Huawei paid Tony Podesta $500,000 to lobby White House

Huawei, the Chinese tech giant that is on a U.S. trade blacklist, paid veteran Democratic lobbyist and donor Tony Podesta $500,000 to lobby the White House during the third quarter.

The disclosure comes as the Biden administration is facing pressure to keep Huawei on the blacklist, which restricts the company’s access to semiconductors. The lobbying took place between July and September.

The specifics of Podesta’s lobbying campaign for Huawei were not clear. Podesta and Huawei did not return requests for comment before publication.

The White House, in a response Thursday, criticized Huawei and said the company is still subject to trade restrictions.

“President Biden and this administration believe digital infrastructure equipment made by untrustworthy vendors, like Huawei, pose a threat to the security of the U.S., our allies, and our partners. Export controls against Huawei remain in place,” a White House official said, when asked about Podesta’s lobbying.

“We are committed to using the full range of our tools to keep us and our allies secure,” the official added. “We are engaging with all of our partners and allies on the risks posed by Huawei and dozens of countries and carriers have made the decision to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks. And we expect this trend to continue.”

Huawei’s hiring of Podesta was previously reported, but the disclosure sheds new light on the longtime lobbyist’s dealings, including his hefty fee.

Podesta, who is known to have ties in the White House, registered to lobby for Huawei in July, according to a registration form. It marked his return to lobbying after he left the business in 2017 as his firm came under heavy scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

Podesta, according to the third quarter disclosure, targeted only the White House Office for Huawei last quarter. The disclosure form says it was for “issues related to telecommunication services and impacted trade issues.” The White House Office is run by the president’s chief of staff, who, in this case, is Ron Klain, another veteran Democratic power player.

A source familiar with the Podesta’s lobbying efforts for Huawei told CNBC that Klain was not contacted. This person declined to be identified in order to discuss a private matter.

For years, Huawei has sought to curry favor with American officials as it faces accusations that it is a threat to American national security. China’s government is known to exert a great deal of influence over the nation’s companies, although Huawei has denied that it would give data to Beijing.

Then-President Donald Trump put Huawei on a trade blacklist in 2019. His administration followed with other restrictions.

In 2019, Huawei spent over $2 million on lobbying, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That time, they targeted the White House and the Department of Commerce, among…