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Neither John Podesta nor Enough Project Connected to Podesta Group Contract with South Sudan Government

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Neither John Podesta nor Enough Project Connected to Podesta Group Contract with South Sudan Government

Posted by Enough Team on June 10, 2016
Radio Tamazuj Article is Inaccurate
 

The recent article by Radio Tamazuj "Founder of 'Enough Project' parent NGO tied to payments from S Sudan gov" (June 9, 2016) inaccurately implies that John Prendergast, Founding Director of the Enough Project, received funds from the government of South Sudan. This implication is wholly untrue, and the article is rife with factual errors. 
 
The article implies a connection between John Podesta, the Podesta Group, and the government of South Sudan. But Podesta left the Podesta Group long before the Podesta Group took a contract with the Juba government. At the time of the Enough Project's founding, John Podesta had no connection to the Podesta Group. Therefore, the article's contention that Enough is somehow connected to this contract between the Podesta Group and the Juba government is wildly inaccurate. 
 
In fact, neither Prendergast nor the Enough Project have ever, nor would ever, received any funding from the government of South Sudan. 
 
The article is completely inaccurate not only in regard to its implications about Prendergast and the Enough Project, but also in regard to connections it incorrectly makes between John Podesta and the government of South Sudan. The Enough Project's fiscal sponsor was the Center for American Progress (CAP) until the end of 2015. John Podesta — not Prendergast — is the founder of CAP. 
 
The article gets many more of its key points wrong. Podesta Group is in fact run by Tony Podesta, not John Podesta. John Podesta left his position as President of Podesta Group in 1993 and according to government records has not lobbied on their behalf since 2003, and therefore was not with the Podesta Group by the time it was purportedly working with the South Sudan government. Further, John Podesta left Podesta Group before the Enough Project was even founded in 2007. 
 

Enough's current fiscal sponsor is New Venture Fund (NVF). In both fiscal sponsor relationships with CAP and NVF, the Enough Project has always been and remains wholly independent in its fundraising efforts as well as in its research, reporting, communications, policy, and advocacy. 
 

Moreover, Prendergast and the Enough Project's recent work — including in-depth reports, op-eds, policy advocacy, and Congressional testimony — has regularly reflected a strong critique of South Sudan's leaders and the violent kleptocratic system and competitive corruption that have fueled atrocities and armed conflict in that country.
 
When the Enough Project contacted Radio Tamazuj to correct the article, they only partially corrected the headline, but not the article itself.