Controversial Kremlin-connected energy firm Joule Unlimited, which received millions from a Vladimir Putin-connected Russian government fund and counted former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta as a executive board member, has collapsed, according to the firm’s former chief executive.
“The investors walked away,” former Joule Unlimited CEO Brian Baynes told The Digest, a biofuel publication.
First revealed in research from Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large and Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President Peter Schweizer, Podesta joined the executive board of Joule Unlimited Technologies — a Boston, Massachusetts-based firm that received $35 million from the Russian government while Clinton served as secretary of state — in June 2011. Podesta received 75,000 common shares of Joule stock options, according to an email uncovered by WikiLeaks.
Podesta failed to disclose his presence on the board of the Dutch-registered Stichting Joule Global Foundation before he became President Obama’s senior adviser in January 2014 — a possible violation for federal law.
Questions about the unsavory details surrounding Podesta’s Russia connections sent the longtime Clinton ally into a frenzy earlier this month during a heated Fox Business interview with Maria Bartiromo.
Breitbart News reported Podesta’s extensive Russian ties last August, as revealed in a 56-page GAI report titled, “From Russia with Money: Hillary Clinton, the Russian Reset, and Cronyism.”
In March, Rep. Louie Gohmert, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, called on Congress to probe Podesta’s role in the Russia-funded firm, saying it “certainly needs to be reviewed to see if there really is something nefarious going on with these activities.”
Baynes’ revelation about Joule Unlimited’s financial collapse comes as Podesta continues to spread conspiracy theories about Russia’s influence in U.S. elections — a politically-driven tactic cooked up by Clinton, Podesta, and former campaign strategist Robby Mook.
According to the new Clinton campaign tell-all, Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign, Clinton personally placed blame for her election loss on Russian meddling “within twenty-four hours of her concession speech.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson