The Lacuna Project

lacuna (n.) a gap in a record where something should be

Independent research. Not affiliated with any government, agency, or company.

Company

Podesta Group, Inc.

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • POL-1.17: Ballard Partners reported $88.06 million in lobbying income for 2025 and $19.27 million for 2024. For the first three quarters of 2026 it reported $97.27 million: $30.15 million, $32.23 million and $34.89 million.
  • POL-1.18: Among the large firms whose filings were pulled in full, the largest single-firm annual lobbying income was $36.23 million (Akin Gump, 2016), $39.08 million (Akin Gump, 2017), $56.35 million (Brownstein Hyatt, 2021), $67.88 million (Brownstein Hyatt, 2024) and $88.06 million (Ballard Partners, 2025).
  • MED-6.4: Bayer spent $9.19 million on federal lobbying in 2025. Ballard Partners reported $97.27 million in lobbying income for the first three quarters of 2026, and $88.06 million for 2025, in its Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.
  • POL-6.6: The September 2018 Manafort superseding information charges that from at least 2006 to 2015 Manafort conspired with Richard Gates, Konstantin Kilimnik and others to act as unregistered agents of Ukraine, including by arranging payment of over $2 million from offshore accounts to two unnamed Washington lobbying firms, which the information does not identify. On 31 March 2017 DOJ's FARA unit told the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs in separate letters that each had an obligation to register for political activities for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine.
  • POL-6.19: The Podesta Group's FARA registration (no. 5926) was dated 1 April 2009 and terminated on 31 December 2017, with 33 foreign principals on the registration record. The firm reported $24.04 million in Lobbying Disclosure Act income for 2016 and $18.13 million for 2017.
  • POL-6.20: Ballard Partners holds two FARA registrations in the record: no. 6415, dated 5 April 2017 and terminated 6 February 2021, with 12 foreign principals, and no. 7070, dated 13 January 2022 and active, with 6 foreign principals listed on 10 November 2026.

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 825 31 March 2017. U.S. Department of Justice, National Security Division: Letter, DOJ NSD Counterintelligence and Export Control Section to Caplin & Drysdale re Podesta Group, Inc. and the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine
  • Exhibit 1289 run 10 November 2026. Lacuna derivation from the Lobbying Disclosure Act database (lda.gov REST API): Dataset: Lobbying Disclosure Act LD-2 income by registrant, pool of large firms, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2024, 2025 and 2026 (Q1 to Q3), with single-quarter snapshots
  • Exhibit 1292 read 10 November 2026. U.S. Department of Justice, National Security Division, FARA Unit (efile.fara.gov): FARA eFile records: Podesta Group, Inc. (no. 5926) and Ballard Partners (nos. 6415 and 7070)