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Trump billionaire friend aimed to profit from Mideast nuclear deal - Democrats

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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

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Trump billionaire friend aimed to profit from Mideast nuclear deal - Democrats

By Jonathan Landay and Timothy Gardner

 

2019-07-29T210357Z_1_LYNXNPEF6S1HK_RTROPTP_4_USA-TRUMP.JPG

FILE PHOTO: Tom Barrack speaks with members of the press at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tom Barrack, a billionaire friend of U.S. President Donald Trump, pursued a plan to buy Westinghouse Electric Corp even as he lobbied Trump to become a special envoy to promote the building by the firm of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia, said a congressional report released on Monday.

 

While Barrack failed in both efforts, the report provides fresh evidence of the ease with which some corporate and foreign interests have gained access to Trump and other senior members of his administration.

 

Documents obtained by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee raise "serious questions about whether the White House is willing to place the potential profits of the President's friends above the national security of the American people and the universal objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons," the report said.

 

The report is the second from the panel's investigation into the plan to construct 40 nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. The plan was supported by Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn, Barrack, Trump's inaugural committee chairman, and a consortium of firms led by retired U.S. military commanders and former White House officials called IP3.

 

One company was Westinghouse, the only U.S. manufacturer of large reactors, which was bought out of bankruptcy by Brookfield Asset Management last August.

 

The report comes alongside a number of other investigations into the administration being conducted by the panel chaired by Representative Elijah Cummings - including into the use of personal texts and emails for official business byTrump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner.

 

Trump attacked Cummings, an African American from Baltimore, in weekend tweets that the president’s critics denounced as racist.

 

Monday's report was based largely on thousands of documents provided by unidentified private companies. The White House, the report said, provided no documents, while other federal agencies submitted some.

 

The committee may subpoena White House documents, it said.

 

Documents showed that Barrack negotiated with Trump and other White House officials to seek "powerful positions," including special Middle East envoy, as he took steps to profit from the civil nuclear scheme he advocated.

 

A previous committee report, published in February, said efforts to advance the nuclear power scheme began duringTrump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

 

Trump officials have continued meeting with IP3 even though White House lawyers in January 2017 instructed staff to cease work on the plan over concerns that Flynn was breaking conflict of interest laws, according to that report. Flynn, fired by Trump in February 2017, advised IP3 while serving on his campaign and transition team, said both reports.

 

White House lawyers also worried that promoters of IP3's so-called "Middle East Marshall Plan" sought to transfer U.S. nuclear know-how to Saudi Arabia even as they pushed back on Riyadh's behalf against certain safeguards, the reports said. Known as the "Gold Standard," the safeguards are designed to prevent nuclear weapons development. IP3 called the standard a "total roadblock," Monday's report said.

 

A Barrack spokesman said the billionaire has been cooperating with the oversight committee and had provided it with requested documents. Barrack's investments and business development in the region are for a "better aligned Middle East," he said. "This is not political it is essential."

 

The White House and IP3 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

EARLY INFLUENCE

Texts and emails showed that Barrack sought to shape Trump’s approach to Gulf Arab states early on by sharing a draft of a Trump campaign speech with Rashid al-Malik, an Emirati businessman. Malik circulated the draft to Emirati and Saudi officials, Monday's report said.

 

Barrack then shared Malik’s suggestions about the speech with Paul Manafort, a political consultant who chairedTrump’s campaign at the time, the report said. Manafort was convicted in 2018 of bank fraud and tax evasion in charges that grew out of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

 

The New York Times on Sunday reported that federal prosecutors investigating foreign influence on Trump's campaign are examining Barrack's exchanges with Malik.

 

Neither Barrack, chairman of Colony Capital, a private equity firm, nor Malik are registered as lobbyists for foreign interests with the Justice Department.

 

Barrack, the report said, began communicating days before Trump’s inauguration with IP3 co-founder Robert "Bud" McFarlane, a national security adviser to the late President Ronald Reagan. In an email to Barrack following a Jan. 23, 2017, meeting, McFarlane said it would be fitting for Trump to name Barrack as his "personal representative to promote the execution" of the nuclear reactor scheme.

 

Documents also showed that in mid-2017, Barrack, his company and IP3 discussed purchasing Westinghouse out of bankruptcy in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is headed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and other investors, the report said.

 

Barrack ultimately failed, with two other U.S. investment firms, to purchase Westinghouse.

 

But after Brookfield Asset Management announced in January 2018 its winning bid for the company, Barrack asked Brookfield Chief Executive Bruce Flatt whether he could join the venture, the report said. There is no evidence Barrack was successful.

 

Days after buying Westinghouse, Brookfield announced it agreed to a 99-year lease on a Manhattan building owned by Kushner’s family - a deal that saved the Kushner Companies' property.

 

The report also cites a series of documents showing how the nuclear power scheme was discussed between IP3, Barrack and senior administration officials. Those talks appear to have included a White House meeting betweenTrump, Barrack and other Colony employees on the same day that Trump met with the Saudi crown prince, on March 14, 2017 the report said.

