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</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see saudi</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">primary on dictator murder, ghg</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 10 22</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">According to the Brookings Institution’s Bruce Riedel, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Saudi members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) favor Republicans over Democrats.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Reidel told The Intercept, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“The Saudis are working to get Trump reelected and for the MAGA Republicans to win the midterms. Higher oil prices will undermine the Democrats.”</span></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4 22 an</font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>after his father-in-law left the White House, Jared Kushner got a $2 billion golden parachute—from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Kushner predictably started a private equity firm despite his lack of experience in private equity, and went to the main Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), asking for an “investment.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The professionals in charge of screening possible investments for the PIF raised a series of objections only to be overruled days later by the fund’s board, which is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with whom Kushner became close during his time as a senior White House adviser.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The objections to investing in Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners,</b> included “’the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management’;<strong> </strong>the possibility that the kingdom would be responsible for ‘the bulk of the investment and risk’; due diligence on the fledgling firm’s operations that found them ‘unsatisfactory in all aspects’; a proposed asset management fee that ‘seems excessive’; and ‘public relations risks’ from Mr. Kushner’s prior role as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, former President Donald J. Trump, according to minutes of the panel’s meeting last June 30,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/jared-kushner-saudi-investment-fund.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><em>The New York Times </em>reports</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The reason given internally was that Kushner was worth the risk despite his inexperience and potential public relations problems, in order to “capitalize on the capabilities of Affinity’s founders’ deep understanding of different government policies and geopolitical systems.” That’s a lot of words when you could just say “buying access and influence.”</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As a measure of how much the eventual bin Salman-led decision to hand over $2 billion to Kushner was driven by relationships, Steven Mnuchin, the former Trump treasury secretary, also started a private equity firm and went to Saudi Arabia asking for money. He got $1 billion despite having relevant experience in the field. Kushner is also getting a higher asset management fee from the PIF than Mnuchin is.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Few other investors have bought what Kushner was selling. According to public filings, the main fund at Affinity Partners had just $2.5 billion invested. It sounds like he’s basically owned by Saudi Arabia at this point. But then, he did a lot to earn this kind of loyalty when he was in a position to do so.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a side note on the brokenness of the traditional media, check out this framing: <b>“Ethics experts say that such a deal creates the appearance of potential payback for Mr. Kushner’s actions in the White House — or of a bid for future favor if Mr. Trump seeks and wins another presidential term in 2024.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Guys. You really don’t need ethics experts to tell you that. Everyone can see it. Nor do you need to include the waffling “the appearance of.” It’s blatantly corrupt, even if we don’t know if it’s more of a thank you for Jared’s help providing cover on the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, or more of a down payment on future services should Trump make it back to the White House. And it’s business as usual for all of Team Trump.</font></p></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[kpfa watched movies of mass shooters , objected to US support of israel. trump defends?!</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/trumps-national-security-adviser-pensacola-shooting-appears-to-be-a-terrorist-attack/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/trumps-national-security-adviser-pensacola-shooting-appears-to-be-a-terrorist-attack/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">t<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/trumps-national-security-adviser-pensacola-shooting-appears-to-be-a-terrorist-attack/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4; display: inline !important;">rump’s national security adviser: Pensacola shooting ‘appears to be a terrorist attack’</a></font></div><div class="mag-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 19px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="grid-post-box-meta mag-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/matthew-rozsa/" title="Posts by Matthew Rozsa" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Matthew Rozsa</font></a></span></div></div><div class="mag-excerpt entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During an appearance on the CBS program “Face the Nation” on Sunday, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said that at a shooting at a naval base in Pensacola</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">... the s<span style="text-align: center;">hooting is to believed to have been perpetrated by <b>Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force and student naval flight officer at the Naval Aviation Schools Command. The </b></span><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/12/07/pensacola-shooting-what-we-know-saudi-national-motive/4364552002/" target="blank" style="outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; text-align: center; box-sizing: border-box !important;"><b>shooting left three service members dead</b></a><span style="text-align: center;"><b> and eight others injured</b>. The fatalities included Airman Mohammed Hathaim, 19, from St. Petersburg, Fla., Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, from Coffee, Ala. and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, 21, from Richmond Hill, Ga.</span></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx wapo</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>Democracy Dies in Darkness</div><div>
</div><div>Global Opinions</div><div>
</div><div><b>Disgrace in the desert: The shameless return of business and government leaders to Saudi Arabia</b></div><div>Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.  (Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters)</div><div>
</div><div>By Ali AlAhmed </div><div>October 31, 2019 </div><div>
</div><div>Ali AlAhmed is founder and director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs.</div><div>
</div><div>This week, many of the world’s business and government leaders have convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the 2019 Future Investment Initiative, the Saudi regime’s annual money fest to promote doing business with the kingdom. Instead of the romanticized moniker “Davos in the Desert,” it would be better to call it a “Disgrace in the Desert.”</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Last year’s event was shunned by most leading financiers due to disgust over the shocking murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi-born critic and Post contributing columnist.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">So, what has changed this year to entice President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and top executives of BlackRock, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs to show up?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Well, here’s what hasn’t changed: The CIA’s finding that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s effective ruler, was the one who ordered Khashoggi’s brutal execution in Istanbul. To date, none of those implicated has faced any serious punishment or accountability.</span></div><div>
</div><div>What has also not changed: Saudi Arabia remains not only a rogue state by most international standards — it also makes an unstable strategic partner for the United States and others, fundamentally incompatible with Western business practices. The entire kingdom is now controlled by a ruthless 30-something whose first instinct is to imprison, torture, expropriate and murder.</div><div>
</div><div>Those attending will explain that the prince, known as MBS, is a reformer who has freed women to drive and is shepherding the royal family’s oil giant, Aramco, toward the biggest IPO in history. What they cannot explain is how such a reformer could have detained and coerced his political opponents and family members — in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton, the very hotel where the investment conference is taking place — to clear the way to the throne for him.</div><div>
</div><div>Of course his defenders would say it was all part of an “anti-corruption campaign.” MBS has said the ordeal convinced the detained royals to part with $100 billion — but he has offered no evidence to back this.</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>While he has pushed a change to allow women to drive cars for the first time, MBS has imprisoned and tortured the same rights activists who had been demonstrating to achieve that</b>. Many others, including U.S. citizens — among them my cousin Badr al-Ibrahim, a physician and writer — are being held in secret, and relatives have no information on their condition, status or place of imprisonment. These are the disappeared.</div><div>
</div><div>A generation ago, Saudi Arabia supported the U.S. goal of stability in the Middle East. Today, with MBS in charge, the kingdom plays a destabilizing force, carrying out a devastating war in Yemen, which has generated the world’s largest famine. In Libya, Khalifa Hifter, a Saudi-backed former general under Moammar Gaddafi, has launched a campaign to overthrow the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Every day in Saudi schools, 6 million children are being indoctrinated by textbooks preaching hatred and extermination of Jews, Christians and all Muslims who don’t follow the narrowest interpretation of Wahhabi precepts.</b> The same kingdom that supposedly opens to the West is simultaneously raising generation after generation to despise it. And it is not providing them basic modern life skills like critical thinking, intercultural respect and intellectual curiosity. In very real terms, Saudi children are not being taught very differently than they would be under al-Qaeda or the Islamic State — a ticking time bomb for anti-Western terror and for bringing down the kingdom itself.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Taken altogether, this makes a very strange recipe for hosting the debutante’s ball of 21st-century business. We do need Saudi investment and engagement with the West. We will need access to fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, and a strong U.S.-Saudi alliance is critical to advancing stability in the Middle East and beyond. But rewarding the worst inclinations of the most autocratic Saudi ruler in living history risks each of these priorities.</div><div>
</div><div>Read more:</div><div>
</div><div>The Post’s View: The Trump administration won’t stand for Khashoggi. It could at least stand for jailed Saudi women.</div><div>
</div><div>Kirk Rudell: The tragedy of Fahad Albutairi and Loujain al-Hathloul</div><div>
</div><div>Judith E. Tucker and Miriam R. Lowi: Saudi Arabia’s reforms expand the space for women — but still deny them a voice of their own</div><div>
</div><div>Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression</div><div>
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line-height: 1.57;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0Rv1C4jv1hYJ:https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/davos-desert-kushner-mnuchin-attend-191023221507094.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:0Rv1C4jv1hYJ:https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/davos-desert-kushner-mnuchin-attend-191023221507094.html%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDAAegQIBBAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0Rv1C4jv1hYJ:https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/davos-desert-kushner-mnuchin-attend-191023221507094.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:0Rv1C4jv1hYJ:https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/davos-desert-kushner-mnuchin-attend-191023221507094.html%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDAAegQIBBAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0Rv1C4jv1hYJ:https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/davos-desert-kushner-mnuchin-attend-191023221507094.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:0Rv1C4jv1hYJ:https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/davos-desert-kushner-mnuchin-attend-191023221507094.html%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDAAegQIBBAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Oct 23, 2019 - </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Davos</span> in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Desert</span>: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kushner</span>, Mnuchin & others to attend from US ... A year on, <span style="font-weight: bold;">MBS</span> 'gets pass from world leaders' on Khashoggi murder.</font></span></a></font></font></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 27px;"><div data-hveid="CAgQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFSgAMAF6BAgIEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font></font></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/disgrace-desert-shameless-return-business-government-leaders-saudi-arabia/&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjABegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="S3Uucc">Saudi Arabia's 'Davos in the Desert' is a shameless spectacle ...</span></a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.57; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30 bc" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.5;">https://www.washingtonpost.com › opinions › 2019/10/31 › disgrace-desert-...</cite></font></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Oct 31, 2019 - </span>Instead of the romanticized moniker “<span style="font-weight: bold;">Davos</span> in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Desert</span>,” it would be better to ... senior adviser Jared <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kushner</span>, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and top ... Those attending will explain that the prince, known as <span style="font-weight: bold;">MBS</span>, is a ...</font></span></font></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 27px;"><div data-hveid="CAAQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFSgAMAJ6BAgAEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQFjACegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="S3Uucc">Saudi 'Davos' turnout underscores costs of Khashoggi murder ...</span></a></font></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.57; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30 bc" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.5;">https://www.pri.org › stories › saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khas...</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=mbs+davos+desert+kushner&oq=mbs+davos+desert+kushner+&aqs=chrome..69i57.6627j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b2" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQ7B0wAnoECAAQAw" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQqR8wAnoECAAQBA" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDACegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDACegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" /></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDACegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Oct 28, 2019 - </span>... business boycotted Saudi Arabia's "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Davos</span> in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Desert</span>" event in the wake of ... Mnuchin and Jared <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kushner</span>, a White House adviser and President Donald ... According to the CIA, Salman, better known as <span style="font-weight: bold;">MBS</span>, ordered the ...</font></span></a></font></font></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDACegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">=</font></a></font></font></font></div><div><div class="header-list-style" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="entry-title grid-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:QH3zcgibBGMJ:https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-28/saudi-davos-turnout-underscores-costs-khashoggi-murder%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiW7Oe_tu_lAhVQeawKHVh9ChoQIDACegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">t</font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/trump-said-he-wants-to-stop-ridiculous-endless-wars-now-the-pentagon-is-sending-thousands-to-saudi-arabia/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">rump said he wants to stop ‘ridiculous endless wars’ — now the Pentagon is sending thousands to Saudi Arabia</a></font></font></font></font></h2><div class="grid-post-box-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 12px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/alex-henderson/" title="Posts by Alex Henderson" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Alex Henderson</a> </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">October 11, 2019</span></font></font></font></div></div><div class="item-content entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 18px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almost a month has passed since the September 14 attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, which members of both President Donald Trump’s administration and the Saudi government have blamed on…</font></font></font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">hrw</font></font></font></div><div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Saudi-led coalition naval forces have carried out at least five deadly attacks on Yemeni fishing boats since 2018, killing at least 47 Yemeni fishermen, including 7 children, in apparent war crimes.</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fishermen waved white cloths, raised their hands, or otherwise showed they posed no threat. In three attacks, coalition forces did not attempt to rescue survivors adrift at sea, and many drowned.</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Before the war, fishing was good,” said the wife of a fisherman. “But we heard that eight men from the neighborhood next to us were killed … so [my husband] stopped going.”</font></font></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/trumps-2016-america-first-energy-speech-was-edited-and-preapproved-by-saudi-arabia-and-uae/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/trumps-2016-america-first-energy-speech-was-edited-and-preapproved-by-saudi-arabia-and-uae/</font></a></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump’s 2016 ‘America First’ energy speech was edited and pre-approved by Saudi Arabia and UAE</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> President Donald Trump walks with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, along the West Colonnade of the White House, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)]</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Mark Sumner / Daily Kos<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>July 30, 2019</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump was set to do a speech on energy in which he was going to start pitching the phrase “America First,” but before he went onstage to talk about his plans for American energy production, one of Trump’s advisers ran the speech past officials from the United Arab Emirates. And then copies were sent to Saudi Arabia. So it was America first—so long as the UAE and Saudis are okay with that. When he finally got around to sharing the speech with Americans, some of the language in Trump’s “America First” speech actually came from the UAE.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to ABC News, it was Trump adviser Thomas Barrack who arranged to give representatives from the UAE a preview of the speech two weeks before Trump delivered it. An associate of Barrack’s provided the speech to both Saudi and UAE representatives, still before Trump had delivered it to Americans. Finally, <b>Barrack worked with Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort to insert revisions made by the UAE into the speech that Trump actually delivered</b>. Manafort wrote back to Barrack confirming that the final version of the speech included the language requested by the UAE.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Why is this coming to light now? Because investigators for the<b> House Oversight Committee—the committee chaired by Rep. Elijah Cummings—</b>have unearthed a trove of communications featuring Manafort, Barrack, and representatives from the UAE and Saudi Arabia</span>. Though Trump’s attack on Rep. Cummings appears to have been tied to a Fox News hit piece, the idea of going after the Oversight Committee chair might very much have already been on Trump’s mind.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The recommended language from Barrack’s UAE contact at one point included suggesting that Trump directly mention Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, but that apparently didn’t mesh too well with the screw-the-world tone of the speech that included Trump’s declaration that he would withdraw from the Paris agreement. The final speech included a toned-down version of the text requested by the UAE that said that Trump wanted to “work with our Gulf allies to develop a positive energy relationship as part of our anti-terrorism strategy.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Barrack seemed to realize that this communication between the Trump campaign and a foreign government over the future of U.S. energy policy was problematic at best. In an exchange with Manafort, he noted that the language he was proposing to add to the speech was “probably as close as I can get without crossing a lot of lines.” Whether he’s concerned about crossing U.S. law, or crossing Mohammed bin Salman, isn’t clear.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Investigators for the Oversight Committee have collected more than 60,000 documents showing “intermingling of private interests and public policy decisions” by Trump both before and after the election. Some of this information was released in a report on Monday, and follows similar information released by the House in February after whistleblowers discussed these connections between the Trump White House and foreign governments.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The request to mention Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, along with the crown prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is of great interest. At the time of Trump’s speech,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Mohammed bin Salman</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> was not the crown prince. He wouldn’t assume that position until an internal “mini-coup” in 2017, immediately following Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. Since then, Jared Kushner has made multiple trips to visit him, delivering to him classified information to use against his enemies. Trump has issued two vetoes of bills designed to halt arms sales used in Mohammed bin Salman’s expansive war in Yemen.</span></font></font></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RS andy kroll</font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/elliott-broidy-donald-trump-swamp-793159/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/elliott-broidy-donald-trump-swamp-793159/</font></a></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At 3:45 p.m. on October 6th, 2017, an unassuming man in his early sixties with a low, raspy voice and a thin, wide smile arrived at the White House. He had been here before, in the George W. Bush years, when he was one of the most sought-after fundraisers in the Republican Party. But a scandal had derailed his life, and afterward he had disappeared from politics. In early 2016, the opportunity arose to make his return. The man had helped Donald J. Trump’s long-shot campaign raise millions of dollars, and he could rightly say he played a role in the most improbable presidential victory in American history. Now, Elliott Broidy had come to deliver an urgent message. After a brief visit with Jared Kushner, he was summoned to meet the president in the Oval Office.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SEE ALSO</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18:  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media prior to a departure from the White House June 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump and the first lady are traveling to Orlando, Florida for a rally to officially kick off the president’s 2020 re-election campaign.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">E. Jean Carroll Alleges President Donald Trump Assaulted Her</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump Ordered a Military Strike Against Iran ... Then Called It Off at the Last Minute</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump's Deutsche Bank Problems Are Not Going Away]</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Broidy told Trump about a recent trip he’d taken to the United Arab Emirates,</b> the small but wealthy Persian Gulf nation, on behalf of a defense-contracting company he owned. Broidy raved about the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s de facto leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, known as MBZ, whom he had met with while in the Emirates.<b> He said that MBZ and Mohammed bin Salman, the young crown prince of Saudi Arabia, were creating an all-Muslim counterterrorism force made up of 5,000 Arab soldiers to fight against the Taliban and ISIS. With the help of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Broidy said, his company would assist the UAE and Saudi Arabia to train and assist those pan-Arab fighters.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump loved the idea. As far as he knew, Broidy had business interests in the Middle East and had briefed the president as a courtesy. What Trump didn’t know — and Broidy didn’t disclose, according to his detailed notes about the meeting obtained by Rolling Stone — <b>was that Broidy was also waging a secretive, multimillion-dollar PR and influence campaign in Washington, D.C., to persuade the Trump administration to punish Qatar, an enemy of the UAE and Saudi Arabia — but an ally of the U.S.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broidy’s operation came with code names (Trump was “Chairman,” MBZ “Friend,” Qatar the “snake”), convoluted money trails and a shadowy liaison to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. </span>The liaison urged Broidy to make the most of his time with Trump (his “priceless asset”) and reiterated MBZ’s wishes in an email sent to Broidy a few days before the Oval Office meeting. “Again, take advantage of it to tell him that Friend would like to come asap to meet you [Trump] SOONEST out of official site,” the go-between wrote in a long email. The two crown princes “are counting on you to relate it blunt and straight as it is!?.?.?.?Tomorrow is a Pivotal and could turn out to be a Historical and milestone meeting!”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broidy did as he was told, telling Trump that MBZ stood ready to travel to the U.S. for a meeting but would prefer a more private setting than the Oval Office. Broidy recommended New York or New Jersey. When Trump asked Broidy for his thoughts about Qatar, Broidy slammed the Qataris as financial supporters of terrorism and included them with North Korea and Iran in a new “axis of evil.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Trump smiled and nodded. He had reason to champion Broidy’s cause. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia had long been loyal customers of his. The Saudis “buy all sorts of my stuff,” Trump said in 2015, and a massive Trump-branded golf course had recently opened in Dubai, in the UAE. The meeting was nearing its end, but the president had one last question for Broidy:<b> What did he think of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson? Tillerson, the former Exxon-Mobil CEO, had shown support for the Qataris. In private, Broidy had seethed at Tillerson, calling him “a tower of Jello.” Broidy told Trump that Tillerson was “performing poorly” and should be fired at a “politically convenient time.”</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Broidy then met with H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, to push for the private, informal meeting with Trump that MBZ wanted. The sun was starting to set when Broidy left the White House, confident he’d delivered his message. The crown princes were thrilled. Not long after, the liaison emailed him, “You have become a HERO here and at KSA [Kingdom of Saudi -Arabia], to say the least.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">DEPENDING ON where you stood, Trump’s election posed either an existential threat to the American experiment or the business opportunity of a lifetime. The thousands of lawyers, former congressional staffers and retired lawmakers who ply their trade as lobbyists had spent two years preparing for a Clinton administration. “If you went around town and told these lobbying firms you supported Trump, it was like a hate crime,” says Tom Davis, a former lobbyist and onetime Virginia congressman. “Trump threw out the book. He brought in a whole new crowd. The players changed, and the rules changed.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Overnight, Trump’s small circle of friends and loyalists became extremely valuable. </span>They could speak Trump’s language, explain him, influence him.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Or at least that’s what they told the blue-chip corporations and foreign governments scrambling to find someone to help them navigate the new administration. “There’s, like, five people who bet on the long shot and won,” a seasoned GOP operative told me. “The day after the election, those five people all think they’re the biggest fucking swinging dicks in the universe. I’m the guy who can make all your dreams come true now.”</span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>That’s where Elliott Broidy came in. Broidy set out to cash in on his connections to the new administration with breathtaking speed and audacity.</b> In the aftermath of Trump’s win, Broidy, who landed a coveted spot as a vice-chair for Trump’s inauguration committee, used his ties to the president-elect to pitch his defense-contracting company, Circinus LLC, to foreign leaders. He invited two senior Angolan officials to Trump’s inauguration festivities while attaching a proposed contract with Broidy’s firm. He helped secure a brief audience for the Romanians with Trump at a dinner where Broidy was seated next to the president-elect. For a starting rate of $350,000 a month,<b> Broidy offered to help a lawyer based in Moscow remove U.S. sanctions on two Russian companies</b></span><b>. </b>(The lawyer recalls Broidy’s proposal but not the suggested fees included in Broidy’s memo, and he says the plan did not go forward.) And in another instance, Broidy and his wife, a lawyer and former entertainment executive, hatched a plan to earn $75 million if they could get the Justice Department to drop an investigation into the multibillion-dollar fraud involving <b>Malaysia’s prime minister</b> and its state investment fund.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The real prize for Broidy, however, was two of the richest countries in the world: Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Contracts with their defense ministries for his security company could be worth hundreds of millions, if not billions. For years, Broidy had tried to win business with the Emirati and Saudi royal families. But that was before Trump came along. “President Trump campaigned on a promise to drain the swamp,” Paul Seamus Ryan, a vice president at Common Cause, tells Rolling Stone. “Instead, he brought a group of swamp creatures with him.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This story is based on more than 40 interviews, hundreds of pages of legal records as well as private emails and other documents of Broidy’s, which reveal his efforts to shape the Trump administration’s Middle East policy and score foreign contracts for his company.</span> Before publication of this story, a lawyer for Broidy sent a letter to Rolling Stone alleging that “paid agents” of Qatar stole the emails from Broidy as retribution for the “exercise of his First Amendment rights to highlight Qatar’s support for global terrorist organizations.” The lawyer contended that some of the documents were doctored or forged by the alleged hackers. Taken together with Rolling Stone’s reporting, the documents give a rare inside view of how the Trump-era swamp works — and Broidy’s place in it.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ONSTAGE, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, joined by members of the new First Family, swayed together to a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” It was January 20th, 2017, a night of parties celebrating the swearing in of the 45th president. At first glance, Trump’s inauguration resembled those that had come before it — the black-tie balls, the speeches and shout-outs to the supporters in attendance. But gaze out into the audience and you saw a motley cast of right-wing conspiracy theorists, overseas real-estate developers and a few Russian oligarchs. By day, they hung out in the lobby of the Trump International Hotel a few blocks from the White House, transforming it into a real-life Mos Eisley cantina, the scene of nonstop scheming and schmoozing by the strange new denizens of Trumpworld.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Larry Mizel, Elliott Broidy, Senator Jeff SessionsChairman's Global Dinner in Washington DC, USA - 17 Jan 2017</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Broidy (center) with then Sen. Jeff Sessions and CEO Larry Mizel. After the election, men like Broidy who had backed Trump were very valuable in D.C. “There’s five people out there who bet on a long shot and won,” says one longtime GOP operative. “They could make all your dreams come true now.” Photo credit: Clint Spaulding/WWD/REX/Shutterstock</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>One person who was in attendance was a Lebanese-American businessman named George Nader.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Short and stout, with thinning gray hair, Nader, like Broidy, had once been a player in Washington, and now, years later, the two men met for the first time, at the inauguration. The encounter would prove pivotal.</span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Nader had run a small but respected magazine in the 1990s called Middle East Insight, and people in the foreign-policy community knew him as a consummate wheeler-dealer, a mediator-for-hire who was always bringing different Middle Eastern delegations — the Israelis, the Syrians, Yasser Arafat — to Washington for conferences and negotiations.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Nader vanished from D.C. in the early 2000s; it later emerged that he’d been <b>convicted in the Czech Republic for sexually abusing minors. He resurfaced in Iraq, working with Erik Prince, the founder of the controversial defense contractor Blackwater. Later, he served as a consultant to two Emirati investment firms and as an adviser to MBZ.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>For Nader and MBZ, the Trump presidency was an opportunity for the UAE to assert itself as a greater player in the Middle East.</b> It was also a chance for the Emiratis and Saudis to go on the attack against two of their fiercest rivals, Iran and Qatar. A small monarchy located on a peninsula roughly the size of Connecticut,<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Qatar has the highest per-capita income in the world, thanks to its vast natural-gas fields shared with Iran.<b> Qatar, some say, is more of a company than a country.</b> The ruling al-Thani family plays an outsize and often provocative — critics say destabilizing — role in the Middle East, funding pro-democracy conferences and using their TV network, Al-Jazeera, to shape public opinion in the region. Qatar’s critics accuse the al-Thanis of allowing terrorists to live in their country and use their financial system.</span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>For years, Saudi Arabia and the UAE had wanted nothing more than to cripple Qatar.</b> In an allegedly leaked email from 2017, the UAE’s ambassador to the U.S. wrote that conquering Qatar would “solve everyone’s problems. Literally,” and that Saudi King Abdullah had considered “doing something in Qatar” before he died in 2015</span>. (Representatives for the Saudi and UAE embassies in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.) Qatar enjoyed a strong relationship with the U.S., hosting one of the most important American air bases in the world, at al-Udeid. </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But now, in the chaos of the new administration, the Saudis and Emiratis sought to turn the U.S. against Qatar — and Broidy would convince them that he could make it happen. “The Gulf nations view their wealth as an extension of their power,” says Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee. “When they’ve got a president of questionable ethics and one driven by money, it’s an attractive target.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Nader and MBZ understood that there were ways to get to Trump that wouldn’t have worked with previous administrations. Trump liked to say that his primary consultant was himself; he trusted few people beyond his own family. Former campaign staffers, Mar-a-Lago members and business partners filled the vacuum where academics, diplomats and other experts would usually be found. The challenge was finding the right acolyte with enough juice to get your message in front of the easily distractible Trump.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>For Nader, that man was Elliott Broidy. </b>What they talked about the night of the inauguration isn’t clear. (A lawyer for Nader disputed the reporting about Nader’s pedophilia conviction and claimed that the emails between him and Broidy were “altered or fabricated” but did not give any examples.) But by the time the evening’s festivities were finished, the two men had the makings of a plan.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">SOON AFTER the inauguration, a message appeared in Broidy’s inbox from his new friend. “Hi,” Nader wrote. “Here is my private email.” It was one of the first of hundreds of messages Broidy and Nader would exchange over the following year.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Broidy began his work for Nader by designing an extensive PR and influence offensive</b>.<b> The strategy, documents show, involved linking Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, the political and social group with millions of followers often accused of fomenting terrorism.</b> In a memo to Nader dated March 15th, 2017, Broidy wrote that the<b> Brotherhood had “infiltrated the Democratic Party” and “almost elected their champion, Keith Ellison, national chairman.</b>” (Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress and now Minnesota’s attorney general, has never championed the group.) In another memo, Broidy accused Qatar of funding and hosting members of Hamas and the Taliban. (The State Department’s 2017 terrorism report highlighte<b>d Qatar’s participation with the U.S. to combat terrorism financing </b>while noting that<b>terrorist financiers within Qatar are still able to exploit its informal financial system</b>.)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broidy sought to manufacture a groundswell of activity to demonstrate to Democrats and Republicans that Qatar was not an ally and that the Trump administration should take punitive action in the form of sanctions against Qatari individuals or a foreign-terrorist designation for the entire Muslim Brotherhood. If all went as planned, there would be no public evidence of Broidy and Nader’s efforts behind this covert operation. These activities are common in Washington: For decades, foreign governments have retained pricey law firms and political consulting firms to represent their interests. <b>What made this one so striking was that Broidy and Nader operated outside the usual world of K Street firms and consulting shops.</b></span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Broidy had every reason to carry out his plan in secret. The last time he climbed to the top of American politics it ended in disgrace. Raised in Los Angeles in a middle-class Jewish family, he got a degree in accounting at the University of Southern California while running a laundromat on the side. Later he kept the books for the Bell family that had founded the <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Taco Bell chain and started his own investment firm, quickly becoming rich. Broidy had given modestly to both Democrats and Republicans running for office, but after 9/11 he grew increasingly hawkish and was an obsessive defender of Israel. He became a leader in a small, tightknit group of Jewish Republicans in Southern California who contributed substantial sums of money to Republican and conservative causes.</span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Our Man in Washington: George Nader and Broidy worked together to align the U.S. with Saudi and UAE interests. When Nader, who was convicted of sexual abuse in Europe, wanted a photo with Trump, Broidy misspelled his name as Vader to White House chief-of-staff to help Nader get past security.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">George Nader (above with Trump) and Broidy worked together to align the U.S. with Saudi and UAE interests.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mr. L.A.” was how one Republican fundraiser who attended events at Broidy’s house described him. He and his wife, Robin, threw high-dollar political fundraisers and charitable events at Rosewood, their Georgian-style mansion in the hills of Bel-Air that held a near-mythical place in Republican circles; George W. Bush supposedly once said of the place, “This is nicer than the White House.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Then it all came crashing down. In December 2009, Andrew Cuomo, then the New York attorney general, announced that Broidy had pleaded guilty to bribing officials in the New York state comptroller’s office in exchange for a $250 million investment in a fund he had started called Markstone Capital. Broidy admitted to paying for lavish trips and gifts for state officials and their families and providing $300,000 for a movie called Chooch, produced by the brother of an employee in the comptroller’s office. “This is an old-fashioned payoff of state officials,” Cuomo said at the time. (The felony charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor in exchange for Broidy’s cooperation with the AG’s office.) Overnight, Mr. L.A. became a pariah. Candidates returned his donations. He resigned from Markstone. He and his wife moved out of their mansion and sold off a portion of their wine collection.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For the next few years, Broidy toiled in obscurity. He produced a low-budget movie and hired a PR firm to churn out feel-good releases (“Elliott Broidy Voices Support for Homeless Youth as Los Angeles Area Cities Continue Debates Over the Issue”) about his efforts to combat homelessness and support cancer research.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the 2016 presidential race, Trump wasn’t his first (or second or third) choice: He’d initially supported Lindsey Graham, whom he’d known from the Bush years, switching to Marco Rubio, then to Ted Cruz.</span> At first, Broidy didn’t think much of Trump: He allegedly told someone close to him Trump was an “idiot” who couldn’t even pronounce the names of countries correctly. <b>But when the RNC and Trump campaign, whose lead fundraiser was <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broidy’s friend Steve Mnuchin,</span> came calling in 2016, desperate to find anyone who could raise money, Broidy threw himself into a campaign other Republicans couldn’t stomach. And it surely seemed like a lost cause to the people Broidy was soliciting — until the night of November 8th, 2016.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">BY THE END of March 2017, Broidy had finalized a detailed and bulleted strategy with the goal of engineering a major crackdown on Qatar in Congress and the Trump administration. The plan, which he sent to Nader, called for enlisting (and bankrolling) think tanks specializing in foreign policy to educate the public on the dangers of Qatar and the Brotherhood.</span> Broidy proposed using newspapers, magazines, YouTube and social media to spread the message. He suggested working with dark-money nonprofit groups that can run more overt political ads and have more leeway to push lawmakers for congressional resolutions, hearings and other official actions to gin up opposition against the two targets. He also designed a star-studded conference intended to move lawmakers, the administration and American public opinion in the direction of isolating and punishing Qatar.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nader asked Broidy to send him an invoice for an initial $2.5 million. Whether that was a down payment or the full cost isn’t clear. If Broidy succeeded and proved his worth to Nader and the Emirati and Saudi princes, he hoped the payoff would come in the form of lucrative contracts for his company.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broidy relied on a few key figures in Washington to help carry out his plan. One was <b>Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.</b> Broidy had helped Royce’s wife get a job at the State Department. A onetime Saudi critic, Royce figured prominently into Broidy’s work. Broidy told Nader that he “caused” Royce to enter into the Congressional Record a fawning FoxNews.com op-ed by a Saudi general that hailed Trump for ushering in a new era in U.S.-Saudi relations.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Royce also headlined a May 2017 conference on Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood that, at least on paper, was organized by two think tanks, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy and the Hudson Institute.</span> But emails and other planning documents show that Broidy had a hand in the planning. With dozens of journalists in the audience at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, Royce announced an upcoming piece of legislation that would accuse Qatar of funding Hamas and open up the possibility of sanctions. “This is the first such bill to do so!” Broidy told Nader in an email. (Royce did not respond to requests for comment.)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Broidy’s conference came amid a crescendo of op-eds, news stories and other critical statements about Qatar in the spring and summer of 2017</b>. As one former foreign lobbyist told me, small actions that create the perception of closer ties or tensions between a foreign nation and the U.S. are nearly as valuable as actual policy. That can take the form of a public event, a critical editorial or a letter from one member of Congress to his or her colleagues. </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The lobbyist tells the story of a 2015 hearing about U.S.-Hungary relations hosted by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., the then-chair of a subcommittee focusing on Eastern Europe<b>. Few people attended the hearing, and it received almost zero coverage in the U.S., but it created a “deluge of coverage” in Hungary and was used by the country’s autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orban, to show that he had champions in the U.S.</b> “The smallest or inconsequential action by a member of Congress, such as a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, can be put out in the foreign press and used by governments to justify their policies and politics,” the lobbyist says.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One glaring difference between what the lobbyist did for Hungary and Broidy’s efforts was that the lobbyist disclosed his work. Under the law, Americans who try to influence American policy or public opinion on behalf of a foreign government must register under what’s known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law enacted in 1938 to combat the spread of Nazi propaganda. Until very recently,<b> FARA was treated like “a stop sign in the desert</b>,” as one foreign lobbyist told me. Broidy, however, never registered as a lobbyist or reported his activities under FARA; </span>Chris Clark, a lawyer for Broidy, has noted that Nader is a U.S. citizen and said there is “no evidence” that either Nader or a foreign entity directed Broidy’s actions. “Elliott Broidy has never agreed to work for, been retained or compensated by, nor taken direction from any foreign government directly or indirectly for any interaction with the United States government, ever,” Clark tells Rolling Stone. “Any implication to the contrary is a lie.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Joshua Rosenstein, a lawyer who specializes in FARA, tells Rolling Stone that FARA is an intentionally broad law that encompasses not just lobbying but any work that someone intends to or believes will influence the American public about the politics or policies of a foreign government. “The facts and exchange of emails and documents would give me significant pause if I were advising a client about proceeding under similar circumstances,” Rosenstein says, “and the Department of Justice would be justified in taking a close look at this.” (Clark, Broidy’s lawyer, says Rosenstein’s comment is “ill-informed” and based on “extremely limited knowledge.”)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Broidy’s behind-the-scenes efforts were having an impact. Trump had chosen to take his first foreign trip to Riyadh, where he participated in a strange glowing-orb ceremony with the Saudi king and vowed to work with the Saudis and the UAE to support a new counterterrorism center in the Middle East</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> He slammed the Iran nuclear treaty negotiated by Obama, mulled a foreign-terrorist designation for the Muslim Brotherhood and was increasingly critical of Qatar, echoing Broidy’s own talking points. “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology,” Trump tweeted in June 2017. “Leaders pointed to Qatar — look!”</span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A day earlier, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had cut diplomatic ties and imposed a blockade on Qatar, closing their borders to the Qataris, a serious blow for a country surrounded by water on three sides that exported natural gas and imported most everything else — and a major escalation in the conflict.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Meanwhile, Trump’s criticism of Qatar heated up and he appeared to be firmly on the side of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In late June, after just five months in office, he kicked off his 2020 re-election effort with a $35,000-a-head fundraiser at his D.C. hotel, reportedly hauling in $10 million. From the stage, Trump singled out a handful of people in the crowd, including Broidy, who was back on the RNC’s finance team. “Everybody knows Elliott,” Trump said. “Thanks, Elliott.” Later, he took a direct shot at Qatar. “We always say Qa-tar. It’s Qa-tar, they prefer. I prefer that they don’t fund terrorists.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>BROIDY’S WORK had initially caught the Qataris flat-footed. But they soon responded by launching a lobbying counteroffensive in Washington, hiring former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, several former Trump staffers and a slew of others at a rate of several hundred thousand dollars a month.</b> One of those lobbyists was Nick Muzin, who had worked on Trump’s campaign and had extensive ties to the Orthodox Jewish community. Just as Broidy had tapped Christian and Jewish groups, including the American Israel Political Action Committee and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews to criticize Qatar, Muzin went to work convincing Jewish and evangelical leaders that Qatar was a friend and ally. </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He and his business partner, a kosher-restaurant owner named Joey Allaham, arranged for people close to Trump, including law professor Alan Dershowitz and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, to visit Qatar, </span>and steered large sums of Qatari money to groups like the Zionist Organization of America. (After Qatar was revealed as the source, ZOA said it would return the money.) What made this so unusual was that this wasn’t a fight between liberals and conservatives; instead, two conservative Jews were battling it out on opposite sides of a Middle East proxy war.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to sources, the fleet of lobbyists working for Qatar met weekly at its D.C. embassy, a five-story building that blends in with the surrounding consulting companies. One name often came up at those meetings: Elliott Broidy. The Qataris had allegedly drawn up an enemies list, and Broidy was on it. Qatar is “going after you,” Muzin later told an associate of Broidy’s.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For his part, Broidy’s plan was right on track. He used his success to sell Nader and the crown princes on the need to hire Circinus. Contained in Broidy’s leaked emails is a memo he wrote for Nader — and seemingly intended for Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump’s trip to Riyadh, Broidy wrote, was a “smashing success” and a “major turning point” in U.S.-Saudi relations.</span> He then listed the ways Circinus could assist the Saudi government. “My Goals, Circinus’ goals and the goals of KSA are completely aligned,” he wrote. According to materials Broidy sent to Nader, he had brought on General McChrystal as the chairman of Circinus’ “special-operations division.” Other documents listed former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as part of Broidy’s team.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As the Qataris ramped up their D.C. presence, Broidy redoubled his efforts to, as he wrote Nader, “crush the snake!” He helped organize another conference on Qatar that attracted bigger names than the firs<b>t, including Panetta and Gen. David Petraeus as well as former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. (Bannon, emails show, earned $100,000 for the appearance. He declined to comment.)</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In an email titled “Strictly Confidential” sent to Nader on November 10th, 2017, Broidy outlined 11 different efforts underway to pressure the Trump administration into action. A handful of Republican and Democratic lawmakers would soon sign on to letters to U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin (“a close friend of mine,” Broidy claimed) that were critical of Qatar. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., Broidy wrote, would introduce legislation allowing victims of attacks by Hamas to sue Qatar. (Broidy would join DeSantis’ fundraising team when he successfully ran for Florida governor.) Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., had agreed to “educate” his fellow senators about the wisdom of relocating the U.S. air command center out of al-Udeid. (Cotton also received donations from both Elliott and Robin Broidy.)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When Broidy needed help publicizing a classified State Department agreement signed with Qatar, he said he turned to “my friend” Rep. Robert Pittenger, a three-term GOP congressman from North Carolina.</span> According to Broidy’s memo, he and his team “convinced” Pittenger to read the document in a secure classified-information facility at the State Department, get the document moved to Capitol Hill and arrange a “viewing party” so that other members of Congress could read it and speak out about it. (Pittenger received the maximum donation from Broidy.)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pittenger tells Rolling Stone that Broidy’s description of their relationship is not true. Pittenger, who lost his seat in 2018, says he can’t recall meeting Broidy. He decided to view the classified Qatar agreement at the State Department on his own, he says, and Broidy seems to have taken credit for things he’d already done. “He’s a guy that blows a bunch of smoke,” Pittenger says. “There’s a lot of flaky people in Washington, and they love to promote themselves, and unfortunately he seems to fit in that category.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Similarly, McChrystal tells Rolling Stone that Broidy exaggerated their relationship </b>when he listed him as the chairman of Circinus’ special-operations division. McChrystal says he spent a few days in the UAE as part of a small team Broidy had assembled to compete for business in the region. He says Broidy asked him to accept a long-term role with Circinus and he declined. “I never thought I was the chairman of any part of the firm, although he was clear in his desire that I do so,” McChrystal writes in an email. “After that trip I did no more work with him.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A spokesman for Panetta tells Rolling Stone in a statement that Panetta “was never involved in any of Mr. Broidy’s companies. Those claims are false.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Nader told Broidy he wanted to get his picture taken with Trump. According to the leaked emails, when Nader had previously tried to get a photo with Trump at an event, he was turned away by the Secret Service over “something in his background.</b>”<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> On October 10th, 2017, Broidy and his wife drafted an email intended for John Kelly, the president’s chief of staff, to vouch for Nader, whom Broidy referred to as “George Vader” so that Nader could get his photo with Trump. Some emails sent and received by Broidy also use the name Vader; another mentions Nader’s real name multiple times. Ultimately, Nader got in. A few months later, Broidy sent him his photo with Trump.</span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By late 2017, Broidy was deep in negotiations with Emirati officials to sign contracts with Circinus potentially worth $120 million, according to an email Broidy sent to his lawyer. A month later, Broidy emailed Nader to say that the first payment from the UAE had gone through: $36 million. Nader got the news as he was getting ready to travel to Florida to join Broidy at Mar-a-Lago for a celebration of the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration. “Terrific! First among many to go!” Nader replied. At Dulles Airport, according to the Associated Press, FBI agents working for Robert Mueller intercepted Nader.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - MAY 21: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT - "BANDAR ALGALOUD / SAUDI ROYAL COUNCIL / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----)US President Donald Trump, US First lady Melania Trump (2nd R), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (2nd L) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (L) put their hands on an illuminated globe during the inauguration ceremony of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 21, 2017. (Photo by Bandar Algaloud / Saudi Royal Council / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)]</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s first overseas visit as president was to Saudi Arabia. “The Gulf nations view their wealth as an extension of their power,” says Rep. Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee. “When they’ve got a president of questionable ethics and one driven by money, it’s an attractive target.” Photo credit: Bandar Algaloud/Saudi Royal Council/Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ON FEBRUARY 27th, 2018, two political operatives sat across from each other at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown. One was <b>Nick Muzin, the Qatari lobbyist.</b> The other was Joel Mowbray, a conservative-journalist-turned-consultant who has worked for Broidy. Muzin had come to ask for Mowbray’s help to end the blockade against Qatar. When Mowbray declined, Muzin allegedly divulged a startling fact: The New York Times was investigating the connections among Broidy, Nader and the Middle East. Mowbray was surprised. He didn’t know about any story, and no one at the Times had contacted him or Broidy. From there, things completely unraveled for Elliott Broidy.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Two days later, The Wall Street Journal ran a story citing “a cache of emails from Mr. Broidy’s and his wife’s email accounts” that revealed the Broidys’ plan to press the Justice Department to end its investigation into Malaysia’s investment-fund scandal.</span> Soon after, the Times broke the story of Broidy and Nader’s campaign for the UAE and Saudi Arabia, citing Broidy’s memo describing his October meeting with Trump, a copy of which was provided by “someone critical of the Emirati influence in Washington.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many suspected that Broidy had been hacked and someone was parceling out his emails to news organizations. When Muzin and Mowbray met again a few days later, Muzin denied any role in the hack-and-dump attack targeting Broidy. But he allegedly told Mowbray that there was “a lot more coming” from the Times and that Broidy was “in deep shit.” More stories soon appeared in the Times, AP, McClatchy, BBC and other outlets citing the hacked documents. The stories prompted an outcry among Democrats: Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren called for an investigation into whether Broidy had violated FARA or the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broidy hired <b>Boies </b>Schiller Flexner, founded by David Boies, one of the country’s most high-profile litigators, who represented Al Gore in Bush v. Gore and more recently worked for Harvey Weinstein. As for Nader, he’s kept a low profile and is cooperating with the Mueller investigation.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On March 26th, Broidy sued Qatar, Muzin and Muzin’s firm for orchestrating the hack, later adding Allaham as a defendant. (Muzin did not respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Allaham says, “As Joey has said 100 times, he had nothing to do with the hacking of Mr. Broidy’s emails.”)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The complaint described a “hostile intelligence operation” in which Qatari agents duped Broidy’s wife with a fake Google message into giving up her email password, which was then used to access her and Elliott Broidy’s accounts</span>, while also breaking into Broidy’s company servers. In the winter of 2018, someone using the email account LA.Confidential@mail.com disseminated to the media batches of Broidy’s emails, memos, contracts and more. The documents appeared to be organized by the various countries with which Broidy had pursued business deals — Malaysia, Romania, Angola, Republic of Congo, and of course the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Broidy and his lawyers have verified that his email was hacked, blaming Qatar. (A Qatari spokesman has said Broidy’s allegations are “completely fabricated and without merit.”)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Two weeks after Broidy filed his suit, federal agents raided the office of Michael Cohen, the president’s lawyer.</b> The raid set off an embarrassing chain of events, leading Broidy to admit that he’d had an extramarital affair starting in 2013 with a Playboy Playmate named Shera Bechard. In 2017, Broidy had allegedly gotten Bechard pregnant and demanded she get an abortion; he agreed to pay her $1.6 million in exchange for her silence. Just as he had done for Trump’s affairs with porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playmate Karen McDougal, <b>Cohen helped broker Broidy’s agreement with Bechard</b>. Soon Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti was tweeting about a “prominent GOP donor” who had used Cohen to sign a “hush” deal. (Avenatti says he didn’t disclose any confidential information.) <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Broidy acknowledged to The Wall Street Journal that he was the donor in Avenatti’s tweet and said he would no longer pay Bechard.</span></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Broidy was toxic once again. Members of Congress, including Royce and Pittenger, returned his donations.</b> He resigned from the RNC’s finance team. Then, in July, Bechard sued Broidy, arguing that he had violated their agreement and owed her close to $1 million. Bechard’s complaint contained multiple redactions, but an error by Broidy’s lawyers disclosed Bechard’s allegations that Broidy kept a gun in his car and claimed to have connections “who could make people disappear.” (Broidy called Bechard’s allegations “false, malicious and disgusting” and accused Bechard of trying to blackmail him.)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Broidy’s efforts also caught the attention of federal law-enforcement agencies. In May, FBI agents twice interviewed a former associate of Broidy’s about his efforts to win contracts with Angola and about African nationals paying to attend Trump’s inauguration, the associate tells Rolling Stone. In August, The Washington Post reported that the Justice Department was investigating Broidy’s work involving the Malaysian investment-fund scandal.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By all indications, Broidy is undaunted and has no plans to go quietly, as he did after his 2009 guilty plea. After a judge dismissed his first lawsuit against Qatar and Muzin, Broidy filed a new one on January 24th in D.C. federal court against Muzin, Allaham and a former Qatari agent.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Broidy and his company have made tens of millions for their work, with the prospect of earning more in the years ahead. (Circinus has multiple postings for job openings in Abu Dhabi.) Whatever price he pays for his influence operation may simply be the cost of doing business in Donald Trump’s swamp. But for now, Broidy has taken Trump’s advice for what to do when dealing with scandals: Fight, fight, fight.</font></font></font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font></font></font><div class="elements-TinyPromo-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.1;"><a 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href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><h4 class="Heading-heading Heading-light Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-VoicesPromo-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></a><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;" /></a><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Saudi Arabia May Execute Teenager for His Protests — Including When He Was 10</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></h4><h4 class="Heading-heading Heading-light Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-VoicesPromo-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;">
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</span></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="font-weight: 400;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><div class="elements-TinyPromo-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.1;"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><h4 class="Heading-heading Heading-light Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-VoicesPromo-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo" /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/16/saudi-crown-prince-child-execution/" relay="[object Object]" class="PromoLink-link Homepage-HomepageMultimediaModule-voicesPromo"><span class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Saudi Arabia May Execute Teenager for His Protests — Including When He Was 10</font></span></a></h4></div></div><div style="font-weight: 400;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-weight: 400;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.1em; box-shadow: none; text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 30px;">N 2011,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;">as Arab Spring protests swept across the Middle East,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;"> </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/11/saudi-arabia-police-quell-protests" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">demonstrations</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;">also kicked off in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province. Members of the kingdom’s repressed Shiite minority took to the streets, calling for equal rights and a fairer distribution of oil revenues. The protesters included a group of around 30 kids on bicycles. As a</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;"> </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/middleeast/saudi-teen-death-penalty-intl/" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">video</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;">released last week by CNN shows, those children were led by a smiling 10-year-old in flip-flops named Murtaja Qureiris.</span></font></div><div data-reactid="184" style="font-weight: 400; box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The people demand human rights!” the young boy can be seen shouting through a megaphone.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here’s the problem: Demanding human rights in Saudi Arabia lands you in prison. Even if you’re a kid.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Three years later, in September 2014, 13-year-old Murtaja was arrested while on his way to neighboring Bahrain with his family.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“At the time,” reports <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/middleeast/saudi-teen-death-penalty-intl/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">CNN</a>, “he was considered by lawyers and activists to be the youngest known political prisoner in Saudi Arabia.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over the past four years, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/09/world/middleeast/saudi-teenager-death-sentence.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">say</a> human rights groups, this teenager has been subjected to torture and intimidation, as well as a spell in solitary confinement. He has been denied access to a lawyer while interrogators try to get him to confess to the trumped-up charges against him. These include “participating in anti-government protests, attending the funeral of his brother Ali Qureiris who was killed in a protest in 2011, joining a ‘terrorist organization,’ throwing Molotov cocktails at a police station, and firing at security forces,” according to <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/saudi-arabia-authorities-must-not-resort-to-use-of-death-penalty-against-protester-arrested-aged-13/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Amnesty International</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last week, we <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/saudi-teenager-faces-execution-for-alleged-crimes-committed-as-a-child/2019/06/10/b4b356cc-8b76-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html?utm_term=.a99386fd92b0" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">learned</a> that Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for 18-year-old Murtaja, who is being tried in an anti-terror court. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/middleeast/saudi-teen-death-penalty-intl/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">CNN</a> reports that the prosecutors want to “impose the harshest form of the death penalty, which may include crucifixion or dismemberment after execution.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Got that? The unelected government of a close ally of the United States is planning on brutally executing an 18-year-old member of a minority group, for crimes allegedly committed when he was 10 years old.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Let me repeat: Ten. Years. Old.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We shouldn’t forget the person who is primarily responsible for this outrage: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS. Since his father installed him in power, the violent crushing of political dissent has escalated. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/politics/cia-saudi-crown-prince-khashoggi.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">According to the CIA</a>, MBS ordered the horrific murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He is also behind the <a href="https://time.com/5585281/cia-warned-jamal-khashoggi-associates/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">targeting</a> of three Arab activists in Norway, Canada, and the United States.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Much has (rightly) been made of the crown prince’s shocking record on extrajudicial killings. But what of the growing number of judicially sanctioned killings inside of Saudi Arabia on his watch? The planned execution of Murtaja Qureiris may be the most horrendous act yet.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There should be no doubt that the Saudi Arabian authorities are ready to go to any length to crack down on dissent against their own citizens, including by resorting to the death penalty for men who were merely boys at the time of their arrest,” <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/saudi-arabia-authorities-must-not-resort-to-use-of-death-penalty-against-protester-arrested-aged-13/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">says</a> Lynn Maalouf, Middle East research director at Amnesty International.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Gulf kingdom is one of the world’s <a href="https://www.independent.ie/world-news/death-penalty-report-reveals-which-country-is-the-worlds-top-executioner-36800409.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">top executioners</a> and, according to Maalouf, Saudi authorities have “a chilling track record of using the death penalty as a weapon to crush political dissent and punish anti-government protesters — including children — from the country’s persecuted Shi’a minority.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The majority of the country, and the ruling family, are from a strict school of Sunni Islam called Salafism. In April, 37 people were executed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/middleeast/saudi-executions-terror-intl/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">in a single day</a> — the biggest mass execution in the kingdom since 2016 — and the <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/04/saudi-arabia-37-put-to-death-in-shocking-execution-spree/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">vast majority</a> of them were believed to be Shiites. Three of them, according to human rights group <a href="https://reprieve.org.uk/update/saudi-arabia-executes-37-people-in-a-single-day-including-three-juveniles/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Reprieve</a>, were “minors at the time of their alleged offences.” Such executions, as both Reprieve and <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Amnesty International</a> have noted, are a brazen violation of international human rights law.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/04/saudi-arabia-37-put-to-death-in-shocking-execution-spree/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">three Saudi Shiites</a> — Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon, and Abdullah al-Zaher — who were also below the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, are still on death row and could be executed at anytime.</font></p></div><div data-reactid="194" style="font-weight: 400; box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It isn’t just Shiites, either. MBS has also targeted Sunni clerics who have failed to fall into line. There have been <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-saudi-arabia-execute-three-prominent-moderate-scholars-after-ramadan" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">reports</a> that the belligerent and thin-skinned crown prince plans on executing three high-profile Saudi religious scholars — Salman al-Odah, Awad al-Qarni, and Ali al-Omari — all of whom have been held on multiple charges of “terrorism.” 62-year-old Odah is famous in the Arab world for his relatively progressive views on <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Saudi-cleric-Homosexuality-not-a-deviation-from-Islam-should-not-be-punished-452957" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Islam and homosexuality</a> and his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/opinion/21iht-edgerges.1.7596468.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">2007 denunciation</a> of Osama bin Laden. His actual “crime”? <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/01/07/saudi-arabia-cleric-held-4-months-without-charge" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Tweeting</a> a prayer for reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and its Gulf rival, the Emirate of Qatar. (Full disclosure: I host two <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/upfront/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">TV</a> <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/headtohead/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">shows</a> for Qatar-funded Al Jazeera English.)</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supporters of MBS often try and argue that these executions are the product of decisions made in court, not in the royal palace. This is a laughable defense. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. There is <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/al-rasheed-saudi-arabia-needs-independent-judiciary/vi-AAAZ2As" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">no independent judiciary</a>. As <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/middleeast/saudi-teen-death-penalty-intl/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">CNN</a> reports, “The death penalty can only be enforced by order of King Salman or his authorized representative. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is frequently characterized as the King’s deputy.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; letter-spacing: 0.01em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Forget MBS <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/opinion/saudi-prince-mbs-arab-spring.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">the reformer</a>; meet MBS <a href="http://www.worldcoalition.org/Mass-executions-in-Saudi-Arabia-with-more-than-100-people-executed-since-January-2019-.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">the executioner</a>. The fact that he has been embraced closely by everyone from <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/trump-releases-statement-support-saudi-arabia/576436/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Donald Trump</a> to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/09/emmanuel-macron-treats-saudi-crown-prince-private-dinner-louvre/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Emmanuel Macron</a> to <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/saudi-prince-poses-with-pm-on-controversial-visit-11280077" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Theresa May</a> should be a source of shame for those of us living in the West. To <a href="https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/1136417531282018307" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">quote</a> former Obama-era National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor, MBS is “Kim Jong Un with oil money.”</font></p></div><div style="font-weight: 400;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></span></font></font></font></font></div></div></div><div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">new</font></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/saudi-arabia-beheaded-37-dissidents-last-month-and-u-s-media-called-them-terrorists/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/saudi-arabia-beheaded-37-dissidents-last-month-and-u-s-media-called-them-terrorists/</font></a></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Saudi Arabia executed 37 men on April 23, as it announced in a </span><a href="https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/563984" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">press release</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> in its official gazette. The first line of the release read, “Saudi Arabia said it executed 37 citizens last Tuesday after they were </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">convicted of terrorism.”</span></font></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p1_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A cursory Google search would have shown that this assertion was completely false. But many in the U.S. press dutifully stenographed this claim into a headline:</font></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p2_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; list-style: square; position: relative; line-height: 1.7;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“37 Saudis Executed for Terrorism-Related Crimes”: Time (<a href="https://time.com/5576102/saudi-arabia-execution-terrorism-crimes/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">4/23/19</a>)</font></font></font></font></font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; list-style: square; position: relative; line-height: 1.7;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Saudi Arabia Executes 37 in One Day for Terrorism”: New York Times (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-executions.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">4/23/19</a>)</font></font></font></font></font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; list-style: square; position: relative; line-height: 1.7;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Saudi Arabia Beheads 37 Prisoners for Terrorism Crimes”: PBS NewsHour (<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/saudi-arabia-beheads-37-prisoners-for-terrorism-crimes" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">4/23/19</a>)</font></font></font></font></font></li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In fact, by looking at court documents from the Saudi government, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">we know that of these 37 men, 11 of them were<a href="https://www.esohr.org/en/?p=519" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;"> accused of being “Iranian spies</a>,” and 22 were accused of participating in a demonstration during the Arab Spring. (These 33 belonged to the Shia minority; the others practiced Sunni Islam or could not be identified.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">)</span></font></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p3_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Of the 22 men accused of protesting, six were <a href="https://www.esohr.org/en/?p=2206" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">juveniles at the time</a>. Mujtaba Al Suweikat was on his way to study at Western Michigan University when the Saudi authorities arrested him and charged him with “inciting disloyalty to the king.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">”</span></font></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p4_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Saeed Mohammed Al Skafi was 17 during the protests. One of the charges against him was “posting pictures of other detainees.” Most of the others were convicted of offenses like “chanting disloyal slogans about the king” and “using social media to incite demonstrations.”</font></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p5_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of the 11 convicted of being Iranian spies, they were also found guilty of farcical offenses such as “<a href="https://www.esohr.org/en/?p=1286" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">condemning the bloodshed</a>” (in February 2012, Saudi forces in the Shia-majority Saudi governorate of Qatif had sprayed protesters with bullets) and saving images and documents of the protests (which are also available on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Revolution2East" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">YouTube)</a> on their hard drives.</font></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p6_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-5" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="connatix" cnx-creative-type="VideoMonetization" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; position: relative;"><div id="cnx-adUnit-overlay" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 629.986px; height: 364.361px; cursor: pointer;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">A</font></font></font></font></div><div id="cnx-video-image" cnx-video-ratio="16:9" cnx-video-width="undefined" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; position: relative;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></font></font><div class="cnx-ratio" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 354.361px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div class="cnx-video-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 629.986px; height: 354.361px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mong the other four people executed, Khaled Al Tuwairji, a Sunni, was <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/07/28/The-death-sentence-against-Othman-s-murderers.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">accused of killing Maj. Gen. Nasser Othman</a>. However, all three outlets repeated that he was a “Sunni extremist,” for which we have no other evidence. Al Tuwairji was tortured into a confession (Erem News, <a href="https://www.eremnews.com/news/arab-world/saudi-arabia/1783964" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">4/23/19</a>).  But all three outlets justified his execution and subsequent crucifixion by insisting that he was a convicted Sunni militant.</font></div></div></div></div><div class="p7_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another of the Sunnis executed, Khaled Al Farraj, was convicted on the vague charge of being affiliated with an outlawed terrorist organization. But even according to Saudi state media, he didn’t engage in any acts of terrorism. He is the only one of the 37 people executed who seems to have been charged with a terrorism-related offense.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p8_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PBS NewsHour (<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/saudi-arabia-beheads-37-prisoners-for-terrorism-crimes" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">4/23/19</a>)</font></strong></font></font></font></p><div class="p9_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Having false information in the headlines is extremely prejudicial. Studies have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/03/19/americans-read-headlines-and-not-much-else/?utm_term=.fcab55e6bc8b" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/06/16/six-in-10-of-you-will-share-this-link-without-reading-it-according-to-a-new-and-depressing-study/?utm_term=.c2487f6dfe19" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">shown</a> that a large portion of readers do not read past the headlines — and those that do end up remembering the headline the most.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p10_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In its <a href="https://newsdiffs.org/diff/1934606/1934749/www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-executions.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">first version of the article</a>, which has changed since then, the New York Times wrote of Saudi Arabia, “It listed the 37 men by name but provided little information about what specific crimes had been committed by whom or when.” Instead of relying on a Saudi press release, the Times could have tried a cursory web search — or even searched its own archives. In an article by the Times editorial board (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/opinion/saudi-executions-salman-trump.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">8/3/17</a>) nearly two years ago, it had a short biography of Mujtaba Al Suweikat, the “disloyal” Western Michigan student, and the specific crimes he had been charged with.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p11_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though the Times article was edited after publication to include some information that didn’t come from the Saudi press release — citing a Human Rights Watch official’s concern that many of the cases “raised serious rights concerns,” for example — the revised article was still misleading. For example, in paragraph three, it stated, “Some men had been involved in bomb attacks on security headquarters that had killed officers, the [state news] agency said.” As far as we know, none of the 37 executed men had been involved in any bomb attacks, but the Times never challenged this Saudi government assertion.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p12_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Furthermore, the Times said that 14 of those killed had been arrested in relation to “sometimes violent protests.” It failed to mention that that violence came from the Saudi government. </b>This video, from July 2012, clearly shows Saudi police <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icdlBJ2KXzE" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">firing on unarmed protesters</a>. In searching through the news archives, articles have <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/9012686/Saudi-forces-shoot-dead-Shiite-protester.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/03/07/saudi-arabias-shiite-problem/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">mentioned</a> protesters being shot by the Saudi police. There appear to be no reports (outside Saudi propaganda statements) of violence emanating from the protesters.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p13_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The articles in the Times, Time magazine and the NewsHour all mentioned Saudi-Iranian relations, thereby <a href="https://fair.org/home/vox-cia-iran-saudi-arabia-middle-east-cold-war/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">amplifying longstanding Saudi propaganda</a> that accuses Shia of being naturally loyal to Iran, which is blamed for  “stoking unrest” to justify brutal crackdowns of the religious minority.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p14_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All three outlets also added gratuitous details about the attack in Sri Lanka and/or other ISIS-related attacks — attacks that there’s no suggestion any of the defendants were connected to. In fact, most of these defendants were arrested before ISIS existed. And a majority of those killed, being Shiites, would be viewed by ISIS as heretics. To bring up these attacks seems like a distraction from the topic of the stories, which is the Saudi government beheading people who have for the most part been accused mainly of being dissidents.