Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, the law firm representing Jeff Bezos in his dispute involving personal photos and the National Enquirer tabloid, is headed by a famed attorney who was widely criticized over controversial tactics reportedly utilized to minimize sexual assault and harassment allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Since 1997, David Boies has been chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner. Besides helping Weinstein settle a sexual harassment claim, Boies reportedly personally signed a contract with the shadowy private investigation company Black Cube, which engaged in efforts to foil the extensive New York Times investigation into the accusations against Weinstein.

Those Black Cube actions reportedly included one of the firm’s operatives posing as a women’s rights activist in order to gather information from one of Weinstein’s female accusers. An operative hired by Black Cube also reportedly went undercover to meet with reporters probing the Weinstein allegations to try to obtain the names of female accusers speaking to the news media about the Hollywood giant.

In his news-making post at Medium, Bezos released email exchanges with the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media, LLC, showing that the billionaire utilized Boies Schiller Flexner in his legal communications with the media firm related to the private pictures and extortion claims.

The New York Times further reported on the specific Boies Schiller attorneys working for Bezos, who founded Amazon and owns The Washington Post:

Notably, David Boies himself is not listed as representing Bezos.

In his Medium blog post on Thursday, Bezos accused the National Enquirer publisher of “extortion and blackmail,” alleging that the supermarket tabloid attempted to leverage embarrassing personal photos in exchange for the billionaire dropping legal claims and publicly stating that he has “no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AM’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”

The “coverage” mentioned was National Enquirer‘s 11-page spread first breaking the story of Bezos’ alleged extramarital affair last month.

The alleged affair with Lauren Sanchez, a former host of the Fox show “So You Think You Can Dance,” was reportedly a key factor in the announcement of Bezos’ pending divorce from his longtime wife, novelist MacKenzie Bezos.

Boies Schiller Flexner has long been led by co-founder David Boies, considered one of the most powerful attorneys in America. A Bloomberg profile characterized Boies’ work thusly: “For decades, Boies has been cleaning up his wealthy clientele’s messes. More quietly, he’s been cleaning up his own.”

Bloomberg cited questions about Boies’ judgement and claims of “moral outrage”:

The profile revolved around the law firm’s defense of its now former client Harvey Weinstein and Boies’ own close personal and financial relationship with the fallen Hollywood big shot. Besides the firm’s representation of the movie mogul, Boies himself has done business with Weinstein, was regularly seen in Weinstein’s social orbit and was described by the New York Times as a “trusted adviser to Mr. Weinstein.”

A widely cited New Yorker piece penned by Ronan Farrow first broke the story that Boies inked a deal with Black Cube, described as a private investigation outfit founded by former Israeli intelligence analysts, in an attempt to stop the Times’ investigation into Weinstein, with an operative of Black Cube reportedly pretending to be a women’s rights activist while trying to gather information from one of Weinstein’s female accusers. A Black Cube agent also met with reporters undercover to divine the names of those women who were secretly speaking to the news media about Weinstein, the New Yorker reported.

Boies’ actions took place while Boies Schiller Flexner was separately representing the New York Times, including in a libel case.

Farrow, writing at the New Yorker, reported:

Boies personally signed the contract with Black Cube, according to the New Yorker, with the attorney admitting that the opposition information gathered from one private investigation firm was funneled through him to Weinstein:

After the New Yorker broke the story, Boies characterized his involvement with Black Cube as a mistake. “We should not have been contracting with and paying investigators that we did not select and direct,” he conceded. “At the time, it seemed a reasonable accommodation for a client, but it was not thought through, and that was my mistake. It was a mistake at the time.”

Boies’ actions drew sharp criticism and did not sit well with the firm’s other client. The New York Times fired Boies’ firm over the matter and called the famed attorney’s conduct in the affair, which included an attempt to stop the Times’ own reporting, a “grave betrayal of trust.”

An op-ed published in the Times by Stanford law professor Deborah L. Rhode lobbed ethics accusations at Boies:

Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan called Boies a “scumbag” over his role in hiring Black Cube.

Besides hiring a firm to try to allegedly stop the Weinstein accusations from going public, Boies also helped Weinstein reach a settlement with one alleged victim of the movie mogul. Former Weinstein Company employee Lauren O’Connor authored a 2015 memo in which she detailed allegations of sexual harassment and complained that she was afraid to travel with Weinstein, leading Boies to help Weinstein settle with O’Connor.

O’Connor told the New York Times that she believes the settlement was a way of attempting to make her accusations disappear after she persisted with the charges. “The first time I spoke out, the message from H.R. was, ‘This is not our problem,’” she told the newspaper. “The second time I spoke up the response was, ‘How can we quickly make this go away?’”

Boies is more deeply tied to Weinstein. The lawyer reportedly met Weinstein in 2001 and discussed the possibility of writing a memoir for Weinstein’s imprint Miramax Books. The memoir, Courting Justice, was published by Weinstein’s company in 2004.

In 2005, Boies helped Weinstein and his brother Bob separate from the Walt Disney Co. He also provided counsel for the Weinsteins after they first formed the Weinstein Co.

The relationship extended well beyond legal advice. Weinstein and Boies co-hosted a private screening in New York for liberal activist Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. The two were seen together having dinner with Hillary Clinton days after her loss against Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential primaries and immediately thereafter Clinton began discussions with Weinstein regarding a TV documentary about her presidential bid. Weinstein was on the invite list for Boies’ 75th birthday bash held at the Wynn Las Vegas in 2016.

Boies’ daughter Mary Regency got one of her first acting credits for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, a film produced in 2012 by the Weinstein Co. Weinstein also acquired the U.S. rights for a Western that was to be executive produced by Boies and produced by his daughter via the Boies/Schiller Film Group, which was formed by Boies and the son of his legal partner, Jonathan Schiller. Boies also reportedly invested a total of $10 million in two Weinstein Co. movies.

Boies finally dropped Weinstein as a client in early November 2017.

Speaking to Ronan Farrow, Boies admitted that he had seen enough red flags that should have alerted him to Weinstein’s treatment of women. “Although he vigorously denies using physical force, Mr. Weinstein has himself recognized that his contact with women was indefensible and incredibly hurtful,” Boies said.

Boies added: “In retrospect, I knew enough in 2015 that I believe I should have been on notice of a problem, and done something about it. I don’t know what, if anything, happened after 2015, but to the extent it did, I think I have some responsibility. I also think that if people had taken action earlier it would have been better for Mr. Weinstein.”

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Following the negative publicity about his ties to Weinstein, Boies’s law firm upped the number of attorneys on its executive committee from seven to 11, while Boies was reelected chairman last December.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.

Written with research by Joshua Klein.

The call went out late Monday night Brussels time — early afternoon in California.

On one end of the line was Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s commissioner for competition. On the other was Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google.

Vestager, a steely Danish politician, was delivering a blunt message. The next day, in some 12 hours, she would go public with her ruling: the Silicon Valley tech giant had manipulated its search results to unfairly bolster its bottom line.

The transatlantic phone call was the first formal notice to Google that the European Commission had concluded its probe, according to people on both sides of the case. The conversation was short, cordial and businesslike, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.

Vestager told Pichai that she had considered his company’s arguments but was nonetheless going to fine the company. What she didn’t tell him was the size of the penalty Google faced: a record-breaking €2.4 billion fine.

That, along with a courtesy copy of the 242-page decision, wouldn’t be provided until the next day, just a couple of hours before Vestager took to the stage at midday on Tuesday.

After an inquiry that had stretched for 2,401 days and concluded after months of meticulous planning, Vestager was determined not to let anyone steal the show.

Utmost secrecy

Tuesday’s announcement will go down as one of the defining moments of Vestager’s career, a moment in which she and the EU stamped their authority on one of the world’s most powerful companies after years of setbacks and reversals.

As recently as a year ago, the case against Google seemed bogged down in a Brussels bureaucracy. The Commission was struggling to grapple with one of the world’s largest and richest companies. Vestager had to bolster her case with a fresh set of charges — a move many saw as a sign of weakness. Her computer systems were struggling to handle Google’s data dumps. And there were indications of internal divisions within her department.

