The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has seized the data of a retired four-star general who, according to the authorities, made false statements and concealed "compromising" documents about his role in illegal lobbying for Qatar's interests. They write about it Alan Suderman andJim Mustian (Jim Mustian) in the agency's materialThe Associated Press.
Retired US Marine Corps General John R. Allen (c) US Department of Defense
A new appeal to the US Federal Court filed on Tuesday contained potential grounds for initiating criminal proceedings against former Marine General John Allen, who led NATO and US forces in Afghanistan before being appointed head of an influential think tank, the Brookings Institution.
This appeal is part of an investigation that has already touched Richard Olson, the former US ambassador to Pakistan and the UAE, who pleaded guilty last week in response to federal charges, as well as Imaad Zuberi, an influential political sponsor who was sentenced to 12 years for corruption. Many members of Congress also testified during the investigation.
Court documents detail Allen's secret attempts to help Qatar influence U.S. policy in 2017, when a diplomatic crisis broke out between the gas-rich Gulf monarchy and its neighbors.
"There is strong evidence that Allen knowingly violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)," Babak Adib wrote in the appendix to the search warrant. According to Adib, Allen incorrectly presented his role in lobbying, and also did not disclose the fact that "at the same time he conducted multimillion-dollar deals with the government of Qatar."
The 77-page attachment to the search warrant, apparently, was also filed with errors. It was withdrawn on Tuesday after a request from representatives of The Associated Press about the contents of the document.
Allen declined to comment on the new statement. Earlier, he completely denied lobbying for Qatar's interests, arguing that he sought to prevent a war that would put the lives of American soldiers at risk. Allen's spokesman, Bo Phillips, said last week that Allen had voluntarily cooperated with authorities in the investigation.
Based on other testimony, it is alleged that Allen used his corporate email address at the Brookings Institution to communicate on issues related to Qatar.
The Brookings Institution has not yet commented on what is happening. Qatar has long been one of the largest sponsors of the analytical center, but the organization notes that it recently stopped receiving Qatari funding.
Olson also worked with Zuberi on another sensitive issue regarding Qatar. We are talking about the crisis of mid-2017, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf states declared a blockade on Qatar because of the alleged ties of the monarchy with terrorist groups. Immediately after the blockade was announced, then-President Trump spoke out against Qatar.
According to the case file, Allen played an important role in changing the US position on this crisis. In particular, government officials claim that Allen influenced the then-president's national security adviser McMaster in order to soften the Trump administration's rhetoric towards Qatar. In a letter to McMaster, Allen asked the White House or the State Department to issue a statement calling on all parties to act with restraint.
Representatives of the US government claim that then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did just that two days later, issuing a statement calling on the Gulf states to ease the blockade of Qatar and prevent additional escalation between the countries of the region.
The Embassy of Qatar also did not comment on the current events.
Olson and Allen's trips to meetings with the Emir of Qatar and other top officials of the kingdom were also part of the lobbying campaign, according to the government. According to written testimony, at these meetings, Allen gave consultations on the impact on American politics and argued that the Qatari authorities should "use all variety" of information methods, including "black and white" operations. "Black" operations meant secret and often illegal actions. Even during the crisis, Qatar was accused of organizing hacking and leaking information about its critics and rivals, including actions against the UAE ambassador. However, Qatar's representatives deny any illegal actions.
The testimony also contains information that prior to the visit to Doha, Allen requested a meeting with Olson and Zuberi on the issue of payment. In an email, he offered to pay him $20,000 as a reward for this trip and the "work of the speaker", despite the fact that he did not speak as an official speaker. In the same letter, he offered to work out the details of further relations.
Zuberi paid for Allen's first-class ticket, but no evidence of payment of money for the "speaker's work" was found. Allen's representative had previously said that the general had not received any payments. The reasons for non-payment remain unknown. At the same time, Zuberi's former business partners accused him of violating financial obligations.
According to the FBI, Allen had other financial incentives to help Qatar and maintain strong ties with its top officials.
Based on the testimony, "at the same time as Allen lobbied for Qatar's interests before the US government, he also carried out at least one multimillion-dollar deal with the government of Qatar, officially representing the interests of the company on whose board of directors he was."
According to the FBI statement, upon their return from Qatar, Allen and Olson exerted pressure on members of Congress, especially those who supported the House of Representatives resolution linking Qatar to the financing of terrorism. Among them was Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, who told the government that he did not remember Allen's specific words, but their essence boiled down to "support for Qatar and its position."
