Sudan and US policy toward the country is tied through its founder to lobbying firm Podesta Group, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Salva Kiir's government to influence US policy toward the country, according to company documents.

The Podesta Group was founded by former White House official John Podesta and is now run by his brother. Podesta is also the founder, ex-president and incumbent board member of Center for American Progress, a thinktank which managed the Enough Project from 2007 through 2015.

Under the terms of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Podesta lobby firm has filed regulatory reports with the US Department of Justice about its funding from the South Sudanese government. These documents, reviewed by Radio Tamazuj, show that the lobbying company was contracted by the South Sudanese government for a value of not less than $480,000 during South Sudan's civil war.

The lobby firm was tasked to “assist in communicating priority issues in the United States-South Sudan bilateral relationship to relevant U.S. audiences, including Congress, executive branch, media, and policy community.” Podesta's representatives in Washington contacted officials in the White House, State Department, Congress and other government departments, as well as journalists, according to the documents.

A filing by the Podesta Group with the US Department of Justice in 2015 discloses that the group made scores of meetings, phone calls and e-mails with lawmakers, Congressional aides, White House officials, State Department officials, journalists and researchers in Washington in the latter part of 2014, a period during which peace negotiations in South Sudan had stalled.

Acting as contracted representatives of the South Sudanese government, Podesta's lobbyists met with Ambassador Donald Booth, the top US official for South Sudan policy, Representative Chris Smith and other top officials, the document says. They also contacted more than 20 journalists working for influential outlets such as National Public Radio, McClatchy, CNN, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal.

Another filing to the Justice Department by the same group dated 8 February 2016 says that Podesta Group contacted staff of several lawmakers and liaised with influential media including the Washington Post and Voice of America throughout 2015. Podesta's representatives also met personally with at least two lawmakers during the period to discuss relations with South Sudan, including Senator Jeff Flake and again with Rep. Chris Smith.

A contract between Podesta Group and the South Sudanese government, seen by Radio Tamazuj, provided that the government pay $120,000 to the company every quarter starting from March 2014. Podesta Group reported to the Justice Departemnt earlier this year that it ended its relationship with the South Sudanese government in December 2015.

However, Podesta Group's activities raise a question about a potential conflict of interest for the Enough Project, which was founded and run for many years as a project of the Center for American Progress headed by John Podesta. Enough Project says on its website that its objective is to “build leverage for peace and justice in Africa by helping to create real consequences for the perpetrators and facilitators of genocide and other mass atrocities.”

Asked about any conflict of interest, John Prendergast, who runs the Enough Project said, “The Podesta Group as I understand it is run by Tony Podesta, not John. The Center for American Progress was our fiscal sponsor until 2015, but they had no involvement whatsoever in any of our program content. I have never spoken to John Podesta about our work in South Sudan, and no one at CAP [Center for American Progress] or anywhere else influences us in any way. Our record of independent criticism speaks for itself.”

However, a Podesta Group filing indicates that there were discussions between Prendergast and the lobbying firm about US policy toward South Sudan.

The lobby firm also has extensive ties to the presidency and to Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. John Podesta himself was President Bill Clinton's chief of staff, he served as head of President Barack Obama's transition team in 2008 and he is now chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Additionally, the website of the Podesta Group lists Hillary Clinton's former top legislative advisor at the State Department David S. Adams as one of its principals, saying he has “experience representing sovereign nations Kenya and South Sudan”.

Podesta has been described as a power player in Washington. A report by The New York Time last year quoted Paul Begala, a former Clinton White House aide and longtime friend as saying, “He believes in and uses power in a way that many Democrats are too pusillanimous to do... He’s not afraid to use power, and ruthlessly if necessary.”

Another article by The New York Times in 2013 highlighted the links between the Center for American Progress, which housed the Enough Project at the time, and the White House, calling it “a virtual external policy arm of the Obama administration.” The same report said that there blurry lines between the research organization and lobbying firms.

Politico, a specialist politics news outlet in Washington, also questioned the Center for American Progress for its lack of transparency, according to a 2008 article. Referring to Podesta's thinktank, the report said that it “keeps many of its donors secret.” In the same report, however, the vice president for communications for Center for American Progress, Jennifer Palmieri, said the group is entirely within its legal rights in not disclosing donors. “American Progress follows all financial disclosure requirements,” she said.

File photo: John Podesta, former president of Center for American Progress

Update, 14 June 2016: Enough Project have responded to this report with a statement published on their website; we stand by the report.