Officials from Vestager’s team have spent much of the time since then under intense pressure by the commissioner to deliver, working long hours to pull together one of the most complex cases in EU antitrust history. They did so, with little news of their progress leaking out.

As recently as Monday, just hours before Vestager spoke with Pichai, Google’s key Brussels advisers were unaware a decision was imminent — only learning through the press that a verdict that had been predicted to land at the end of July was suddenly expected by the end of the week, by Wednesday, by Tuesday evening, and finally on Tuesday at noon.

They were not the only ones in the dark. Vestager’s tight information control extended even to members of her own team. Hours before the announcement, the scale of the fine was known only to a small circle of insiders close to the commissioner — not to the wider team investigating Google. The date of the announcement was kept from officials in Vestager’s antitrust division not working on the case.

Google’s rivals — the companies bringing the case before the Commission — were none the wiser. Many of them were busy preparing for upcoming meetings scheduled with competition investigators, consultations in which they expected to provide the last of their input before the decision was announced.

The scheduled meetings were just one of several misdirections — intentional or not — that kept the wider world guessing at Vestager’s intentions. In the weeks ahead of the decision, rumors of a fine just over €1 billion circulated among advisers and journalists.

Vestager even managed to keep a tight lid on the information exchanged when she consulted national competition enforcers on the verdict a few weeks ago.

At the podium

Behind the scenes, in Vestager’s office on the 10th floor at the Commission’s Berlaymont building, preparations for the big day had been taking place for months. A formidable communicator who places a premium on preparation, Vestager spent weeks listening to briefings by senior officials, probing the case’s strengths and weaknesses, running through mock questions and preparing the responses she would deliver from the podium.

One particular concern was that the case would become a flashpoint for transatlantic tension — potentially attracting the fury of U.S. President and tweeter-in-chief Donald Trump. And so Vestager’s office prepped figures and scripted responses so that she would be ready to debunk accusations that the Commission was unfairly targeting U.S. companies.

On the day of the announcement, Vestager gathered the heads of Europe’s 28 national competition authorities in Brussels for a meeting. The symbolism of presenting a united front, given the potentially explosive nature of the case, was striking.

At 12:06 p.m. a smiling Vestager strode out onto the podium in the Commission’s large press room, built deep into the basement of the Berlaymont. After taking a customary photo of the assembled press (and being photographed doing so), she served herself a glass of water and began: “Today, the Commission has decided to fine Google €2.4 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules …”

After all her meticulous planning and secrecy, a media outlet had revealed the figure despite an agreement to wait until the official announcement. But Vestager delivered an assured performance, with characteristic touches of light humor: “Before reaching our conclusions, we have analyzed huge quantities of data. This includes 5.2 terabytes; [it] would take me more than 17,000 years to read them out.”

Asked about allegations of protectionism, she said: “We have heard accusations of being biased against U.S companies, so I have been going through the statistics…”

Brokering support

After the press conference, she joined her colleagues from the national competition authorities for lunch, where she once again presented her case.

Vestager’s effort to involve the national competition authorities is telling: the Danish commissioner is aware of the need to broker support within the wider regulatory community, and she’s adept at doing so. As a courtesy, MEPs following the case were told of the decision and the fine a few minutes before the public announcement.

And while Vestager did not put her decision before her fellow commissioners for full debate, as is customary, her cabinet briefed the chiefs of staff on Monday (though they did not reveal the scale of the fine).

Following the announcement Tuesday, fellow Commissioners Violeta Bulc, Pierre Moscovici and Věra Jourová tweeted their support. Andrus Ansip, the commissioner in charge of digital affairs, was a little more muted, simply retweeting the official announcement.

On Wednesday, Vestager followed up her announcement with a marquee presentation of the case to the weekly meeting of commissioners.

“It wasn’t the most transparent process but it certainly shouldn’t be in these cases,” said one cabinet-level Commission official.

Vestager’s star continues to grow brighter. Tuesday’s announcement confirmed her as the Commission’s stand-out performer and communicator, strengthening the consensus in Brussels that she is destined for even bigger things — perhaps at an international body like the United Nations or the International Monetary Fund, or even returning at the helm of the Commission if, as a liberal, she can ride an Emmanuel Macron-inspired wave in the 2019 European election.