</font></font></font></font></p></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div></div><div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></div><div><div class="mag-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 19px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h3 class="magcat-titlte entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/03/saudi-arabia-had-access-to-jeff-bezos-phone-investigator-drops-bombshell-allegation-against-the-middle-east-kingdom/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Saudi Arabia ‘had access’ to Jeff Bezos’ phone: Investigator drops bombshell allegation against the Middle East kingdom</font></a></font></font></font></h3><div class="grid-post-box-meta mag-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/bob-brigham/" title="Posts by Bob Brigham" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Bob Brigham</a> / <a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/salon/" title="Posts by Salon " class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Salon</a></font></span></font></font></font></div></div><div class="mag-excerpt entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Renowned celebrity private investigator Gavin De Becker “concluded with high confidence” that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had access to the cell phone of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner…</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">onfidence” that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had access to the cell phone of Amazon founder and <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington Post</em> owner Jeff Bezos.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p1_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeff-bezos-investigation-finds-the-saudis-obtained-his-private-information" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">new column</a> published by <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Daily Beast</em>, De Becker laid out what he learned in his investigation into how the <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nationale Enquirer</em> published salacious details of Bezos’ private life.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p2_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone, and gained private information,” De Becker wrote. “We did not reach our conclusions lightly.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p3_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The inquiry included a broad array of resources: investigative interviews with current and former AMI executives and sources, extensive discussions with top Middle East experts in the intelligence community, leading cyber security experts who have tracked Saudi spyware, discussions with current and former advisers to President Trump, Saudi whistleblowers, people who personally know the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (also known as MBS), people who work with his close associate Saud al-Qahtani, Saudi dissidents, and other targets of Saudi action, including writer/activist Iyad el-Baghdadi,” he explained.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p4_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Experts with whom we consulted confirmed <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">New York Times</em> reports on the Saudi capability to ‘collect vast amounts of previously inaccessible data from smartphones in the air without leaving a trace — including phone calls, texts, emails’ – and confirmed that hacking was a key part of the Saudi’s “extensive surveillance efforts that ultimately led to the killing of [<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington Post</em>] journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” he continued.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p5_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Post</em> began its relentless coverage of Khashoggi’s murder,” he said.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p6_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He added, “it’s clear that MBS considers the <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington Post</em> to be a major enemy.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p7_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read his <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeff-bezos-investigation-finds-the-saudis-obtained-his-private-information" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">full column</a>.</font></font></font></font></p></div></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">new report reveals that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman kept his anti-dissident death squad so busy in 2018 that its members requested bonuses.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p1_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is one of many revelations about the extent of Prince Mohammed’s use of the hit squad reported Monday <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/middleeast/khashoggi-crown-prince-saudi.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">by the New York Times</a>. According to the article, Mohammed’s alleged ordering of the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October was only one part of a larger campaign to silence dissidents. Dubbed the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group by American officials, the group is believed to have been involved in at least a dozen violent campaigns starting in 2017. Their actions ranged from forcibly repatriating Saudi Arabians who had fled to other countries to torturing prisoners in palaces owned by Mohammed bin Salman and his father, King Salman. On one occasion, a university professor who had written about the status of women in Saudi Arabia attempted suicide due to the extreme psychological torture she had experienced.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p2_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although in theory Saudi Arabian law prohibits torture, that apparently hasn’t dissuaded the prince known around the world as MBS from allegedly ordering and endorsing the practice. Yet the prince’s power may now be diminishing, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/18/saudi-crown-prince-allegedly-stripped-of-some-authority" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">according to a recent report by the Guardian</a>. MBS has not been involved in recent important ministerial and diplomatic meetings over the past two weeks, that article reports, and has also lost some of his authority over financial and economic matters. While this diminution of his power may only be temporary, it is nevertheless significant given that he had been seen as the dominant figure in the Saudi monarchy.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p3_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">King Salman reportedly informed a group of senior ministers that his son had been stripped of some of his authority early last week. Although MBS had been invited to attend the meeting where this announcement was made, he did not show up.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p4_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Trump has not responded to the recent reports about Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations, even though he has been vocal in the past in defending Saudi Arabia’s royalty against the assertions of American intelligence officials. After the murder of Khashoggi prompted many Capitol Hill legislators, including several Republicans, to call for a re-evaluation of America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/11/20/washington-post-slams-trump-for-statement-smearing-jamal-khashoggi-and-giving-saudi-arabia-a-pass/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Trump defended the country’s controversial war against Yemen</a>, saying, “Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p5_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump also defended the crown prince against the accusations that he had ordered Khashoggi’s murder, saying, “King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p6_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was later revealed that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is also one of the president’s top advisers, has <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/12/09/kushner-didnt-stop-advising-saudi-crown-prince-after-jamal-khashoggi-murder/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">continued to stay in touch</a> with MBS despite his alleged role in the Khashoggi killing.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p7_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Congress voted last week to end America’s support for the Saudi war in Yemen, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/03/15/bernie-sanders-quietly-scored-a-major-win-against-donald-trump-this-week/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">a move that might result in Trump</a> issuing the second legislative veto of his presidency, only days after the first.</font></font></font></font></p></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div><div class="story_summary" style="box-sizing: border-box;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><div class="text" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 27px; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Democrats are accusing the Trump administration of moving toward transferring highly sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in potential violation of U.S. law. Critics say the deal could endanger national security while enriching close allies of President Trump. Saudi Arabia is considering building as many as 16 nuclear power plants by 2030, but many critics fear the kingdom could use the technology to develop nuclear weapons and trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. We speak with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna of California and Isaac Arnsdorf, a reporter with ProPublica. Arnsdorf first wrote about the intense and secretive lobbying effort to give nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in 2017. His reporting was cited in the House report.</font></font></font></font></p></div><hr class="hidden-xs" style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 1px; margin: 40px 0px; border: none; clear: both; background: rgb(236, 238, 239);" /></div><div class="mobile_anchor_target" id="transcript" style="box-sizing: border-box;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><h5 class="transcript" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 1;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Transcript</font></font></font></font></h5><div class="grey_description fine_print" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.</font></font></font></font></div><div class="text" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 27px; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JUAN</span> GONZÁLEZ:</strong> House Democrats are accusing the Trump administration of moving toward transferring highly sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in potential violation of U.S. law. Critics say the deal could endanger national security while enriching close allies of President Trump. Saudi Arabia is considering building as many as 16 nuclear power plants by 2030, but many critics fear the kingdom could use the technology to develop nuclear weapons and trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. During an interview with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">60 Minutes</em> last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made clear that if Iran acquired nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would do the same.</font></font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">CROWN</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PRINCE</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">MOHAMMED</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">BIN</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">SALMAN</span>:</strong> [translated] Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb. But without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible.</font></font></font></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JUAN</span> GONZÁLEZ:</strong> On Thursday, the House Oversight Committee issued an interim report on the proposed Saudi deal, after multiple whistleblowers came forward accusing several top White House advisers and Trump allies of attempting to push through the transfer of the nuclear technology despite legal and ethical warnings. At the center of the controversy is the company IP3, which was formed to help U.S. companies build nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region, in what they dubbed a “Middle East Marshall Plan.” Former national security adviser Michael Flynn worked as an adviser for a subsidiary of the firm before entering the White House, and reportedly continued to advocate on behalf of the company once in office. IP3 was co-founded by former Reagan official Bud McFarlane, who pleaded guilty to participating in the Iran-Contra cover-up in 1988.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> The House report also names several other high-ranking Trump officials and allies reportedly involved in the proposed Saudi deal, including Trump’s son-in-law, his adviser Jared Kushner; Energy Secretary Rick Perry; and Trump’s billionaire friend Tom Barrack, who served as chair of Trump’s inaugural committee. According to the report by the congressional committee, the White House may still be discussing the plan.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We’re joined now by two guests. In Washington, D.C., Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna of Silicon Valley in California joins us. He serves on the House Oversight Committee. And here in New York, Isaac Arnsdorf is with us, a reporter with ProPublica. He first wrote about the intense and secretive lobbying effort to give nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in 2017. His reporting was cited in the House report.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We welcome you both to <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Democracy Now!</em> Congressmember Ro Khanna, let’s begin with you. What are you doing on the House Oversight Committee? What is the leadership doing there?</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">REP</span>. RO <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">KHANNA</span>:</strong> Well, it’s a very serious matter. Here’s why people should care. The Saudis have been giving arms to al-Qaeda in Yemen. There’s reports of that. And the last thing we want to do as a country is to transfer nuclear secrets to Saudi Arabia, which could lead to proliferation and a threat to our security.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And as the journalist you have on has reported, there is a lot of financial conflict of interest here. Tom Barrack, who headed up the president’s inaugural committee to raise $100 million-plus, is also pushing for this deal and has financial interest in the deal. So the Oversight Committee is going to have an investigation to see what are the financial interests that are driving this administration to potentially sell nuclear secrets to the Saudis and what laws have been violated, because, as you know, they have to come to Congress, under the Atomic Energy Act, and offer certain guidelines, which they haven’t done.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JUAN</span> GONZÁLEZ:</strong> And, Congressman, this attempt by the administration is still very much alive. There was a meeting February 12th, just last week, in the White House between President Trump and some nuclear power developers. What do you know about that meeting and what came out of there?</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">REP</span>. RO <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">KHANNA</span>:</strong> Well, we need to find out more facts. That’s why we need an investigation. We need to know who was in that meeting, what was discussed, whether they followed the law that the Atomic Energy Act requires. I mean, even when we transfer nuclear technology to allies, such as India, when George Bush did that, it requires years of process. It requires the consultation of Congress. Here you’re talking about the potential sale of nuclear secrets to the Saudis, who aren’t an ally, who have engaged in the proliferation of weapons that are being used against our own troops, and there is no process for notification of Congress. And you have extensive reporting of people who gain—stand to gain billions of dollars from these investments.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> So, Isaac Arnsdorf, the report of the House Oversight Committee cites your reporting. You did a <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-house-panel-trump-advisers-saudi-nuclear-deal-michael-flynn-tom-barrack" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; border: 0px;">piece</a> yesterday. You did a <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/white-house-may-share-nuclear-power-technology-with-saudi-arabia" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; border: 0px;">piece</a> last year. Explain first what the “Middle East Marshall Plan” is and then the financial interests of people like, well, Trump, a close confidant, spoke at the Republican National Convention, Tom Barrack, headed the inaugural committee, Michael Flynn and others.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ISAAC</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ARNSDORF</span>:</strong> So, the “Middle East Marshall Plan” was this idea that bubbled up in this company that you mentioned, IP3, which was that they can strengthen economic and political ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia by having the U.S. companies export nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia. And they started lobbying the Trump administration, and initially the Trump transition, about how this would fit with Trump’s ideas about his approach to the Middle East and make America great, restoring American jobs in American industry.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And Tom Barrack was very receptive to this idea, because he was promoting a similar kind of economic outreach to the region. He had a lot of ties with the leaders there. And thanks to the support of Tom Barrack and also General Flynn, who was involved in the project before he was in the White House, the project, the idea, gained a lot of traction in the early days of the administration.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> And take it through to now.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ISAAC</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ARNSDORF</span>:</strong> So, initially, in the first three months, as detailed by the whistleblowers who spoke to the House Oversight Committee, this was really something that was happening in kind of a—kind of being rushed through the National Security Council, and that wasn’t complying with the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act, that requires all kinds of review, because, obviously, the U.S. very tightly controls this technology, because it can be misused to build nuclear weapons.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More recently, the administration has been taking steps to go through that formal process and have negotiations with the Saudis about reaching a formal agreement to share nuclear power technology. If that were to happen, Congress would not have to actually ratify the treaty, but it would have 90 days to pass a joint resolution that could block it.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JUAN</span> GONZÁLEZ:</strong> Well, you would think, though, with all the stuff that’s happened in relationship to Saudi Arabia—the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the decision by Congress to cut off military aid to the war in Yemen—that there would be some reconsideration of the Trump administration of such a controversial move. What’s your sense of what the thinking is, going on here?</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ISAAC</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ARNSDORF</span>:</strong> Well, there was already a lot of bipartisan skepticism about the idea of sharing nuclear power technology, and calls to tell Congress more about what was happening in those negotiations, or even call off those negotiations. And you’ve certainly seen an escalation, since all the things that you mentioned, of members of both parties saying, “We need to put a pause on this. We need to get some more information.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> Let’s turn to Energy Secretary Rick Perry speaking last year at a meeting of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Energy Secretary Perry was asked to respond to concerns about nuclear proliferation in light of U.S. negotiations with Saudi Arabia on nuclear energy.</font></font></font></font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ENERGY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">SECRETARY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">RICK</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PERRY</span>:</strong> That goes right to the point that we tried to make with the Saudi crown prince in our conversations with him and with his team, that not only will it send a powerful message if they go into an acceptable one, two, three, with additional protocols, but that we—that they do that, because if they don’t, the message that’s sent—if the Chinese or the Russians, which don’t require any of that, not only does it send the message—I think the wrong message—by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but it also sends the message to the United States that we’re no longer the leader in the world when it comes to civil nuclear power—Westinghouse, best reactor builder in the world. … The second point that we tried to really drive home to the crown prince was that if you want the best reactors in the world, you have to come to the United States, and you have to use Westinghouse.</font></font></font></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> Congressmember Ro Khanna, the significance of the testimony of Rick Perry, the energy secretary, and his involvement here?</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">REP</span>. RO <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">KHANNA</span>:</strong> Well, I think it’s a worldview into how the Trump administration looks at the relationship with the Saudis. It’s all about money, whether it’s selling them arms sales or selling nuclear secrets. There’s no moral consideration. I mean, Tom Barrack, as recently as a week ago, was out there defending the Khashoggi murder and defending the Saudi regime’s murder of Khashoggi. He actually said, appallingly, that the United States has done worse, which I totally disagree with. But it gives you a sense of what’s driving this. It’s financial interests. It’s selling interests into the Saudis for money, and no concern for our security and no concern for the morality of the Saudis’ policies.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JUAN</span> GONZÁLEZ:</strong> And, Isaac, in that clip, the energy secretary referred to the one, two, three. A lot of people are not familiar with that. Could you talk about the legal limitations on what the administration can do or can’t do in terms of transferring nuclear power technology?</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ISAAC</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ARNSDORF</span>:</strong> So, that refers to the section of the Atomic Energy Act that requires these negotiations and these agreements before sharing this technology. And what the secretary was describing there is really a very challenging policy problem, where the Saudis want nuclear power—maybe they have a legitimate interest in diversifying their economy from oil, but, as you heard the crown prince describe in the clip that you played, maybe they also want to keep up with their neighbor Iran, with potential military implications. So, the Saudis want nuclear power. They’re pursuing it. If the U.S. doesn’t help them get it, are they going to turn around and go to Russia or China? And then there are going to be even less security assurances than they would have with the U.S. So, that’s a very real policy problem that security experts struggle with.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But what you’re seeing with the Trump administration is that they are arriving at an answer to that policy problem that, based on what we’ve seen out of the House Oversight Committee, was, to a large extent, based on people with conflicts of interest promoting this for other reasons.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> I also want to talk about Jared Kushner’s connection to this. The House report states, “In January 2018, Brookfield Business Partners, a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, announced its plans to acquire Westinghouse Electric for $4.6 billion. Westinghouse Electric is the bankrupt nuclear services company that is part of IP3’s proposed consortium to build nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia, and which stands to benefit from the Middle East Marshall Plan. In August 2018, Brookfield Asset Management purchased a partnership stake in 666 Fifth Avenue, a building owned by Jared Kushner’s family company.” Isaac?</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ISAAC</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ARNSDORF</span>:</strong> This is especially interesting given that Jared Kushner is on his way to the region very shortly. And there’s a lot of discussion in the House Oversight Committee’s report about materials being prepared for conversations between Kushner and the president, and obviously Jared Kushner has developed a very close relationship with <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">MBS</span>, the crown prince, and was reportedly described as “in his pocket.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> Ro Khanna, would you like to add to this?</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">REP</span>. RO <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">KHANNA</span>:</strong> Well, I would just say we need transparency. But here is one thing that the president and the administration could do to show some distance from the Saudi regime, and that is to sign the War Powers Resolution that will stop U.S. support for the Saudi war crimes in Yemen. As you know, we passed it through the House; next week, the Senate is going to take it up. And I hope that the president will sign it and at least put some distance between U.S. policy with the Saudis. But we need to understand all of the financial interests that administration officials and their friends have with the Saudis and what’s driving our policy.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> One last thing, Congressmember Ro Khanna. You’re a leader in the Congress around the issue of Yemen. Talk about the legislation that was just passed and how getting nuclear power to Saudi Arabia, which could conceivably be turned into nuclear weapons, plays into this picture of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">REP</span>. RO <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">KHANNA</span>:</strong> Well, I appreciate your reporting on this. There are nearly 14 million Yemenis who face the potential of famine. That is because the Saudis have been bombing the port cities, and food and medicine isn’t being allowed in. It’s being inspected, and that’s leading to hyperinflation in Yemen. People don’t have food and medicine.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We passed in the House the War Powers Resolution that would stop the U.S. support for the Saudi bombing in Yemen. It’s expected to pass the Senate next week or in the next couple weeks. That will be the first time in the history of this country that the War Powers Resolution has ever passed, since 1973. And what that will do is make it unambiguously clear that the United States doesn’t support the Saudi bombing. As it is, since we passed the House resolution, we’ve seen a temporary ceasefire in the bombing campaign, and some hopeful signs that food and medicine will go in.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think it would be the exact wrong message for us to be selling nuclear secrets to the Saudis, especially given the reporting that the Saudis are transferring some of these weapons to al-Qaeda in Yemen. And in terms of the point that Russia or China may supply the Saudis, the United States has prevented that type of action when we want to. We prevented it in Iran. We’re trying to prevent it in other countries. There’s no reason the United States should tolerate any sale of nuclear weapons to the Saudis.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span> <span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong> Well, we’re going to leave it there but continue to follow this issue. Ro Khanna, Democratic congressmember from California, member of the House Oversight Committee, that’s going to be investigating this Saudi nuclear issue. Also with us, in New York, Isaac Arnsdorf, a reporter with ProPublica, who first wrote about the intense and secretive lobbying effort to give nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in 2017, his reporting cited in the House report. And we’ll link to your latest <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-house-panel-trump-advisers-saudi-nuclear-deal-michael-flynn-tom-barrack" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; border: 0px;">report</a>, “House Panel Probes Trump Advisers’ Push for Saudi Nuclear Deal.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Democracy Now!</em> When we come back, we’ll be joined by a man whose father possibly faces the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. He’s in prison</font></font></font></font></p></div></div></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Tuesday, United Arab Emirates newspaper Gulf News <a href="https://gulfnews.com/business/trump-backer-tom-barrack-defends-saudi-arabia-1.62027403" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reported</a> that Tom Barrack, an ally of President Donald Trump, defended Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington Post</em> journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a panel in Abu Dhabi, by trying to change the subject to how bad the United States is.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p1_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse,” said Barrack. “The atrocities in any … country are dictated by the rule of law. So for us to dictate what we think is the moral code there, when we have a young man and regime that is trying to push themselves into 2030, I think is a mistake.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p2_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This sort of whataboutism is a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/whataboutism-what-about-it/2017/08/17/4d05ed36-82b4-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html?utm_term=.163cc9794082" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">favorite tactic</a> of hostile regimes like those of Vladimir Putin in Russia: the logic being that all actions share a moral equivalency regardless of context, and any wrongdoing can be dismissed by pointing to the wrongdoing of others. The United States, being an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jun/02/highereducation.books" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">imperialistic world power</a>, has of course done unsavory things. But that should not inform how we react to the Saudi government <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">murdering a journalist and dismembering him with a bone saw</a> after he criticized the regime.