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Tom Brown)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-30
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Srikcir Platinum Member

Srikcir

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8 hours ago, BobBKK said:

This story is about his failed attempt to influence?  that's it? All companies, lobbyists, try to influence ban them ALL.

Barrack was replaced by another who has more insider influence - Kushner.

Trump administration 'pushing Saudi nuclear deal' which could benefit company linked to Jared Kushner

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-administration-saudi-arabia-nuclear-deal-jared-kushner-666-fifth-avenue-westinghouse-a8787786.html

 

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xylophone Ruby Member

xylophone

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1 hour ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

Oh there's a stone. Let's turn it over maybe a Trump scandal underneath.

Judging by the ethics and morals of this presidential POS, you'd probably find a scandal under most of them!

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bristolboy Gold Member

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13 hours ago, BobBKK said:

This story is about his failed attempt to influence?  that's it? All companies, lobbyists, try to influence ban them ALL.

Did you notice this in the story?

"Days after buying Westinghouse, Brookfield announced it agreed to a 99-year lease on a Manhattan building owned by Kushner’s family - a deal that saved the Kushner Companies' property."

QATAR SHOCKED, SHOCKED TO LEARN IT ACCIDENTALLY BAILED OUT JARED KUSHNER

"Eleven years after a young Jared Kushner purchased an aging skyscraper that would become an albatross around his family’s neck, and six months before the Kushners would have to cough up the $1.4 billion that was due on the mortgage for 666 Fifth Avenue, a Canadian asset-management company swooped in and agreed to take a 99-year lease on the building, paying a near-century’s worth of rent upfront. The bailout was surprising for a few reasons, chief among them being comments by the Kushners’ previous partner that 666 Fifth “would be worth a lot more if it was just dirt,” plus the fact that the family had spent two years trying to get new partners or financing to no avail. Also, there was the matter of the Qatar Investment Authority being a major investor in the company, Brookfield Asset Management, and Kushner’s support of a Saudi- and U.A.E.-led blockade of Qatar."

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/qatar-666-5th-ave-jared-kushner

 

This is the property that the boy genius paid way too much for and has been dragging the family's fortunes further and further down. When it comes to paying way too much for somethings, Jared gives his father-in-law a run for his money.

Edited by bristolboy
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bristolboy Gold Member

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2 minutes ago, atyclb said:

 

 

'Clinton Cash' author owes Hillary Clinton an apology

In my recent column, "The 'Clinton Cash' con," I charged that Clinton Cash, the book attacking Bill and Hillary Clinton and written by former Sarah Palin campaign operative Peter Schweizer, is poorly written, sloppily documented and proved nothing that suggested any wrongdoing by either Clinton.

This book was a disgrace then, and is revealed as an even greater disgrace now, with the revelation that Amazon.com has notified all consumers who had purchased the book that it contained significant factual errors that have now been corrected. The book's publisher, HarperCollins, has now admitted that the book contained factual errors that included "seven or eight" passages that had to be corrected.

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/242105-clinton-cash-author-owes-hillary-clinton-an-apology

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atyclb Platinum Member

atyclb

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10 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

'Clinton Cash' author owes Hillary Clinton an apology

In my recent column, "The 'Clinton Cash' con," I charged that Clinton Cash, the book attacking Bill and Hillary Clinton and written by former Sarah Palin campaign operative Peter Schweizer, is poorly written, sloppily documented and proved nothing that suggested any wrongdoing by either Clinton.

This book was a disgrace then, and is revealed as an even greater disgrace now, with the revelation that Amazon.com has notified all consumers who had purchased the book that it contained significant factual errors that have now been corrected. The book's publisher, HarperCollins, has now admitted that the book contained factual errors that included "seven or eight" passages that had to be corrected.

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/242105-clinton-cash-author-owes-hillary-clinton-an-apology

 

fair enough and if that allegation is true why hasn't bill, hillary, foundation filed a slander/defamation action?  

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bristolboy Gold Member

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2 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

The Russians, the Chinese or Pakistan would love to build 40 nuclear plants for Saudi Arabia. 

The Russians and Chinese were 2 of the signatories to the agreement that sanctioned Iran. I'm not sure that they would be happy to provide an volatile megalomaniac with the means to make nuclear weapons. We leave that particular source of joy to Trump and his corrupt acquaintances. It was Barrack who helped to extricate Trump out of his disastrous investment in the Plaza Hotel.

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atyclb Platinum Member

atyclb

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5 hours ago, bristolboy said:
5 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

fair enough and if that allegation is true why hasn't bill, hillary, foundation filed a slander/defamation action?  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Co._v._Sullivan

from referenced wikileaks page

 

" The decision further held that even with the proper safeguards, the evidence presented in the case was insufficient to support a judgment for Sullivan. In sum the court ruled that "the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity)."[17]

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bristolboy Gold Member

bristolboy

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5 hours ago, atyclb said:

from referenced wikileaks page

 

" The decision further held that even with the proper safeguards, the evidence presented in the case was insufficient to support a judgment for Sullivan. In sum the court ruled that "the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity)."[17]

And your point is...?

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