“For sure, she feels the connection with EU citizens,” said an admirer in the European Parliament.

In a rare feat, Vestager even managed to breach the Brexit divide. On Wednesday, the rabidly anti-EU Daily Mail, a U.K. newspaper, offered rare support for a European official: “After Brexit, we need watchdogs of the caliber of Miss Vestager.”

Bringing the case to a successful — and dramatic — conclusion is a political victory for Vestager and the Commission. But the story is far from over. Google is expected to train its legal firepower on what experts say is a bold decision built on untested legal theories, challenging it in the EU General Court in Luxembourg.

Pursuing Google has boosted Vestager’s career. But a court defeat could prove shattering for her legacy and political prospects.

Ryan Heath and Harry Cooper contributed reporting.

LONDON — So now we know. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 in the final week of March, setting in train Britain’s two-year, slow-motion exit from the European Union.

For all the anticipation, the occasion threatens to be as dull as it is momentous. Formally, all that is required to begin the process of disentangling 40 years of political and economic cooperation is a letter. An email would be enough.

But then what?

Privately, even the most senior U.K. government officials closely involved in preparing for the divorce admit much of what happens after Britain formally begins negotiations — “B-Day” as it is being referred to in Westminster — is unclear. “We’re in uncharted territory, to be honest,” is the assessment of one senior Tory aide with as much knowledge of the process as anyone in government.

One point is clear in the 259 words that make up Article 50: Two years after its activation, the U.K. will no longer be a member of the EU, whether or not a deal has been struck on the terms of the divorce.

For a deal to be concluded within this deadline, both sides need to have reached an agreement in just 18 months, October 2018, leaving enough time for the U.K. and European parliaments to sign off on the divorce terms.

Officials on both sides privately admit this time frame is optimistic. In reality, diplomatic sources told POLITICO, EU leaders will not finalize their own negotiating “mandate,” the framework which the Commission has to stick during the talks, until around three months after Article 50 is triggered.

For Brexit, time is short but the road is long. Here’s POLITICO’s route map for the months ahead, including the crucial 12-week diplomatic opening at the beginning of the negotiations when the EU will agree how it will approach the road ahead.

Triggering

The Article 50 notification itself will come in the form of a physical letter to the European Council with “some kind of handover” expected, a U.K. official familiar with the planning said. However, it is yet to be decided, even at this late stage, who will deliver it. Sending the notification via email has not yet been ruled out.

Britain’s Ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow would be the obvious messenger. However, U.K. government sources insist that no decision has yet been made about who will hand it over or who will receive it.

A senior government source familiar with the thinking of David Davis, the secretary of state for exiting the European Union, expected that the letter would be in May’s name, positive in tone (crucial to getting off to a good start, No. 10 believes), and would reiterate the U.K.’s position that both the terms of exit and the new relationship should be settled, in parallel, within two years.

There is unlikely to be any new information about the U.K.’s goals, as Downing Street considers the recent Brexit white paper to be its final word on the subject until negotiations actually begin.

Tusk’s response

European Council President Donald Tusk said in Brussels last week that he would need just 48 hours to respond to the U.K. with “draft guidelines” for the negotiation. The U.K. government does not expect this to be very detailed, Davis indicated on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show over the weekend.

The Tusk response may, however, formally set the date for an EU27 summit that will “finalize” the negotiating guidelines — the principles that EU member countries want upheld in the final deal.

Extraordinary meeting of the EU27

Tusk has said this will take place “probably in April.” Had May decided to trigger this week, then EU27 leaders would likely have met on April 6, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at last week’s European summit.

May’s decision to wait until the end of the month threatens to push the meeting back to later in April, or even May. This risks the meeting clashing with the French elections (first round April 23, second round May 7). The French are seeking to avoid such a scenario and in the event of a late triggering will likely push for the EU27 summit to be pushed back to later in May, diplomatic sources said.

This summit will be critical. The overarching principles of the EU’s negotiating mandate will be set here.