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p3_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Moreover, we should question how seriously the prince — who allegedly <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/senators-doubt-mbs-ordered-khashoggi-killing-181204175113812.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">ordered the killing</a> — is committed to pushing his country into 2030 if he thinks there is room for state-sanctioned assassinations of reporters in 2030. Not to mention <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/is-yemen-intentional-starvation-the-future-of-war" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">deliberately using child famine as a weapon of war</a> in Yemen.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p4_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Barrack, a multimillionaire private equity real estate investor, was a former <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/g13034515/thomas-barrack-jr-facts/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">business partner and early backer</a> of Trump who <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gRhBLl6q-Jg" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">spoke in his favor</a> at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p5_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump himself, who has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much-trump-has-long-standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">long-standing real estate deals</a> with the Saudi royal family, has been resistant to condemning the prince over Khashoggi’s murder. Despite the fact that the CIA <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/politics/cia-saudi-crown-prince-khashoggi.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">determined</a> the prince was responsible, Trump has said he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/20/trump-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-crown-prince" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">stands with</a> him, claiming there is “nothing definitive” to prove his involvement and “we may never know” the whole story. Even Senate Republicans have passed a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/politics/corker-saudi-crown-prince-khashoggi/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">resolution</a> defying Trump to rebuke Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi.</font></font></font></font></p></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/theres-another-shoe-to-drop-it-sure-looks-like-the-enquirers-blackmail-of-jeff-bezos-was-meant-to-protect-the-saudi-crown-prince/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/theres-another-shoe-to-drop-it-sure-looks-like-the-enquirers-blackmail-of-jeff-bezos-was-meant-to-protect-the-saudi-crown-prince/</a></font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/02/07/jeff-bezos-pens-a-blog-post-suggesting-he-was-blackmailed-by-national-enquirer/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">extraordinary letter</a> revealing the National Enquirer’s apparent attempt to blackmail him, one detail has led to intense speculation:<b> Bezos linked the effort to the tabloid paper’s ties to the Saudi Arabian government.</b></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p1_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bezos <a href="https://medium.com/@jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146e3922310f" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">wrote in a Medium post</a> that American Media, the parent company of the Enquirer, threatened to publish nude photos and details of his affair with former news anchor Lauren Sanchez unless he made a statement saying he had “no knowledge” that the Enquirer’s coverage of his affair was “politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p2_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bezos noted that David Pecker, the head of AMI and a longtime associate of President Trump, “recently entered into an <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/12/14/trump-and-the-national-enquirer-david-pecker-could-be-very-bad-news-for-trump/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">immunity deal</a> with the Department of Justice related to their role in the so-called ‘Catch and Kill’ process on behalf of President Trump and his election campaign.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p3_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AMI bought the story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s alleged affair with Trump and killed the story before the election,<a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/12/12/the-national-enquirer-just-flipped-on-donald-trump/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;"> the company admitted</a>.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p4_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mr. Pecker and his company have also been investigated for various actions they’ve taken on behalf of the Saudi Government,” Bezos added.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p5_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bezos cited a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/business/media/david-pecker-trump-saudi-arabia.html?login=email&auth=login-email" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">New York Times report</a> revealing that Trump “rewarded” Pecker’s loyalty by inviting him to a White House dinner with a guest linked to the royal family in Saudi Arabia, where Pecker was pursuing business opportunities. </font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Times reported that Pecker traveled to Saudi Arabia after the trip to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and even believed that the Saudis would help fund his coveted acquisition of Time magazine.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p7_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ahead of that visit, AMI <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-publisher-pal-puts-saudi-propaganda-magazine-in-us-supermarkets" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">published</a> a 100-page glossy magazine that was essentially a promotional brochure for Saudi Arabia and Prince Mohammed.</b></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p8_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bezos’ revelations came on the same day that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/us/politics/khashoggi-mohammed-bin-salman.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the Times reported</a> that the Saudi prince told a top aide in 2017 that he would use a “bullet’ on Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist murdered last October, according to American intelligence intercepts. President Trump and his associates have <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/11/20/washington-post-slams-trump-for-statement-smearing-jamal-khashoggi-and-giving-saudi-arabia-a-pass/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">repeatedly downplayed</a> the U.S. intelligence findings and defended Prince Mohammed, who is <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/12/09/kushner-didnt-stop-advising-saudi-crown-prince-after-jamal-khashoggi-murder/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reportedly close</a> to Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p9_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">They also came on the same day that <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-sought-vices-help-to-build-a-media-empire-11549621800" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the Wall Street Journal</a> reported that Prince Mohammed was actively recruiting American media outlets to remake his image in the west. According to the report, he met on a yacht with Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith to discuss “an international media empire to combat the kingdom’s rivals and remake its image in the West.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p10_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bezos wrote that an AMI “leader” told his team that Pecker was “apoplectic” about the investigation Bezos launched into texts and images that were stolen from his phone. “For reasons still to be better understood, the Saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve,” Bezos wrote.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p11_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s unclear what, if any, connections Saudi Arabia has to the blackmail attempt but Bezos security chief Gavin de Becker believes that the texts and photos were not obtained by hacking Bezos’ phone.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p12_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead, according to Washington Post reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia, <a href="https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1093715333079318530" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">de Becker believes</a> “it’s possible that a government entity might have gotten hold of [Bezos’] text messages.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p13_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In December, former longtime National Enquirer editor Jerry George linked Pecker, Trump and the Saudis in an <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/msnbc-live-with-ari-melber/2018-12-17" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">interview with MSNBC</a>, in which he explained that Pecker was using his company’s coverage to help the Trump campaign and the Saudis in order to get financing for acquisitions. George said Pecker was <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/12/18/national-enquirer-likely-has-damaging-unpublished-stories-on-president-donald-trump-and-his-family_partner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">holding on to damaging information</a> to use as bargaining chips.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p14_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“David got close to the Trump pals, including you know, Saudi money and Jared Kushner’s … banking friends,” George told host Ari Melber. “So he ultimately gathered some bargaining chips that he planned to use in time to get something he needed.”</b></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p15_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">George went on to cite the pro-Saudi propaganda glossy that AMI published as “suspicious” because the company was “cash poor” and “suddenly” got an “influx of cash.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p16_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I think there`s another shoe to drop,” he said. “I mean, the special counsel’s focus is now moving towards, you know, the Saudis’ role in all of this … they may not be out of trouble yet.”</font></font></font></font></p></div><div style=""><p style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></p><p style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/national-enquirers-suspected-source-for-bezos-story-believed-trump-knew-and-supported-the-effort-report/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/national-enquirers-suspected-source-for-bezos-story-believed-trump-knew-and-supported-the-effort-report/</a></font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Sunday, The Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/mistress-lauren-sanchezs-brother-leaked-bezos-racy-texts-to-enquirer-sources-say-7" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reported</a> that the <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">National Enquirer’s</em> likely source for the steamy text messages between Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his mistress Lauren Sanchez was the mistress’ brother, Michael Sanchez.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p1_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the saga could be deeper than that. It turns out that Sanchez believed that the Enquirer, and its parent company AMI, were acting with the blessing of President Donald Trump, who allegedly wanted revenge on Bezos for negative coverage about him in the <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington Post</em>:</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p2_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: none !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Documents reviewed by The Daily Beast show that Michael Sanchez believed the Enquirer pursued its story about Bezos with “President Trump’s knowledge and appreciation” — a chase encouraged, in Sanchez’s estimation, by Republican operatives “who THINK Jeff gets up every morning and has a WaPo meeting to plot its next diabolical attack on President Trump.”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p3_8" style="font-style: italic; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bezos, the richest man in the world, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/washington-post-closes-sale-to-amazon-founder-jeff-bezos/2013/10/01/fca3b16a-2acf-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">purchased</a> the <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Post</em> in 2013. However, there is no evidence he plays any role in the paper’s editorial direction, and the <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Post</em> has actually run a number of <a href="https://fortune.com/2017/10/27/amazon-jeff-bezos-washington-post/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">articles critical of Amazon</a> under his ownership without comment from him.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p4_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AMI and its owner, David Pecker, are facing backlash after Bezos <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/jeff-bezos-says-the-national-enquirers-parent-company-tried-to-blackmail-him-with-nude-selfies/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">revealed</a> that the company tried to blackmail him with nude photos after he launched an <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/jeff-bezos-is-investigating-his-leaked-sexts-and-the-probe-has-bizarre-ties-to-trumpworld/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">investigation</a>into how they acquired text messages from his affair.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p5_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pecker, a friend of Trump’s, was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/23/politics/david-pecker-immunity-cohen/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">granted immunity</a> last fall as part of an investigation by the Southern District of New York attorney’s office into Trump’s hush payments to women prior to the 2016 presidential election, one of which — to cover up Trump’s encounter with Playboy Playmate Karen MacDougal — was <a href="https://fortune.com/2018/04/19/donald-trump-karen-mcdougal-national-enquirer/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">brokered by AMI</a>. If it turns out that AMI broke the law by blackmailing Bezos, which could constitute <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/10/american-media-inc-threats-against-bezos-could-be-against-law-heres-how/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">criminal extortion</a>, this would violate the terms of their immunity agreement, meaning SDNY prosecutors could <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/technology/429225-national-enquirer-faces-new-legal-woes-after-bezos-claims?amp" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">pursue charges</a> against the company. </font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Moreover, there may be yet another side to Trump’s alleged involvement. The president has reportedly “<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/theres-another-shoe-to-drop-it-sure-looks-like-the-enquirers-blackmail-of-jeff-bezos-was-meant-to-protect-the-saudi-crown-prince/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">rewarded</a>” Pecker by putting him in touch with people connected to the Saudi royal family, at roughly the same time that AMI was attempting to secure funding from the Saudis to acquire Time Magazine and ran a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-publisher-pal-puts-saudi-propaganda-magazine-in-us-supermarkets" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">special edition</a> that lavished praise on Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p7_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If it transpired that Trump tried to hook up his publisher friend with funding from a despotic foreign regime in return for helping to discredit a businessman at the center of a personal vendetta, then the Russia collusion allegations could be just the tip of the iceberg for the president’s wrongdoing. Sanchez’s belief that Trump gave his imprimatur to AMI’s actions does little to help him.</font></font></font></font></p><p><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></p></div><div style=""><p style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></p><p style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AN</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://medium.com/@jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146e3922310f" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Pecker’s alleged attempt to blackmail Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos</a> would not ordinarily attract my eye, except for this paragraph:</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p1_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: none !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And sometimes Mr. Pecker mixes it all together:</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p2_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“After Mr. Trump became president, he rewarded Mr. Pecker’s loyalty with a White House dinner to which the media executive brought a guest with important ties to the royals in Saudi Arabia. At the time, Mr. Pecker was pursuing business there while also hunting for financing for acquisitions. </b>…”</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p3_22" style="font-style: italic; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></div></div></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We knew that Pecker had brought <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/national-inquirer-boss-took-ally-of-saudi-arabia-to-meet-trump-in-the-oval-office" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the French investment banker and Saudi publicist Kacy Grine</a> to the White House.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p4_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-publisher-pal-puts-saudi-propaganda-magazine-in-us-supermarkets" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Spencer Ackerman</a> had reported on Pecker’s strange move to put a <b>pro-Saudi glossy magazine in grocery store checkout lanes in spring of 2018. </b>It is as though he thought American housewives would thrill to the soap opera in Riyadh, where the Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr.-Hyde Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had, in summer of 2017, sidelined his rival, Mohammed bin Nayef, dethroning him as crown prince and greedily taking his place, before he kidnapped many in the Saudi elite to shake them down for $100 billion while imprisoning them in the Ritz-Carlton. “Days of Our Lives” had nothing on the Saudis.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p5_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In short, there is every reason to believe that Pecker is entangled with the Saudi royal court of bin Salman, perhaps, as Bezos alleges, in search of investment opportunities.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One question I have long had is whether investigators looking at the Russian element in the election of Trump are not unduly downplaying <a href="https://www.juancole.com/2018/05/collusion-afraid-uae.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">a United Arab Emirates and Saudi angle</a>. That is, did those two oil monarchies help put Trump in power in the first place, and is there a prehistory to their entanglements with his circle?</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p7_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But what Bezos goes on to say is that he hired a private investigator to find out how Pecker got hold of his texts and exchanges of smartphone photographs with his lover, Lauren Sanchez.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p8_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And the investigator, Gavin de Becker, looked into whether Pecker’s National Enquirer is influence-peddling for Saudi Arabia for some sort of quid pro quo.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p9_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bezos also hints that Pecker was upset about The Washington Post’s quest to get to the bottom of the Saudi government’s murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2, 2018. Bezos owns the Post, though he maintains he is a hands-off owner.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p10_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bezos alleges that the investigation of the Saudi connection alarmed Pecker and precipitated the alleged attempt to blackmail the Amazon CEO into falling silent and backing off, with the threat of releasing further compromising photographs and text messages of a private nature.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p11_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/02/08/ronan-farrow-says-he-was-also-blackmail-target-after-reporting-national-enquirer-trump/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9d7c2f840db6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Ronan Farrow</a> said on Twitter that Pecker’s hired gun, Australian Dylan Howard, also attempted to intimidate him when he was investigating Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment of  women in Hollywood.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p12_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This charge makes me wonder if<b> Pecker isn’t America’s answer to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/24/world/europe/uk-phone-hacking-scandal-fast-facts/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Rupert Murdoch, whose British tabloids were famous for hacking Britons’ telephone messages</a> and then blackmailing or smearing them with the stolen material. Former Prime Minister <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-uk-prime-minister-john-major-says-rupert-murdoch-tried-to-change-government-policy/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">John Major alleged that Murdoch threatened him</a> with bad press unless he bent to Murdoch’s will.</b></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p13_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I have to say that I never took Pecker or the National Enquirer seriously, but maybe he is secretly one of the more powerful men in the world, holding files on politicians and celebrities and coercing them behind the scenes.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p14_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One piece of jeopardy for Pecker is that he was granted immunity, for cooperating with the Mueller probe, from charges of election fraud for paying off nude model Karen McDougall, Trump’s lover, to gain her silence during the 2016 election campaign. That immunity depends on his avoiding further acts of illegality. It is not clear that the courts would accept Bezos’ claim of extortion. But Pecker wouldn’t be so nervous about Bezos investigating his Saudi ties unless there was something to hide in that regard.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p15_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finally, the Bezos investigator <a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/02/07/bezos-hack-government-entity.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">has been telling The Washington Post’s Manuel Roig-Franzia</a> that he does not believe Bezos’ phone was hacked. He thinks that a “government entity” captured the signals from the phone somehow.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p16_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Speculation went immediately to Saudi Arabia, which used Israeli spyware to hack Khashoggi’s WhatsApp account.</b></font></font></font></font></p><div class="p17_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Of course, Saudi Arabia and its partner in crime, the United Arab Emirates, are also good at hacking, and actually got into the cellphone of the emir of Qatar and then put out fake video of him.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p18_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And, since the far-right-wing government of Binyamin <b>Netanyahu is hoping to be rescued politically by a normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia</b>, the Israeli Mossad has a motive to protect Saudi allies like Trump and Pecker as well.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p19_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I’m confused, however, as to how a foreign government could capture text and photos from an AT&T or Verizon server (Bezos uses an iPhone). That is to say, the allegation is that the iPhone was not hacked and that the signals were scooped up in some other way. Moreover, the diction is “a government entity,” not a foreign government.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p20_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It appears to me that de Becker may be alleging that the U.S. National Security Agency captured that material, a capability that has been well documented. The NSA, of course, reports directly to Trump, Pecker’s dear friend and co-conspirator in election fraud through the suppression of the McDougall affair.</font></font></font></font></p><div class="p21_22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I pointed out in 2016, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/oliver-stones-snowden-is-a-horror-movie-and-the-monster-is-our-national-security-state/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">in a piece at The Nation</a>, that the Bush and Obama administrations had made a huge error in not reining in the NSA on Fourth Amendment grounds, thus bequeathing to a maniac like Trump the ability to spy on all Americans. Are those chickens now coming home to roost? Did the NSA spy on Bezos at Trump’s request and then turn the material over to Pecker?</font></font></font></font></p><p><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></p></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/saudi-crown-prince-threatened-to-put-a-bullet-in-slain-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-report/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/saudi-crown-prince-threatened-to-put-a-bullet-in-slain-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-report/</a></font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>=</b></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nyt no lnx</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Who Is Behind Trump’s Links to Arab Princes? A Billionaire Friend</b></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The financier <b>Tom Barrack</b> told the 2016 Republican National Convention that Donald J. Trump “played me like a Steinway piano” in the 1988 deal that began their friendship.CreditCreditShawn Thew/EPA, via Shutterstock</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By David D. Kirkpatrick</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">June 13, 2018</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The billionaire financier Tom Barrack was caught in a bind.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In April 2016, his close friend Donald J. Trump was about to clinch the Republican presidential nomination. But Mr. Trump’s outspoken hostility to Muslims — epitomized by his call for a ban on Muslim immigrants — was offending the Persian Gulf princes Mr. Barrack had depended on for decades as investors and buyers.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Confusion about your friend Donald Trump is VERY high,” Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba of the United Arab Emirates emailed back when Mr. Barrack tried to introduce the candidate, in a message not previously reported. Mr. Trump’s image, the ambassador warned, “has many people extremely worried.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Not deterred, Mr. Barrack, a longtime friend who had done business with the ambassador, assured him that Mr. Trump understood the Persian Gulf perspective. “He also has joint ventures in the U.A.E.!” Mr. Barrack wrote in an email on April 26.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The emails were the beginning of Mr. Trump’s improbable transformation from a candidate who campaigned against Muslims to a president celebrated in the royal courts of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi as perhaps the best friend in the White House that their rulers have ever had. It is a shift that testifies not only to Mr. Trump’s special flexibility, but also to Mr. Barrack’s unique place in the Trump world, at once a fellow tycoon and a flattering courtier, a confidant and a power broker.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During the Trump campaign, Mr. <b>Barrack was a top fund-raiser and trusted gatekeeper who opened communications with the Emiratis and Saudis, recommended that the candidate bring on Paul Manafort as campaign manager</b> — and then tried to arrange a secret meeting between Mr. Manafort and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Barrack was later named chairman of Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But Mr. Manafort has since been indicted by the special prosecutor investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election. The same inquiry is examining whether the Emiratis and Saudis helped sway the election in Mr. Trump’s favor — potentially in coordination with the Russians, according to people familiar with the matter. Investigators have also asked witnesses about specific contributions and expenses related to the inauguration, according to people familiar with those interviews.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Image</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mr. Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2017, for an </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Arab summit meeting. “It all started with you and JK and I,” Mr. Barrack wrote in a congratulatory email to the Emirati ambassador about the meeting; the initials refer to Jared Kushner.