President Trump's associates attended Dodik's party rally — Balkan Insight
At least three associates of US President Donald Trump attended an election rally of Milorad Dodik's Serbian nationalist party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As Balkan Insight reports, their presence calls into question claims that the American consultants worked only for the government of Republika Srpska, rather than for the party.
The SNSD's final rally before the vote took place on October 2 at the Borik sports hall. The outlet identified in photos and videos Alex Garcia, a partner at the lobbying firm Continental Strategy, Trump associate James Blair, and lawyer Andrew G. Smith. The footage also showed a man resembling Chris LaCivita, one of the managers of Trump's most recent presidential campaign, though his identity was not conclusively confirmed.
Questions over financing
Political party financing rules in Bosnia and Herzegovina prohibit receiving contributions, including free services, from foreign legal entities — even through intermediaries. They also prohibit the misuse of public funds during election campaigns.
Ivana Korajlić, director of Transparency International's Bosnia and Herzegovina office, noted that attendance at a rally alone does not necessarily constitute a violation. At the same time, she said that if the advisers were paid from the budget and advised the party, this could constitute a broader abuse requiring an investigation. She added that such a situation could potentially be not only a violation of election legislation, but also a criminal offense.
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Contracts with US companies
According to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act registry, Continental Strategy received nearly $240,000 from the Republika Srpska budget between February and the end of August. According to Balkan Insight, since the beginning of the previous year, the government of Republika Srpska has paid more than $4 million to lobbyists and consultants linked to Trump and the Republican Party.
In September, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina banned payments from the Republika Srpska budget connected to a consulting services contract between the Republika Srpska representative office in Vienna and Dickens & Madson Canada Inc. The ban also applies to other lobbying activities whose aims contradict the country's Constitution, rulings of the Constitutional Court, and state institutions.
SNSD did not respond to Balkan Insight's request for comment. Garcia, Blair, and Smith did not answer the outlet's questions on whether they advised SNSD while in Republika Srpska; BIRN was unable to conclusively confirm LaCivita's identity in the footage.