Davis explained the process from Britain’s perspective on the BBC on Sunday: “The Council has to decide a guideline — they tell the Commission how to carry out the negotiation. That will require a meeting of the Council, which will probably take a month [after Article 50 is triggered]. They hand that guideline back to [European Commission President] Jean-Claude Juncker. Then we meet and then we start.”

The mandate

But it’s not quite as simple as Davis suggests.

Davis is right that after the extraordinary meeting of EU leaders in April or May, draft guidelines of the negotiating mandate will be sent to the Commission, where heavy lifting really begins.

A detailed plan for how the Council’s negotiating aims can be achieved will then be drawn up in the form of “Council directives,” which will then be sent back to EU leaders for a final agreement. It isn’t until this stage that the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier will have a “mandate” within which he will work in the negotiations with Britain.

This period  — between April/May when the directive is sent to the Council and June/July when the mandate is set — is crucial.

If the U.K. wishes to influence the EU’s opening position, it needs to get in early, ensuring allies such as Ireland, Poland and Hungary fight to ensure the “mandate” is not so hard-line as to make a deal politically impossible for the U.K.

Officially the Council’s position is agreed by a qualified majority vote, but it is customary for EU leaders to look for consensus on such important decisions.

Once the mandate is set, it’s set. With barely 18 months to agree on a deal, it is in neither side’s interest to reopen the negotiating positions once they have been agreed.

“It’s quite a substantial amount of time,” a senior member country official familiar with the process said when asked about the opening three-four month window to agree on the mandate. “I think they’ll work very hard to get the mandate right with a view to avoiding amendments once the negotiation is underway. Because if you allow that to happen once, every time some issue comes they’ll try and amend the mandate.”

Back to the Council

The final rubber stamp on the EU’s negotiating mandate will be given by EU member countries. This could come as early as May but may stretch on until July.

This may be dealt with at the level of the General Affairs Council — which is made of the Europe ministers of member countries — or could be escalated to leader level at another extraordinary meeting, depending on how easy it proves to reach an agreement.

After it’s agreed, the GAC will continue to be the accountable body for the negotiating mandate — i.e., the only body with the power to change Barnier’s red lines. “It’s quite exciting for them,” said one U.K. government official. “Usually they only have quite dry material to look after, but now they’re working on Brexit.”

Negotiations about the negotiations begin

On Sunday, Davis explained how he saw the talks progressing: “The first meeting, bluntly, will be about how we do this — how many meetings, who’s going to meet, who’s going to come, specialists, generalists, whatever.”

Discussions will take place in “mostly Brussels, but not just Brussels,” he said, suggesting that important decisions could be taken in national capitals.

Davis expects that whenever the two sides cannot agree on something — whether it’s over money, citizens’ rights or anything else — the decision will be escalated to EU leader level for a political solution.

“The formal negotiation will be between the U.K. government and the Commission on behalf of the 27 member states, on behalf of the Council,” Davis explained. “At certain points along the way, there may well come points of contention — let’s imagine we don’t agree on something. I suspect at the end of the day it will be the Council [that intervenes].”

Finally, the negotiations

Only after the mandate is agreed and the two sides have negotiated over how to negotiate will the two sides actually get down to the divorce package.

At that point — “sometime in June or July,” one senior diplomat of an EU27 member country predicted on condition of anonymity — the Dutch and French elections will have been and gone but Merkel’s reelection bid will just be gearing up.

Davis told the BBC that agreeing on a deal on citizens’ rights would be “the first thing we will deal with” when the talks get under way.

After that, the negotiations are expected to turn to money and the £53 billion Brexit divorce bill that some in Brussels have suggested Britain must pay. The Commission has argued that only once this exit fee has been agreed can the talks turn to Britain’s future trading relationship with the EU, which Michel Barnier expects to take up much of 2018.

So, three to four months to agree on a mandate, six months to deal with the exit package — including “the check” — and six months to agree on a comprehensive free-trade deal. It took Greenland three years to negotiate its exit in the 1980s — and all they had to discuss was fish.

First Lady Melania Trump was fierce as she visited the USS George H.W. Bush and American soldiers at Joint Base Langley in Hampton, Virginia, on Wednesday.

Mrs. Trump wore a navy and black ensemble to visit the military base, rocking a cashmere-wool blend Derek Lam navy peacoat featuring subtle embroidery details. The coat retails for about $1,900 at Derek Lam.

And what’s a military chic look without fierce accessories and some leather pants? Melania Trump paired the coat with JBrand high rise leather skinny pants, an obvious choice to wear with her favorite black leather combat boots, similar to this pair of Rag and Bone boots. The JBrand jeans retail for about $998.

To finish this look off, Mrs. Trump wore a black knitted beanie for her outside endeavors, black aviator sunglasses, and — Of course! — Bottega Veneta leather gloves, the style accessory of the winter season.

As you can see from the photos, Mrs. Trump was graciously welcomed by our American military troops.

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(Senior Airman Tristan Biese)

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(Senior Airman Tristan Biese)

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(Senior Airman Tristan Biese)

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(Senior Airman Tristan Biese)

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(Senior Airman Tristan Biese)

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John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. 

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Plans to shine a light on lobbying in Brussels are facing pushback before discussions have even begun.

Negotiations on setting up a mandatory transparency register, which lobbyists and activists would have to sign up to in order to meet with MEPs and senior EU officials, are to begin behind closed doors in the coming months. But lawyers from the Council of the EU, representing governments, have already raised questions about the legality of the plan.

As of Thursday, 11,191 organizations — including consultancies, trade associations and NGOs — had voluntarily signed up to the existing register, set up in 2011 by the European Commission and European Parliament. The idea is to expand that register, make meetings with senior EU officials conditional on being signed up to it, and give it more staff and resources.

However, attempts to include the Council in the new register have fallen foul of the institution’s lawyers. In a legal opinion obtained by POLITICO, they say the Commission’s decision to regulate lobbying by using a so-called inter-institutional agreement is problematic — and possibly not legal. These agreements are normally only used to define how the institutions deal with each other, not with the outside world.

They argue the register would only be mandatory for the EU institutions, not for the lobbyists themselves. “The word ‘mandatory’ is perhaps a source of confusion,” the lawyers wrote, since the draft agreement “merely defines a set of conditions which interest representatives need to fulfill if they wish to benefit from preferential access” to the EU institutions.

And plans to include EU countries’ embassies in Brussels in the register, even on a voluntary basis, are a non-starter, the lawyers said, as doing so would create a “legal clash” with national laws.

In March last year, a study by the watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory found that only four of the 28 EU countries’ permanent representations to the bloc had rules for interactions with lobbyists. At least six EU embassies did not keep any records of who was meeting with their staffers.

While the plan “was meant to persuade the most reticent EU institution — the Council — to introduce a regulatory framework governing lobbying at its premises, it was soon revealed to be short-sighted,” said Alberto Alemanno, a professor in EU law at HEC Paris.

“Clarity is absolutely needed so there’s no suspicion [about lobbyists],” Danuta Hübner, chair of the Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee, who will be one of two MEPs representing the institution in the negotiations, told POLITICO. “Nobody questions the biggest change, which is this [proposal’s] mandatory character.”

MEPs on board

The Parliament was the first institution to introduce transparency rules for lobbyists, in the mid-1990s — and is set to push EU governments hard to sign up.

“So far, we never got the Council on board,” said Hübner. “We never managed to have the three institutions on board and we never managed to make it obligatory.”

Unlike many of her colleagues, Hübner publishes online all the meetings she has with lobbyists.

“I wouldn’t meet people if I couldn’t say that I had met them,” she said, even though her political group, the center-right European People’s Party, rejected a proposal last year to force MEPs to disclose all meetings they held with lobbyists.

She said the definition of lobbying was a particularly sensitive issue. At the moment, the Commission proposal would only apply to lobbyists who “promote certain interests by interacting with any of the three signatory institutions, their members or officials, with the objective of influencing” the lawmaking process.

Transparency campaigners argue this doesn’t go far enough, saying any activity that provides services or support to lobbyists, in particular consultancy and legal advice, should be included. Not doing so would risk “creating a sizable loophole and encourage organizations to hide the real extent of their lobby activities,” according to Transparency International.