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CreditStephen Crowley/The New York Times]</span></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A spokesman for Mr. Barrack said he has been advised he is not a target of the special prosecutor. Investigators interviewed him in December but asked questions almost exclusively about Mr. Manafort and his associate Rick Gates, said a person familiar with the questioning.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Barrack has steered clear of any formal role in the administration; he has said he rebuffed offers to become treasury secretary or ambassador to Mexico. (He sought a role as a special envoy for Middle East economic development, but the idea never gained traction in the White House.)</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Instead, he has continued making money, as he has for decades, working with the same Persian Gulf contacts he introduced two years ago to Mr. Trump. Mr. Barrack’s company, known as </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Colony NorthStar since a merger last year, has raised more than $7 billion in investments since Mr. Trump won the nomination, and 24 percent of that money has come from the Persian Gulf — all from either the U.A.E. or Saudi Arabia, according to an executive familiar with the figures. Colony NorthStar has not disclosed the investors in its funds.</span></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Barrack’s email correspondence with Ambassador Otaiba, which has not previously been reported, was provided to The New York Times by an anonymous group critical of Emirati foreign policy, and it <b>illustrates the formative role Mr. Barrack played as a matchmaker between Mr. Trump and the Persian Gulf princes.</b></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Barrack’s representatives did not dispute the authenticity of the emails. His spokesman said in a statement that Mr. Barrack “sees his business in the Middle East as a way to help political dialogue and understanding, not the other way around, and he does so through relationships that span as far back as the reign of even some of the grandfathers of the current regional rulers.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But having the ear of the president, say other executives and former diplomats who work in the gulf, has only enhanced Mr. Barrack’s stature in the region.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“He is the only person I know who the president speaks to as a peer,” said Roger Stone, a veteran Republican operative who has known both men for decades.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> “Barrack is to Trump as Bebe Rebozo was to Nixon, which is the best friend,” Mr. Stone added, referring to the wealthy real-estate developer who is best remembered for his closeness to President Richard Nixon during his impeachment process.</span></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mr. Barrack’s closeness to Mr. Trump extends to the president’s family. By <b>2010, he had acquired $70 million of the debt owed by Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on his troubled $1.8 billion purchase of a skyscraper at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York. After a call from Mr. Trump, Mr. Barrack was among a group of lenders who agreed to reduce Mr. Kushner’s obligations to keep him out of bankruptcy.</b></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A month after his first outreach to Ambassador Otaiba, Mr. Barrack wrote again on May 26 to introduce Mr. Kushner, who was preparing for a role as a presidential envoy to the Middle East.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“You will love him and he agrees with our agenda!” Mr. Barrack promised in another email.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Image</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Trump and Mr. Barrack, the chairman of his inaugural committee, during the president’s inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial.CreditKris Connor/REX, via Shutterstock</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A Billionaire Buddy</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Thomas J. Barrack Jr. and Donald J. Trump first met in the 1980s, and Mr. Barrack got the better of the encounters. He negotiated Mr. Trump into overpaying for two famous assets: a one-fifth stake in the New York department store chain Alexander’s in 1985, and the entire Plaza Hotel in 1988. Mr. Trump paid about $410 million for the Plaza and later lost both properties to creditors.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>But Mr. Barrack nonetheless parlayed the deals into a lasting friendship, in part by flattering Mr. Trump about his skill as a negotiator.</b></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“He played me like a Steinway piano,” Mr. Barrack recounted in a speech at the Republican convention.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">At 71, Mr. Barrack is the same age as President Trump and shares his fondness for expensive trophies. He owns a 700-acre winery and polo ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley in California, sold a seven-bedroom mansion in Santa Monica last year for $38 million, and snapped up an Aspen ski resort for a reported $18 million just in time for the start of the season.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Yet people who know him well say he still tells new acquaintances that he is truly honored to meet them, cheerfully doling out superlatives like “first-class,” “amazing” and “brilliant.” He invariably tells the story of his own success as a parable about luck and perseverance, never about talent.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">He grew up speaking Arabic as the son of Lebanese immigrants to Los Angeles; his mother worked as a secretary and his father ran a grocery store in Culver City. By 1972 he had earned a law degree from the University of Southern California and he interviewed for a job with Nixon’s personal lawyer, Herbert Kalmbach. As Mr. Barrack tells the story, he returned moments later to drop off a book about football that they had discussed, and his gesture won him a job over candidates with more prestigious degrees.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Dispatched to Saudi Arabia because of his Arabic skills, Mr. Barrack was enlisted as a squash partner for “a local Saudi,” he often says, and the Saudi turned out to be a son of the king and his first big break in business.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Image</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Mr. Barrack, left, playing polo in the Hamptons in 2017. H</b>e owns a 700-acre winery and polo ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley in California.CreditRebecca Smeyne for The New York Times</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In the decades to come, Mr. Barrack cultivated relationships across the region, once befriending an elderly Bedouin on a bus who turned out to be an executive of Aramco, the Saudi oil giant. Mr. Barrack invited his new Bedouin friend to stay with him in Newport Beach, Calif., while seeking a medical treatment, and the favor landed Mr. Barrack an assignment to help Aramco buy 375 Blue Bird school buses, the biggest deal in his life at the time.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>His friends describe him as a concierge to the Persian Gulf royals, helping them buy American or European homes,</b> looking after their children on visits to the West and vacationing with them at his home in the south of France. After his private equity firm bought a resort built by the Aga Khan on 35 miles of the Sardinian coast, Mr. Barrack, a Catholic, opened a halal restaurant to welcome gulf royals who came by in their yachts.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>As a young lawyer, Mr. Barrack once negotiated drilling rights with Ambassador Otaiba’s father, who was then the Emirati oil minister.</b> The emails show that Ambassador Otaiba later worked with Mr. Barrack to help seal a 2009 deal in which his private equity firm sold the L’Ermitage Raffles hotel in Beverly Hills to a joint venture half owned by an Abu Dhabi investment fund for $41 million. Three years later, Ambassador Otaiba invested $1 million in a fund that Mr. Barrack had set up to buy homes on the cheap after the real estate crash, according to the emails.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">When Ambassador Otaiba worried about Mr. Trump’s proposed Muslim ban — “even someone as nonjudgmental as I am, had a problem with that statement” — Mr. Barrack wrote back that Mr. Trump was “the king of hyperbole.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“We can turn him to prudence,” Mr. Barrack wrote in an email. “He needs a few really smart Arab minds to whom he can confer — u r at the top of that list!”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Image</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Jared Kushner, right, during Mr. Trump’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office in March.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A Shift In Policy</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mr. Barrack’s efforts began to pay off. Mr. Kushner met Ambassador Otaiba in May 2016. Soon after, Mr. Barrack and Ambassador Otaiba began working to arrange a secret meeting between Mr. Manafort, who became Mr. Trump’s campaign manager that June, and Deputy <b>Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, </b>the dominant adviser to his father, King Salman.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mr. Barrack had befriended Mr. Manafort in the 1970s, when they were both living in Beirut and working for Saudi interests. Early in 2016, when Mr. Trump faced the prospect of a contested nomination fight at the Republican convention,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Mr. Barrack had recommended Mr. Manafort for the job of campaign manager. “The most experienced and lethal of managers” and “a killer,” Mr. Barrack called him in a letter to Mr. Trump.</span></font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Prince Mohammed was widely seen as an ambitious protégé of the Emirati rulers, and in an email to the Emirati ambassador, Mr. Barrack presented a Manafort meeting as a prelude to a meeting with Mr. Trump.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“I would like to align in Donald’s mind the connection between the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia which we have already started with Jared,” Mr. Barrack wrote to Ambassador Otaiba on June 21, 2016. “I think it is important that you be the center pin!!”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Barrack had competition. The Saudi prince had tried to reach the Trump campaign through “a midlevel person” at the rival private equity giant Blackstone, Mr. Barrack wrote in a follow-up email. “Obviously I would like the meeting to be arranged by you and me rather than Blackstone,” Mr. Barrack told the ambassador.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Image</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Yousef al-Otaiba, the Emirati ambassador to the United States, with th</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">e<b> House speaker, Paul Ryan, </b>center, in Abu Dhabi in January.CreditJon Gambrell/Associated Press</span></font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mr. Barrack also pitched Mr. Manafort on the value of the Emirati connection.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Paul is totally programmed on the closeness and alignment of the U.A.E.” and agreed to meet Prince Mohammed “because he is a friend of your boss and the U.A.E.,” Mr. Barrack wrote.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The emails show that the meeting was scheduled for <b>June 24, and that Mr. Manafort sought to meet at the prince’s hotel to avoid the news media</b>. But a spokesman for Mr. Barrack said that Mr. Manafort had canceled at the last minute for scheduling reasons.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Regardless, Mr. Barrack’s advocacy apparently proved effective. The day after the meeting was scheduled, Mr. Barrack forwarded to the ambassador a message from Mr. Manafort with a “clarification” that modulated Mr. Trump’s call for a Muslim ban.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A few weeks later, on July 13, Mr. Barrack informed Ambassador Otaiba that the Trump team had also removed a proposed Republican platform provision inserted to “embarrass” Saudi Arabia. The provision had called for the release of redacted pages about the kingdom in a report on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">When Mr. Trump won in November, Ambassador Otaiba was eager to pull Mr. Barrack even closer. “We have a lot of things that we will have to do together. Together being the operative word,” he wrote in a note congratulating Mr. Barrack on Mr. Trump’s upset victory.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Let’s do them together,” Mr. Barrack responded.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Later, Mr. Barrack attended a dinner party at Ambassador Otaiba’s home with other Arab ambassadors and former American officials (the chef was from the world-renowned Inn at Little Washington).</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Mr. Barrack offered to make introductions in the new administration. “Tell me who is high on your hit list.”</span></font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Thanks to you, I’m in consistent contact with Jared and that has been extremely helpful, for both sides I think,” Ambassador Otaiba wrote Mr. Barrack.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">They celebrated again in May 2017, when Mr. Trump made his first foreign trip as president, to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for an Arab summit meeting.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“It all started with you and JK and I so congratulations on a great beginning,” Mr. Barrack wrote to Ambassador Otaiba, referring to Mr. Kushner by his initials.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Image</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Paul Manafort, center, who became chairman of the Trump campaign after a recommendation from Mr. Barrack, has pleaded not guilty to charges of financial fraud and lying to federal investigators.CreditAl Drago for The New York Times</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Things Go Sour — But Not For Barrack</b></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Two weeks after the Riyadh meeting, Mr. Trump began to align himself firmly with the Saudis and Emiratis against their rivals around the region.</b> When those two states imposed an embargo on their neighbor Qatar — home to a major United States air base — Mr. Trump broke with his own administration to throw his weight squarely behind the Saudis and Emiratis.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">He quickly congratulated Prince Mohammed when he assumed the title of crown prince — and commended him again when he summarily detained about 200 businessmen and rivals in a consolidation of his power. This spring, Mr. Trump handed the Saudis and Emiratis an even greater victory by pulling out of the nuclear deal with their nemesis, Iran. In turn, the gulf monarchs have made only pro forma protests against Mr. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Yet many of the connections facilitated by Mr. Barrack have brought liabilities, too.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The linkages between Mr. Trump and the Saudis and Emiratis have come under new scrutiny. A few months after Mr. Barrack arranged the initial introductions, George Nader, a Lebanese American businessman and a top adviser to the de facto ruler of the U.A.E., met with the candidate’s son Donald Trump Jr. at the Trump headquarters in New York. In that Aug. 3, 2016, meeting, Mr. Nader reported that the rulers of both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates supported the Trump campaign and offered their assistance, according to people familiar with the discussion.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Such help would have violated campaign laws, and Mr. Nader is now cooperating with the special prosecutor, who is examining that meeting as well as a string of others that followed, according to people familiar the matter.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to charges of financial fraud and lying to federal investigators in connection with his work for Russian-backed interests in Ukraine. Mr. Gates, whom Mr. Barrack hired to help run the inauguration and then as a Washington consultant, has pleaded guilty to making false statements to investigators and agreed to cooperate with the special prosecutor.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mr. Kushner has also given testimony to the special prosecutor.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>But Mr. Barrack’s business is still going strong, </b>in part as a result of his continuing relations with the Saudis and Emiratis. When his company was looking for partners in its $400 million purchase last year of a landmark Los Angeles office tower, One California Plaza, it sold a $70 million stake to an Israeli insurance company. Another $70 million stake went to a state investment company controlled by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, according to a person familiar with the deal.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">What is more, Mr. Barrack may profit more directly than ordinary shareholders or executives from the investments he helps bring in, because in some cases, according to Colony NorthStar filings, he earns the extra fees known as carried interest on profits from funds he raised — as if he were a partner in a private equity firm rather than merely a chairman of a publicly traded company.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Friends of Mr. Barrack argue that his long history of business in the Persian Gulf shows that the investments are unrelated to any White House connections.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Yet one thing has shifted.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Until recently, Mr. Barrack’s most prominent gulf customers were neither the Emiratis nor the Saudis — but their bitter rivals the Qataris, who bought the film studio Miramax and a Paris soccer team from him, among other marquee properties. During the campaign, Mr. Barrack reached out to the Qataris as well, helping set up a meeting between Mr. Trump and the emir of Qatar in Trump Tower in September 2016.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Tom wanted Qatar to know he arranged it,” said a person involved in meeting, “and he wanted Trump to know he arranged it.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But Mr. Trump’s stance on the dispute with Qatar appears to have cast a shadow over Mr. Barrack’s business there: None of the gulf investments that Mr. Barrack’s company has brought in since Mr. Trump’s nomination have come from Qatar.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“We still consider Tom a friend and partner,” said a senior Qatari official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the White House. “But with all the recent things that have happened we have suspicions about the level of his involvement in this crisis.”</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Ben Protess, Maggie Haberman and Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Arab Princes Embrace Trump, Set Up by Tycoon Matchmaker. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Related Coverage</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Thomas Barrack’s Colony Capital Ends Bid for Weinstein Studio</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Nov. 7, 2017</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Image</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In the Saudi Desert, World’s Business Leaders Follow the Money</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oct. 23, 2017</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>=</b></font></font></font></font></p></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-03-15/pr-firm-defends-its-role-in-saudi-arabias-controversial-corruption-crackdown"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-03-15/pr-firm-defends-its-role-in-saudi-arabias-controversial-corruption-crackdown</font></a></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">15.03.18 PR AND SPIN LOBBYING’S HIDDEN INFLUENCE</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American PR firm defends its role in Saudi Arabia’s controversial corruption crackdown</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We tell the stories that matter. To help defend quality reporting and spark change, please support the Bureau</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donate now</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Published March 15 2018</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Abigail Fielding-Smith</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-03-15/pr-firm-defends-its-role-in-saudi-arabias-controversial-corruption-crackdown</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Send via Email</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A public relations (PR) firm hired by Saudi Arabia has defended its work briefing the media on the country’s anti-corruption crackdown after the New York Times reported claims that detainees were physically abused and coerced into handing over their assets.</b></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>APCO Worldwide, a US-headquartered firm, was hired by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information in 2017, as part of a major PR offensive revealed by the Bureau last week.</b></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the firm’s duties was helping brief journalists on the anti-corruption campaign launched by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (also known by his initials, MBS) in November 2017, which saw hundreds of royals and businessmen detained in the Ritz Carlton in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corruption is an endemic problem among the Saudi Arabian elite, and Bin Salman’s supporters argued that the arrests were part of a serious and necessary reform initiative.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But human rights advocates and international investors alike have been alarmed at the lack of transparent legal process involved. Rumours of ill-treatment of the detainees had been in circulation for some time, and on Monday the New York Times reported allegations from a doctor and a US official that 17 of them had required medical attention because of abuse by their captors. One of these detainees later died in custody, the Times reported.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When asked whether APCO had made any attempt to establish the truth about rumoured coercive and extra-legal practices in the anti-corruption campaign before briefing the media on it, a spokesman for the firm told the Bureau there had been no reason to.  </font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It is only now that such allegations are coming to light. Therefore, there were no concerns for us to raise with the client, and no reason for us to question the information we were given”, the spokesman said.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The spokesman would not directly answer a question on whether the firm planned to raise the New York Times story with their Saudi clients, saying only that the Saudi government’s statement had denied the claims “in the strongest possible terms.”</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The spokesman added: “APCO respects its ethical obligations, including honesty, accuracy and compliance with all laws governing its activities.”</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The allegations in the New York Times confirmed the perceptions of many that due process, transparency and accountability were lacking”</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a specialist in the Gulf countries at Rice University’s Baker Institute, said that concerns about the anti-corruption crackdown long pre-dated the publication of the New York Times article.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The allegations in the New York Times reinforced persistent rumours since the start of the crackdown in November concerning patterns of mistreatment of select detainees”, he said. “It confirmed the perceptions of many that due process, transparency, and accountability were lacking in the proceedings.”</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">APCO’s work is part of a multimillion dollar PR offensive launched by Mohammed Bin Salman, who is due to visit the US on Monday.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An analyst close to Saudi circles told the Bureau that the Saudis had embarked on the initiative in mid 2016, after realising that they were losing the battle for public opinion.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Riyadh has good relationships with Western governments, which value the oil-rich state’s purchase of their weapons and strategic cooperation in the Middle East, it faces growing image problems. </font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Got a Story?</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We welcome tip-offs from the public and we always protect our sources</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“You have to promote the idea that Saudi Arabia is becoming Switzerland”</b></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bin Salman launched a military intervention in Yemen in 2015, which has caused huge civilian suffering, while international investors have been spooked by the seeming arbitrariness of his anti-corruption campaign.  </font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last month, US Senators started pushing for a vote on withdrawing support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Saudis have spent millions of dollars trying to promote a more favourable impression of their country.  A former employee of one of the British PR firms likened representing a client like Saudi Arabia to being a defence lawyer. “You have to work to get the client out of trouble”, the employee said, and promote "the idea that Saudi Arabia is becoming Switzerland.”</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MBS has introduced notable social and economic reforms, and his visit to the UK last week was accompanied by ads in national newspapers and on billboards celebrating him for “opening Saudi Arabia to the world” and “bringing change” to the Kingdom. </font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ad in a British broadsheet paper]</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The lines to push, said one former PR man, was “it's a shame that civilians have been hit but you have to look at the bigger picture”</b></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">An energetic PR push will likely accompany the Crown Prince’s visit to Washington on Monday. Last time the Saudi ruler was preparing to meet President Donald Trump, in May 2017, US firms representing the Saudi government circulated ‘fact sheets’ (which you can read in full on this link) about the war in Yemen which emphasised the care Saudi targeters took not to kill civilians. (A United Nations Panel of Experts, by contrast, found that “Measures taken by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in its targeting process to minimize child casualties, if any, remain largely ineffective.”)</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A former employee of one of the PR firms working for the Saudis summarised the ‘lines’ he would be given to push as: “‘these are unconfirmed reports for the moment’, ‘we’re working with the Americans’, ‘we’ll investigate the situation’, ‘it’s a shame that civilians have been hit but you have to look at the bigger picture’”.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The campaign has had some success. After Riyadh released a humanitarian plan for Yemen with the help of a British PR firm earlier this year, international criticism of Saudi Arabia’s role in the catastrophic hunger and health crisis there was tempered.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Document issued by a US legal firm, on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A mother tends her child in a hospital in Yemen in winter 2017</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Photograph: Florain Seriex/MSF</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Permission for special unpaid leave is only given if in line with strategic government priorities</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meanwhile, the UK has authorised the long term loan of a senior diplomat to one of MBS’s PR firms, the Bureau revealed last week.</b></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jolyon Welsh, whose roles at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have included Deputy Director of Middle East, and Head of Government to Government Contracting, was given special unpaid leave in 2014 to become a senior director of<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Consulum. The London and Middle East-based communications firm was founded by former executives from the scandal-hit agency Bell Pottinger.</span></font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since at least 2016, Consulum’s client list has included Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The firm represents his charitable foundation, MiSK, and has also been reported to handle communications for a military company owned by the Public Investment Fund, which Bin Salman supervises.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Bureau has learned that Welsh has had at least some involvement with the Saudi account. The fact that a diplomat at his level has been allowed to take up such a role underscores the close ties between London and Riyadh, as permission to work for a firm is only given if “directly and closely related to a specific FCO area of interest and is in line with our strategic priorities.”  </font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jolyon Welsh, senior Foreign Office mandarin, on loan to Consulum</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Photograph: UKTI</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bin Salman is expected to visit the White House on Tuesday.</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The challenge for the Crown Prince in his visit to the United States, as in his visit to Britain just beforehand, is to reassure international investors that  there will be institutional safeguards protecting their investments going forward", said Ulrichsen. He added: “And that the business landscape in Saudi Arabia is not vulnerable to the sudden disruption that we saw last November.”</font></font></font></font></div></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref doc</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><pre class="DV-textContents" style="box-sizing: content-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.4em; overflow: hidden; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; margin: 46px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Received by Registration Unit 05/16/2017 6:24:25 PM

SAUDI ARABIA

THE YEMEN CONFLICT

FACT SHEET: MILITARY TARGETING AND THE

REDUCTION OF CIVILIR\aN

no 2017

Target Selection

Saudi Arabia has taken several steps to create a more thorough vetting process for target

select-ion and validation for the Saudi-led Coalition's operations in Yemen. This process is

meant to ensure that the Coalition:

Adheres to the Law of Armed Conflict;

Expands the 'No Strike List' now at over 33,000 targets;

Enhances target criteria such as Damage Assessment and Collateral Damage Estimates;

Observes the implementation of stricter Rules of Engagement.

The Coalition has implemented additional vetting criteria for time-sensitive targets. These

criteria place extra responsibilities on Coalition pilots before conducting a mission.

The Coalition adheres to a no?strike list that includes over 33,000 targets, as referenced

above. This list includes 1ocations provided by UN. and other humanitarian organizations

on the grotrnd in Yemen, in addition to locations collected by the Coalition. Furthermore, the

Coalition is constantly updating this list-and adding locations to it.

Currently, the Coalition seeks to align its targeting practices and personnel training with

NATO standards, and only personnel that meet these rigorous standards are involved in

target selection.

Informational Materials Distributed by <b>Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck</b>, LLP (#5870) on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia. Additional Information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

