By Helen Bratt
Analyst on Balkan Politics
The Democratic Party (PD) of Albania is engulfed in chaos following its humiliating defeat in the 2025 parliamentary elections — a result many insiders are calling the consequence of what one PD MP described as “a tragic circus run by clowns.” Several senior party members, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic and fear of political reprisal, described a landscape of disarray, resentment, and growing outrage over decisions made at the highest level — particularly the reliance on American political consultant Chris LaCivita.
Millions Spent, No Strategy Delivered
At the center of the controversy is LaCivita, best known for serving as co-campaign manager for Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election bid. He was brought in by party leader Sali Berisha as a supposed strategic mastermind and handed wide authority over the PD’s electoral campaign — along with a massive payday.
“It was a giant joke from the start,” said one senior PD official. “We poured millions of euros into this American consultant and got nothing but tired MAGA slogans and political cosplay in return. Our MPs didn’t even have funds to campaign locally.”
Two sitting PD MPs echoed that frustration: “We were sidelined for a man who didn’t know Tirana from Tropoja. All the money went into his consultancy and not a cent into real organizing. Meanwhile, Rama was doing laps around us with a real ground game,” said one publicly acclaimed PD MP. “Berisha keeps pressing ‘replay’ on the same strategy: foreign consultants, overblown rallies, and empty slogans. Every election, same script. Same failure. He’s completely lost touch,” another PD MP said.
The Continental Strategy Contract
LaCivita’s role came under heightened scrutiny after revelations that PD also signed a separate $6 million lobbying deal with Continental Strategy — a firm run by former Senate staffers to current Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The contract, worth $250,000 per month for two years, was reportedly aimed at securing a U.S. entry visa for Berisha, who remains designated “non grata” by the State Department for alleged corruption.
Top Channel published two letters from Continental to Rubio’s office explicitly requesting visa clearance for Berisha, despite his public denials that any lobbying had taken place. In the letters, Berisha is identified as “Chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania,” directly undermining his efforts to distance himself from the lobbying campaign.
LaCivita’s Own Undisclosed Deal
LaCivita is also working under a separate, undisclosed contract with Berisha. He has claimed it is not a lobbying agreement but rather a “political strategy” contract — yet no version of the document has ever been made public. The lack of transparency — especially in the context of U.S. FARA compliance and Albanian election law — has raised serious concerns.
A Dubious Media Blitz
What made the lobbying effort even more controversial was the way it was executed. FARA filings reveal that on April 17, 2025, Continental sent multiple articles to a U.S. official — almost immediately after their publication in right-wing American media outlets.
One article, published by Fox News on April 16, was titled: “Soros v. Trump: Socialists Target Conservatives in Upcoming European Election.” Another appeared the next day on 19FortyFive, headlined: “How the State Department Pushed Albania From Democracy to Narco-State.”
Although these articles were disclosed in Continental’s FARA filings as having been distributed to the State Department, the firm did not report any role in commissioning or placing the stories — despite their striking alignment with Berisha’s talking points. The articles’ stylized tone and sharply framed narratives seemed tailored not for a broad audience, but specifically for U.S. policymakers — particularly within the State Department.
The filings show the articles were sent directly to Dan Holler, deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of State and a former Rubio Senate staffer — bypassing officials responsible for Albania or the Western Balkans. That detail raises questions about the targeting and potential intent of the lobbying effort.
Media Echoes Raise Eyebrows
The campaign also drew in unexpected amplifiers. By May 1, it was clear the effort had failed: the State Department had neither issued Berisha a visa nor lifted his non grata designation. This was confirmed in a supplemental FARA filing, in which Continental submitted additional material in a last-ditch bid to change the Department’s position.
Nevertheless, Axios White House correspondent Marc Caputo abruptly entered the conversation, replying to a social media post by Wall Street Journal political reporter John McCormick, who had shared coverage by his colleague, WSJ political investigations and enterprise reporter Josh Dawsey, on LaCivita’s work in Albania. Caputo claimed that a State Department source told him Berisha was now allowed to enter the United States — despite never having previously reported on Albania and offering no explanation for why he inquired about the case at all.
Then, on May 9 — just two days before Albania’s national election — Tyler O’Neil, senior editor of The Daily Signal, published a similar report. The piece again cited an anonymous State Department source and included commentary from James Carafano of The Heritage Foundation. Carafano is also an editor at 19FortyFive, one of the platforms that ran the initial pro-Berisha messaging — raising questions about whether this reflected a tightly aligned or coordinated circle of ideological players.
But for all the noise, Berisha still had nothing to show — no visa, no political win, just a trail of press clippings, consultant invoices, and a campaign strategy that collapsed on contact with reality.
Backlash Within PD
As the story continues to unravel, calls for accountability inside the PD are growing louder.
“We’re glad to see LaCivita go,” said one PD official. “He made big promises and didn’t deliver. A lot of people felt he was more interested in advancing his own profile than actually helping the campaign.”
Even some Trump-aligned voices mocked LaCivita’s role. On X (formerly Twitter), right-wing commentator Raheem Kassam accused him of “working with shady people” in Albania. “Where do you want to deport me to, Albania?” he quipped. Conservative activist Evi Kokalari added to this, “Chris still doesn’t know what he did to himself.”
A Fractured Party, A Failing Strategy
Despite the electoral collapse, Berisha has refused to step down, insisting he will “continue the fight” — a move that has only widened fractures inside the party.
“It’s like watching someone set the house on fire and then insist they’re the only one who can rebuild it,” a PD figure told us. “Berisha is clinging to power like it’s 1997. But he’s the reason the party is burning.”
PD MP Dashnor Sula called the LaCivita deal both a political and financial “enigma,” demanding full transparency about the amount paid and whether a contract even exists. “If there’s a contract, it should be public. Hiding it raises bigger questions than the payment itself,” Sula said.
Even longtime allies are breaking ranks. Analyst Altin Gjeta called the campaign “a complete strategic failure,” while commentator Mentor Kikia argued LaCivita’s involvement seemed “more like a political mission than an electoral one.”
What Remains
What’s left is a fractured party, a deepening legal shadow, and a foreign consultant class that profited while the PD collapsed. Berisha’s gamble on American influence backfired — and in doing so, may have exposed just how hollow that influence really was.
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