In 2013, when the Commission decided to tighten the levels of a toxic metal — cadmium — contained in fertilizers, the Office Chérifien des Phosphates, a Moroccan state-owned monopoly with ties to King Mohammed VI, hired the London-based law firm Dechert to make its case.

For the past three years, the firm has been in regular contact with Commission officials and MEPs dealing with the regulation, as well as permanent representations. Despite having regularly lobbied officials in each of the EU institutions, Dechert is still not on the transparency register and did not respond to a request for comment.

Lobbyists (mostly) supportive

Parts of the lobbying community have been pushing to strengthen the register for years, saying they have nothing to hide.

“It’s a question of putting the level of ethics as high as possible,” said Vincent Navez, a director at the European Chemical Industry Council, who said his organization is already in line with much of what the new proposals would require.

Some are even arguing it should go further.

Karl Isaksson, chairman of the European Public Affairs Consultancies’ Association, argued the obligation to only meet registered lobbyists “should apply to all staff, not only the most senior ones.”

However, there are concerns about the implementation of the rules. “Some of the proposals will not lead to further transparency, but only create more bureaucracy and frustration among registrants,” said Markus Beyrer, director general of BusinessEurope, Europe’s largest business lobby.

Lobbyists also complain about the proliferation of national rules that overlap with the EU’s initiative. Ireland, for example, introduced its own register in 2015 which covers meetings with MEPs as well as national politicians.

“Obviously it would be easier and better to have a proper European register that covers everything,” said Transparency International’s head of advocacy, Daniel Freund. “Otherwise we risk ending up with a situation where lobbyists in Brussels have to sign up to 29 registers if they work with [EU policymakers].”

Quentin Ariès and Giulia Paravicini contributed to this article.

Actress-singer and left-wing activist Cher exploded at President Donald Trump Friday, accusing him of “ruining” America and being a “traitor.”

After saying that she had “no problem with Trump having extra marital affairs,” Cher said that her problem was that President Trump is a “liar, thug, crook, traitor,” who’s “ruining” America.

“Ps.He & His Family Are So In Bed With Russia……Putin Puts Mints On Their Pillows” she added.

In a recent public appearance, the Grammy-winner expressed support for Joe Biden in the upcoming 2020 election.

“I know Joe Biden and I know him to be a really great man,” the 72-year-old said, also saying that Biden should run with a younger Democrat to defeat Trump in 2020.

The “If I Could Turn Back Time” singer joins her fellow Hollywood stars in expressing hatred for the president.

In November, she said that Trump was a “LIAR, WHITE NATIONALIST, RACIST,TRAITOR WHO’D HAVE PHOTO OP WITH HITLER,IF HE THOUGHT IT WOULD RALLY HIS BASE.”

Earlier this year, the Moonstruck actress said that Trump was a “cancer ravaging our nation” and a “malignant tumor eating it’s way through our Constitution.”

She later walked that statement back, saying she went “too far,” though she did not apologize, saying, “This Is Not An Apology….Its a Reprimand. Just Because I CAN SAY ANYTHING…Doesn’t Mean I SHOULD. Sometimes I Learn The Hard Way,Over & Over. Humans are Fallible”

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The Blues striker has returned to the starting line-up to great effect after almost leaving the club

Frank Lampard is happy to still have Olivier Giroud at his disposal after the Chelsea striker’s move to Inter in January collapsed.

Inter had agreed a contract with Giroud, with Lazio and Tottenham also interested, although Chelsea opted to keep the 33-year-old after failing to secure moves for Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani and Napoli’s Dries Mertens.

The lack of a replacement meant Giroud stayed in west London and Lampard has quickly recalled the France international to solve his goalscoring problems.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel weighed in on the alleged attack against Empire star Jussie Smollett, as newly released surveillance camera footage show blurry images of individuals police are calling persons of interest.

Jussie Smollett was hospitalized early Tuesday morning after what he claims was a racist and homophobic attack. In his police statement, Smollett said he was approached by two individuals who hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him. One of the assailants allegedly smacked him in the face before pouring an “unknown substance” on him and wrapping a rope around his neck.

“Obviously the alleged statement of what happened here is horrific and there’s no place for it in the city of Chicago,” Emanuel said during a Wednesday evening press briefing about the extreme weather currently affecting the city. “I know the police department is working aggressively to [get] to the bottom of what happened.”

“But I want to be clear about the city of #Chicago and our values,” Emanuel continued. “Look at how we’re responding as the city as a whole taking care of each other. Those are our values.”

On Wednesday, evening, Chicago police released images of two individuals walking on New Street near where the alleged encounter happened between 1:30 a.m. and 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning, although they were unable to identify the people in the video.

Meanwhile, authorities revealed that they had already reviewed hundreds of hours of footage from downtown surveillance cameras, but had yet to find footage of the incident Smollett described. Nevertheless, the incident has drawn fierce condemnation from politicians, celebrities and, other prominent figures across the country, many of whom took to social media to express their support for the actor.

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at [email protected].

There was a sombre mood at the European Commission’s midday press briefing in the wake of Monday evening’s suspected suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester.

Commission chief spokesman Margartis Schinas said it was a “sad day.”

Schinas read out a statement from the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker who also sent a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May.

EU flags are flying at half-mast outside Commission buildings and Commission staff will hold a moment of silence in honor of the 22 people who were killed.

In other news, Günther Oettinger, the commissioner for budget and human resources, will on Wednesday brief his colleagues on the EU’s 2018 budget which is expected to be finalized next week.

They will also hear from Commission vice-president Pierre Moscovici about Monday night’s talks on Greece at the Eurogroup. The bailout talks ended without a conclusive agreement, but eurozone finance ministers said they are confident of a deal at their next meeting, on June 15.

Asked by reporters about the state of the play of the negotiations, Schinas said “Greece has delivered” on its pledge to start serious talks on debt relief.

As well as calling on all parties “to show responsibility,” Schinas said reforms adopted by the government in Athens had been painful for the Greek people and this should be acknowledged by eurozone finance ministers.

Commissioners will this week also hold a debate on the future of European defense. A readout of that meeting will be given by Jyrki Katainen and Federica Mogherini.

Schinas also announced that on Friday the EU will send around 2,500 kilos of medical equipment to the Democratic Republic of Congo to tackle an outbreak of the Ebola virus.

Huit mois après avoir annoncé l’arrêt de sa tournée sans plus d’explications, Michel Delpech a accordé une interview à Paris mtach pour révéler qu’il souffrait d’un cancer de la langue. Un témoignage poignant qu’il a livré à nos confrères de Paris Match.

Michel Delpech a toujours la foi!

Alors que le chanteur de 67 ans, publie le 7 novembre prochain J’ai osé Dieu, aux Presses de la Renaissance, il a tenu à témoigner sa croyance intacte dans les colonnes de Paris Match. « Il m’a fallu quelques jours pour accepter cette épreuve (son cancer de la langue ndlr), mais elle n’a en aucun cas ébranlé ma croyance, ni ma confiance en Dieu, remarque-t-il. Ce cancer est une épreuve supplémentaire qu’il faut vaincre. (…) Il m’arrive, quand je parle à Dieu, de rouspéter, de lui dire que cette épreuve-là n’est pas forcément raccord. J’entends alors Jésus me rappeler que chacun doit faire en fonction de ce qui lui est donné, porter sa croix et le suivre. Personnellement, et malgré tous mes efforts, je ne suis pas encore quelqu’un qui porte allègrement sa croix… »

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Dans cette difficile épreuve, l’interprète de Pour un Flirt peut compter sur le soutien de sa compagne Geneviève, la mère de sa belle-fille Pauline, qui partage sa vie depuis près de 30 ans. « Ce mariage-là est indissoluble (…) Je sais que, quoi qu’il arrive, elle sera ma femme et je la retrouverai pour l’éternité. Et je ne vivrai plus avec une autre femme: plutôt devenir moine ! ».

Comme l’atteste cette interview à Paris Match, le chanteur n’a pas perdu son sens de l’humour.