Received by Registration Unit 05/16/2017 6:24:25 PM</font></font></font></font></pre></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref bur</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-03-06/foreign-office-lends-diplomat-to-pr-firm-working-for-saudi-crown-prince">https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-03-06/foreign-office-lends-diplomat-to-pr-firm-working-for-saudi-crown-prince</a></font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></font><div><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">06.03.18 PR AND SPIN LOBBYING’S HIDDEN INFLUENCE</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Foreign Office diplomat on "leave" at Saudi Crown Prince's PR firm</div><div>We tell the stories that matter. To help defend quality reporting and spark change, please support the Bureau</div><div>
</div><div>Donate now</div><div>Published March 6 2018</div><div>
</div><div>By Abigail Fielding-Smith , Crofton Black</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-03-06/foreign-office-lends-diplomat-to-pr-firm-working-for-saudi-crown-prince</div><div>Send via Email</div><div>This story was published in partnership with:</div><div>
</div><div>The Times The Times. Read the story.</div><div>Find out how to use the Bureau’s work</div><div>A senior British diplomat is working for a firm at the heart of a multimillion dollar Saudi public relations offensive whilst still employed by the Foreign Office (FCO), the Bureau can reveal. The news comes as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia prepares for a trip to London, where he will be greeted by demonstrations against the civilian death toll in Yemen caused by Saudi bombing.</div><div>
</div><div>Jolyon Welsh, whose roles at the FCO have included Deputy Director of Middle East, and Head of Government to Government Contracting, was given special unpaid leave in 2014 to become a senior director of Consulum. This London and Middle East-based communications firm was founded by former executives from the scandal-hit agency Bell Pottinger. He has remained there ever since.</div><div>
</div><div>Consulum’s client list includes Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (widely known as MBS), Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, whose state visit to the UK starts this Wednesday amid controversy over his country's military campaign in Yemen. The United Nations said in September 2017 that airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition were the “leading cause” of civilian casualties in the Yemen war. </div><div>
</div><div>The Bureau has learned that Welsh has had at least some involvement with the Saudi account. The fact that a diplomat at his level has been allowed to take up such a role underscores the close ties between London and Riyadh, as permission to work for a firm is only given if “directly and closely related to a specific FCO area of interest and is in line with our strategic priorities.”  </div><div>
</div><div>The revelation raises fresh questions about revolving doors between Whitehall and PR firms acting for foreign governments. Lloyd Russell Moyle MP is a member of Commons committee on Arms Export Controls. He told the Bureau: “It's one thing for the Foreign Office to provide political cover for the Saudis' assault on Yemen, which defies all notions of proportionality and which I believe in several cases constitutes war crimes. It's quite another for the FCO to have lent its staff to a company working for the Saudis’ PR operation.”</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Jolyon Welsh, senior Foreign Office mandarin, on loan to Consulum</div><div>Photograph: UKTI</div><div>Permission is only given to be hired out to the private sector if “in line with our strategic priorities”</div><div>The FCO told the Bureau that there are now 34 officials, such as Welsh, who are working in the private sector while maintaining their Foreign Office status. The Special Unpaid Leave (SUPL) scheme, which allows diplomats to work at senior levels in outside companies for years at a time, is a different programme from the short-term secondments which the FCO has long used to give employees experience of industry sectors. Those on SUPL are paid by their private employers but remain FCO employees and can return to the department afterwards.</div><div>
</div><div>The Foreign Office gave permission to 14 people to work in the private sector on Special Unpaid Leave (SUPL) in 2014, eight in 2015, 14 in 2016 and five in 2017. Five have since returned to the Department. The FCO would not say how many were involved in work which was related to advising foreign governments.</div><div>
</div><div>The rules governing this are vague; an FCO statement simply said diplomats were prohibited from doing jobs that “might in any way affect or impinge upon employees or their work in the Diplomatic Service”. One former diplomat told the Bureau that the system was “really unhealthy”. When the Bureau put the Welsh example to the FCO, a spokesperson said “we are confident there is no conflict of interest in this case”.</div><div>
</div><div>“There is a clear conflict here”, said Andrew Smith, media co-ordinator for the group, Campaign Against Arms Trade. He added: “This placement is totally inappropriate and is symptomatic of the cozy and compromising relationship between Whitehall and human rights abusing regimes like the one in Saudi Arabia.”</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>BAE is hoping to clinch a £10 billion deal with Saudi for more Typhoon fighter bombers</div><div>Photograph: BAE Systems</div><div>The UK has sold billions of pounds worth of weapons to the Saudis during the war, and is looking to clinch a £10bn order for more Typhoon fighter bombers. London now wants to deepen the trade relationship further, in the hope that the oil-rich Gulf state’s ambitious economic plans can provide some rare good news for British companies, amid gloomy post-Brexit forecasts.</div><div>
</div><div>But as Downing Street readies a warm welcome for the Crown Prince on 7 March, the Metropolitan Police are preparing for street protests. Harrowing images of the aftermath of airstrikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have started to inflame public opinion against the Kingdom, creating legal headaches for its allies. Several European countries have suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia as the documentation of civilian casualties in Yemen has piled up, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP has called for Britain to do the same. Last week, US Senators started pushing for a vote on withdrawing support for the Saudi-led coalition.</div><div>
</div><div>You have to promote “the idea that Saudi Arabia is becoming Switzerland”</div><div>Meanwhile, the global investor community has been spooked by the 32 year-old Crown Prince’s sudden arrest of hundreds of businessmen and fellow royals in November 2017, ostensibly as part of an anti-corruption campaign.</div><div>
</div><div>Insiders say Riyadh is on a mission to get people talking about reform and opportunities, rather than civilian deaths and the rule of law. The Kingdom has hired an army of Western PR firms and consultants, including several British ones.</div><div>
</div><div>The message being circulated by the Saudi regime is that MBS is making the country less hardline and more liberal. The Kingdom is emphasising measures such as the plan to lift the ban on women driving, in June 2018. Economic issues, not difficult topics like Yemen, are the favoured focus of conversation.</div><div>
</div><div>Analysts say that the Crown Prince is taking real steps on economic liberalisation, even if he is cracking down on political dissent. But the picture of Bin Salman as a dedicated reformer is somewhat complicated by revelations about his own personal spending. Recent purchases have reportedly included a yacht worth an esimated $500m, a Versailles-style castle in France, and a Leonardo Da Vinci painting.</div><div>
</div><div>A former employee of one of the British PR firms likened representing a client like Saudi Arabia to being a defence lawyer. “You have to work to get the client out of trouble”, the employee said, and promote "the idea that Saudi Arabia is becoming Switzerland.”</div><div>
</div><div>City of London image The London skyline</div><div>Photograph: Shutterstock</div><div>British firms, Saudi influence</div><div>
</div><div>Consulum has been working on MBS's projects since at least 2016. The firm, whose London headquarters are in Berkeley Square, was set up in 2013 by former Bell Pottinger staff members, Tim Ryan and Matthew Gunther Bushell. It also has offices in Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.</div><div>
</div><div>Consulum describes itself on its website as providing “sophisticated communications programmes that shape awareness, guide opinion and enhance understanding”. Industry insiders say the firm is known as being professional and has none of the reputation for risk-taking that affected Bell Pottinger.</div><div>
</div><div>But like Bell Pottinger, Consulum has attracted attention for the profile of its clients. The firm was criticised after it emerged in 2013 that it was working for the authoritarian government of Bahrain. Consulum’s other clients include the governments of Djibouti and the UAE. It is not clear how many contracts the firm has in Saudi Arabia, but it is evident from press releases that it is working for MBS’s charity, the Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Foundation or MiSK.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Video of Bill Gates talking about MiSK's work in November 2017 in Riyadh</div><div>MiSK is a non-profit that runs education and skills programmes for Saudi youth. It also pushes Bin Salman’s message of reform and progress out on to the world stage, hosting a breakfast panel at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.</div><div>
</div><div>Two weeks after the arrests of hundreds of businessmen and tycoons began in November 2017, Misk ran a conference in Riyadh on education and “the digital future”. The conference was addressed by Bill Gates (pictured above speaking at the forum), even as his Saudi business partner Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal was being detained across town, at the Ritz Carlton.</div><div>
</div><div>According to the online journal Intelligence Online, Consulum also handles communications for the Saudi Arabia Military Industries company, a venture owned by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund that is seeking to promote domestic defence manufacturing.</div><div>
</div><div>Last month, IRIN News revealed that one of the other British firms involved in the Saudi PR effort is Pagefield Global Counsel (PGC), which specialises in crisis management. The Saudis came up with a humanitarian plan for Yemen under growing pressure about the dire situation there, and PGC has been helping them publicise this. </div><div>
</div><div>Like Consulum, Pagefield has good connections with the UK government. Liam Parker, the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson MP’s former special adviser, walked straight out of Whitehall into PGC’s sister company, Pagefield Communications, last September.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Liam Parker, former director of political communications to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson MP</div><div>While Parker was his director of political communications, Boris Johnson was involved in a political row about Saudi Arabia and also visited the country, but Parker told the Bureau he never advised the Foreign Secretary about Saudi Arabia. He also said he has nothing to do with Pagefield’s work for Saudi. </div><div>
</div><div>Pagefield confirmed its work for the Saudis to the Bureau, but downplayed the idea that they were shaping the narrative. “PGC is one of a large number of agencies assisting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the communications associated with multi-billion dollar humanitarian aid plans”, a Pagefield Global Counsel company spokesman said.</div><div>
</div><div>Another British beneficiary of Saudi spending on outreach is Martin Sorrel’s WPP group. The global megafirm has contracts with the Saudis through US subsidiaries such as Hill & Knowlton and Burston Marsteller. The London agency Freuds meanwhile helped launch MBS’s economic reform agenda, Vision 2030, though a spokesman said they are no longer working on that account.</div><div>
</div><div>Image of (the then Deputy) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House, in March 2017 Image of (the then Deputy) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House, in March 2017</div><div>White House/Alamy</div><div>The international push</div><div>
</div><div>Some of the PR firms’ work is aimed at a domestic audience, but international public opinion is increasingly important to the Saudis. They have been spending on lobbying and consultancy firms for many years, but observers say the effort took on a new energy and sophistication with the ascent of Mohammed Bin Salman. The push started in 2015 when his father took over the throne and was consolidated in June 2017 when MBS was named Crown Prince.</div><div>
</div><div>According to an analyst close to Saudi circles, the Saudis decided in mid 2016 that they needed to be more active in influencing public opinion, not just policymakers. “They didn’t use to care about PR, they thought the relationship with the US was rock solid, then they realised it wasn’t and tried to do something about it”, the analyst said. “They came to realise there was a game to be played and they weren’t playing it.” Ten new Saudi PR contracts have been registered with US authorities since then, worth many millions of dollars.  </div><div>
</div><div>The push to influence the global conversation has taken other forms. In 2017, the Saudi Ministry of Culture set up a ‘Center for International Communication’ to “facilitate relationships with the global media community”, which has been bringing more foreign journalists to Riyadh.</div><div>
</div><div>The Bureau understands that a US PR firm called Apco Worldwide has been working with the Saudi Center for International Communications to brief journalists on topics such as the anti-corruption crackdown.</div><div>
</div><div>A nurse attends her patient in Al Koweit university hospital in autumn 2017 A nurse attends her patient in Al Koweit university hospital in autumn 2017</div><div>Photograph: Florian Seriex/MSF</div><div>The war in Yemen</div><div>
</div><div>Even more challenging to spin than the anti-corruption programme is the war in Yemen. Yemen’s instability and hunger crisis predated the Saudi-led intervention in 2015, but the coalition’s warplanes and de facto naval blockade have caused huge suffering and made it more difficult to control an outbreak of cholera which infected a million Yemenis.</div><div>
</div><div>The Yemen war is complicated - and the Iran-linked Houthi militia, which the Saudis are trying to force back - are guilty of plenty of violations of humanitarian law themselves. But the evidence that the Saudi-led coalition is also doing so is stark and compelling. When a UN panel of experts investigated 10 airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on civilian areas in 2017, they found that they had caused 157 deaths.</div><div>
</div><div>The Saudis have had various strategies for managing the negative PR from Yemen. Some are crude – in 2016, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon strongly implied they had threatened to withdraw humanitarian funding if they were not taken off the body’s annual list of violators of the rights of children.</div><div>
</div><div>Some are more subtle. Last summer, ahead of Trump’s trip to Riyadh, US lobbying firms circulated ‘fact sheets’ about the war in Yemen which emphasised the care Saudi targeters took not to kill civilians. The UN Panel of Experts by contrast found that “Measures taken by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in its targeting process to minimize child casualties, if any, remain largely ineffective.”</div><div>
</div><div>A former employee of one of the PR firms working for Saudi summarised the ‘lines’ he would be given to push as: “‘these are unconfirmed reports for the moment’, ‘we’re working with the Americans’, ‘we’ll investigate the situation’, ‘it’s a shame that civilians have been hit but you have to look at the bigger picture’”.</div><div>
</div><div>The stakes for the Saudis in this PR battle are high. Germany, Norway and Holland have already moved to suspend arms sales to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition because of the Yemen war and the UK could follow if Labour is elected. Dave de Roches, an associate professor at the National Defense University in Washington, thinks that even US arms sales to Saudi could be vulnerable. “The Saudis are one bad image coming out of Yemen away from moving three senators, then you’ve got a problem,” he said. “Foreign policy is an elite concern, but the Yemen war has the possibility to bring the emotional to the forefront and then they’ll lose across the West.”</div><div>
</div><div>The humanitarian situation in Yemen - where eight million people are now on the brink of famine - has also created pressure on the Saudis. Whilst the Houthis share a large part of the blame, Riyadh’s severe restriction of the movement of goods coming in to Yemen, which currently relies on imports for almost everything, contributes to the soaring price of food and medicine.</div><div>
</div><div>When the Saudis blocked even humanitarian supplies from coming in to the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida, in response to a missile strike on Saudi Arabia in November 2017, it provoked a strong international reaction. Even staunch allies like President Donald Trump called for the blockade to end.</div><div>
</div><div>However, humanitarians say they have noticed a big effort to change the narrative on the humanitarian situation. First the Saudis allowed humanitarian supplies back through Hodeida, then they announced that they would deposit $2bn in the Yemeni Central Bank, and then, in February 2018, launched a much-trailed humanitarian action plan for Yemen, which included more funds. The plan was announced in a five star hotel in Riyadh, where members of the press were served an assortment of cakes.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>A mother tends her child in a hospital in Yemen in winter 2017</div><div>Photograph: Florain Seriex/MSF</div><div>Humanitarians have welcomed the new funds, assuming they arrive, and the easing of some restrictions on Hodeida, but say that the fundamental problem of the passage of essential goods into Yemen being obstructed hasn’t been addressed. The NGO International Rescue Committee has even described the plan as a “war tactic”.</div><div>
</div><div>“It would be a grave mistake for donors to think this funding is sufficient for Yemen, and worse for the international community to mistake an isolated humanitarian initiative as restitution for the damages of the ongoing war”, said Suze Van Meegen from the Norwegian Refugee Council. “A contribution to Yemen is not a solution for Yemen – any confusion around this risks leaving Yemen with less international scrutiny.”</div><div>
</div><div>A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition said their humanitarian operations were “critical to alleviating the suffering caused by the Iran-backed Houthis. This is undeniably the right thing to do for Yemen" and that their investment in long-term infrastructure projects shows "an enduring goal to support and enhance the economic and humanitarian situation in Yemen.”</div><div>
</div><div>In spite of uncertainty about the plan, Saudi Arabia is now under less pressure to do something about Yemen’s suffering than it was before. In fact, a draft Security Council statement put forward by the UK in February even praised the Saudi humanitarian efforts.</div><div>
</div><div>However, former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell MP recently described the Saudis humanitarian plan for Yemen as a “cynical PR exercise”. He told the Bureau he welcomed the Crown Prince’s visit and the reforms he has introduced within Saudi Arabia and that “British PR companies are fully entitled to take the Saudi riyal”. But Mitchell said the British media “shouldn't be deflected from holding the Saudi government to account” by public relations. He added that the media should continue to expose “the catastrophic and clear breaches of international humanitarian law which are taking place in Yemen”.</div><div>
</div><div>Image of 10 Downing Street, London Downing St, London</div><div>The British connection</div><div>
</div><div>“They have shifted the narrative - the rebranding has worked”</div><div>The fact that some of the pressure is off Saudi Arabia will leave Prime Minister Theresa May in a less awkward position when Mohammed Bin Salman arrives in the UK on 7 March. The week before the visit, the Foreign Secretary (who had previously publicly accused the Saudis of stirring up proxy wars in the Middle East) himself penned a tribute to the Crown Prince in the Times newspaper, that hardly mentioned Yemen and which could have been written by one of the Saudis’ PR firms. </div><div>
</div><div>Downing Street is doubling down on the trade relationship with the Kingdom, even appointing a special envoy from the UK to the Saudi 2030 initiative, banker Ken Costa. The strategy of courting resource-rich Gulf countries has “accelerated” as a result of Brexit, according to one former diplomat.</div><div>
</div><div>“It’s about getting Gulf [countries] to invest in UK assets, infrastructure projects, leveraging the relationship to get UK companies in to the piece”, the diplomat said. “It’s a bit desperate.”</div><div>
</div><div>Peter Salisbury, a senior consulting Fellow at Chatham House, thinks the Saudi PR offensive is working, pointing to, among other things, the successful strategy of bringing more journalists in to the country. Recent columns have appeared in both the New York Times and the Washington Post extolling the virtues of MBS.</div><div>
</div><div>Salisbury says the Saudis managed a “clever and effective job of shifting the narrative that Saudi is a horrible conservative place, which was never the whole story. They’ve really been able to shift that to ‘Saudi is a country reforming under a young exciting dynamic leadership who shares liberal values with the west’, which isn’t the whole story either.”</div><div>
</div><div>He added: “The rebranding has worked.”</div></div><div style=""><div class="tb-o-story-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;" tiempos="Tiempos" text="Text" serif="serif" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" position="position" relative="relative" width="width" px="px" max-width="max-width" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden"><div class="tb-o-story-sectionbody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 315px; padding: 0px 0.35em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 630px;"><div class="tb-c-story-text-block" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"> senior British diplomat is working for a firm at the heart of a multimillion dollar Saudi public relations offensive whilst still employed by the Foreign Office (FCO), the Bureau can reveal. The news comes as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia prepares for a trip to London, where he will be greeted by demonstrations against the civilian death toll in Yemen caused by Saudi bombing.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">Jolyon Welsh, whose roles at the FCO have included Deputy Director of Middle East, and Head of Government to Government Contracting, was given special unpaid leave in 2014 to become a senior director of Consulum. This London and Middle East-based communications firm was founded by former executives from the scandal-hit agency Bell Pottinger. He has remained there ever since.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">Consulum’s client list includes Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (widely known as MBS), Saudi Arabia’s <em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">de facto</em> ruler, whose state visit to the UK starts this Wednesday amid controversy over his country's military campaign in Yemen. The United Nations said in September 2017 that airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition were the “leading cause” of civilian casualties in the Yemen war. </font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The Bureau has learned that Welsh has had at least some involvement with the Saudi account. The fact that a diplomat at his level has been allowed to take up such a role underscores the close ties between London and Riyadh, as permission to work for a firm is only given if “directly and closely related to a specific FCO area of interest and is in line with our strategic priorities.”  </font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The revelation raises fresh questions about revolving doors between Whitehall and PR firms acting for foreign governments. Lloyd Russell Moyle MP is a member of Commons committee on Arms Export Controls. He told the Bureau: “It's one thing for the Foreign Office to provide political cover for the Saudis' assault on Yemen, which defies all notions of proportionality and which I believe in several cases constitutes war crimes. It's quite another for the FCO to have lent its staff to a company working for the Saudis’ PR operation.”</font></font></p></div></div></div><div class="tb-o-story-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;" tiempos="Tiempos" text="Text" serif="serif" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" position="position" relative="relative" width="width" px="px" max-width="max-width" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">
</font></font></div><div class="tb-o-story-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;" tiempos="Tiempos" text="Text" serif="serif" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" position="position" relative="relative" width="width" px="px" max-width="max-width" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden"><div class="tb-o-story-sectionbody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 315px; padding: 0px 0.35em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 630px;"><div class="tb-c-story-text-block" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The FCO told the Bureau that there are now 34 officials, such as Welsh, who are working in the private sector while maintaining their Foreign Office status. The Special Unpaid Leave (SUPL) scheme, which allows diplomats to work at senior levels in outside companies for years at a time, is a different programme from the short-term secondments which the FCO has long used to give employees experience of industry sectors. Those on SUPL are paid by their private employers but remain FCO employees and can return to the department afterwards.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The Foreign Office gave permission to 14 people to work in the private sector on Special Unpaid Leave (SUPL) in 2014, eight in 2015, 14 in 2016 and five in 2017. Five have since returned to the Department. The FCO would not say how many were involved in work which was related to advising foreign governments.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The rules governing this are vague; an FCO statement simply said diplomats were prohibited from doing jobs that “might in any way affect or impinge upon employees or their work in the Diplomatic Service”. One former diplomat told the Bureau that the system was “really unhealthy”. When the Bureau put the Welsh example to the FCO, a spokesperson said “we are confident there is no conflict of interest in this case”.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">“There is a clear conflict here”, said Andrew Smith, media co-ordinator for the group, Campaign Against Arms Trade. He added: “This placement is totally inappropriate and is symptomatic of the cozy and compromising relationship between Whitehall and human rights abusing regimes like the one in Saudi Arabia.”</font></font></p></div></div></div><div class="tb-o-story-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;" tiempos="Tiempos" text="Text" serif="serif" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" position="position" relative="relative" width="width" px="px" max-width="max-width" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">
</font></font></div><div class="tb-o-story-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;" tiempos="Tiempos" text="Text" serif="serif" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" position="position" relative="relative" width="width" px="px" max-width="max-width" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden"><div class="tb-o-story-sectionbody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 315px; padding: 0px 0.35em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 630px;"><div class="tb-c-story-text-block" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The UK has sold billions of pounds worth of weapons to the Saudis during the war, and is looking to clinch a £10bn order for more Typhoon fighter bombers. London now wants to deepen the trade relationship further, in the hope that the oil-rich Gulf state’s ambitious economic plans can provide some rare good news for British companies, amid gloomy post-Brexit forecasts.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">But as Downing Street readies a warm welcome for the Crown Prince on 7 March, the Metropolitan Police are preparing for street protests. Harrowing images of the aftermath of airstrikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have started to inflame public opinion against the Kingdom, creating legal headaches for its allies. Several European countries have suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia as the documentation of civilian casualties in Yemen has piled up, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP has called for Britain to do the same. Last week, US Senators started pushing for a vote on withdrawing support for the Saudi-led coalition.  M<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">eanwhile, the global investor community has been spooked by the 32 year-old Crown Prince’s sudden arrest of hundreds of businessmen and fellow royals in November 2017, ostensibly as part of an anti-corruption campaign.</span></font></font></p></div></div></div><div class="tb-o-story-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit;" tiempos="Tiempos" text="Text" serif="serif" vertical-align="vertical-align" baseline="baseline" position="position" relative="relative" width="width" px="px" max-width="max-width" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden"><div class="tb-o-story-sectionbody" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 315px; padding: 0px 0.35em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 630px;"><div class="tb-c-story-text-block" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">Insiders say Riyadh is on a mission to get people talking about reform and opportunities, rather than civilian deaths and the rule of law. The Kingdom has hired an army of Western PR firms and consultants, including several British ones.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">The message being circulated by the Saudi regime is that MBS is making the country less hardline and more liberal. The Kingdom is emphasising measures such as the plan to lift the ban on women driving, in June 2018. Economic issues, not difficult topics like Yemen, are the favoured focus of conversation.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">Analysts say that the Crown Prince is taking real steps on economic liberalisation, even if he is cracking down on political dissent. But the picture of Bin Salman as a dedicated reformer is somewhat complicated by revelations about his own personal spending. Recent purchases have reportedly included a yacht worth an esimated $500m, a Versailles-style castle in France, and a Leonardo Da Vinci painting.</font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">A former employee of one of the British PR firms likened representing a client like Saudi Arabia to being a defence lawyer. “You have to work to get the client out of trouble”, the employee said, and promote "the idea that Saudi Arabia is becoming Switzerland.”</font></font></p></div></div></div></div><div style=""><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""></font></font></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>