This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/us/politics/elliott-broidy-trump-fundraiser.html
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Elliott Broidy, a Top Trump Fund-Raiser, Charged in Foreign Influence Case | Elliott Broidy, a Top Trump Fund-Raiser, Charged in Foreign Influence Case |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| WASHINGTON — Elliott Broidy already had a record when he became a major fund-raiser for the Trump campaign in 2016. Now he has become the latest Trump ally to face criminal charges, this time accused of evading foreign lobbying laws while trying to make money off his access to the administration. | |
| Mr. Broidy was charged with a single count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act as part of an influence operation that prosecutors say sought to use his political ties to help Malaysian and Chinese interests, according to federal court filings that became public on Thursday. | Mr. Broidy was charged with a single count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act as part of an influence operation that prosecutors say sought to use his political ties to help Malaysian and Chinese interests, according to federal court filings that became public on Thursday. |
| The case centers on an accusation that Mr. Broidy accepted $6 million from an unnamed foreign client to lobby administration officials to end a federal investigation related to the looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, known as 1MDB. It also accuses him of seeking the extradition of a Chinese citizen from the United States. He did not succeed in either effort. | The case centers on an accusation that Mr. Broidy accepted $6 million from an unnamed foreign client to lobby administration officials to end a federal investigation related to the looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, known as 1MDB. It also accuses him of seeking the extradition of a Chinese citizen from the United States. He did not succeed in either effort. |
| While the foreign client was not identified, people familiar with the case said he was the Malaysian financier Jho Low, who the federal authorities say masterminded a scheme to loot 1MDB. | While the foreign client was not identified, people familiar with the case said he was the Malaysian financier Jho Low, who the federal authorities say masterminded a scheme to loot 1MDB. |
| Mr. Broidy, 63, is expected to enter a guilty plea to the charge, which was filed last week by prosecutors from the Justice Department’s public integrity section and its election crimes branch and unsealed this week. | Mr. Broidy, 63, is expected to enter a guilty plea to the charge, which was filed last week by prosecutors from the Justice Department’s public integrity section and its election crimes branch and unsealed this week. |
| Mr. Broidy’s representatives declined to comment. The charge against him was detailed in a criminal information, which is often filed in cases in which a guilty plea has been entered. | Mr. Broidy’s representatives declined to comment. The charge against him was detailed in a criminal information, which is often filed in cases in which a guilty plea has been entered. |
| The details of the accusations against Mr. Broidy are especially striking: They include a promised $75 million “success fee” from Mr. Low, and discussions about arranging for Malaysia’s prime minister to play golf with President Trump. They also follow a pattern that has become familiar in Washington under the Trump administration. | The details of the accusations against Mr. Broidy are especially striking: They include a promised $75 million “success fee” from Mr. Low, and discussions about arranging for Malaysia’s prime minister to play golf with President Trump. They also follow a pattern that has become familiar in Washington under the Trump administration. |
| People who had backgrounds or were pursuing business that were likely to have raised red flags in other campaigns and administrations were able at the beginning of Mr. Trump’s presidency to market themselves as intermediaries to individuals, companies and countries wanting something from the federal government. They were able to do so because Mr. Trump ran for office and came to Washington without the established networks of gatekeepers, lobbyists and fund-raisers who typically surround a president. | People who had backgrounds or were pursuing business that were likely to have raised red flags in other campaigns and administrations were able at the beginning of Mr. Trump’s presidency to market themselves as intermediaries to individuals, companies and countries wanting something from the federal government. They were able to do so because Mr. Trump ran for office and came to Washington without the established networks of gatekeepers, lobbyists and fund-raisers who typically surround a president. |
| Many of Mr. Trump’s close associates have been charged in the nearly four years since he was elected. Among those who have pleaded or were found guilty of an array of charges related to their work for him are Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser whose case the Justice Department is now seeking to dismiss; George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser; and Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime friend whose sentence the president commuted. | Many of Mr. Trump’s close associates have been charged in the nearly four years since he was elected. Among those who have pleaded or were found guilty of an array of charges related to their work for him are Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser whose case the Justice Department is now seeking to dismiss; George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser; and Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime friend whose sentence the president commuted. |
| Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his deputy, Rick Gates, were charged with lobbying and financial crimes that predated their work for the president’s campaign. The two pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors, as did Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s longtime personal lawyer. | Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his deputy, Rick Gates, were charged with lobbying and financial crimes that predated their work for the president’s campaign. The two pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors, as did Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s longtime personal lawyer. |
| Mr. Cohen, Mr. Gates and Mr. Manafort had sought to parlay their perceived access to the president into business opportunities. | Mr. Cohen, Mr. Gates and Mr. Manafort had sought to parlay their perceived access to the president into business opportunities. |
| But few figures seized on the Trump presidency more ambitiously than Mr. Broidy, who owns a defense contracting firm. | But few figures seized on the Trump presidency more ambitiously than Mr. Broidy, who owns a defense contracting firm. |
| He had been a top Republican fund-raiser for years, but he had retreated from politics after pleading guilty in 2009 to a charge, later reduced to a misdemeanor, in an unrelated pension fund bribery case. | He had been a top Republican fund-raiser for years, but he had retreated from politics after pleading guilty in 2009 to a charge, later reduced to a misdemeanor, in an unrelated pension fund bribery case. |
| After Mr. Trump emerged as the Republican presidential nominee in 2016, Mr. Broidy was among the first major donors to throw his support to him at a time when most elite Republican donors were staying away. | After Mr. Trump emerged as the Republican presidential nominee in 2016, Mr. Broidy was among the first major donors to throw his support to him at a time when most elite Republican donors were staying away. |
| And when Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Broidy cemented his place as a member of the incoming president’s inner circle. He became a leading fund-raiser for Mr. Trump’s inauguration and the Republican National Committee, as well as a member of Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private resort in Florida. | And when Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Broidy cemented his place as a member of the incoming president’s inner circle. He became a leading fund-raiser for Mr. Trump’s inauguration and the Republican National Committee, as well as a member of Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private resort in Florida. |
| Mr. Broidy retained Mr. Cohen to arrange a payout to a former Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair, and Mr. Gates to help pursue a contract for his defense firm and appointments for his associates. | Mr. Broidy retained Mr. Cohen to arrange a payout to a former Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair, and Mr. Gates to help pursue a contract for his defense firm and appointments for his associates. |
| And Mr. Broidy began aggressively marketing his connection to the new administration to politicians, business executives and governments around the world, including clients and prospective clients of his defense company. The company won big contracts from the United Arab Emirates and Angola. And Mr. Broidy offered a trip to Mar-a-Lago to an Angolan politician from whom he was seeking to collect additional payments. | And Mr. Broidy began aggressively marketing his connection to the new administration to politicians, business executives and governments around the world, including clients and prospective clients of his defense company. The company won big contracts from the United Arab Emirates and Angola. And Mr. Broidy offered a trip to Mar-a-Lago to an Angolan politician from whom he was seeking to collect additional payments. |
| But the charge against Mr. Broidy is not related to his defense company or its clients. | But the charge against Mr. Broidy is not related to his defense company or its clients. |
| Rather, it stems from his arrangement with Mr. Jho, a flamboyant Malaysian financier who the federal authorities say masterminded a plan to loot 1MDB and is identified in the court filing against Mr. Broidy as Foreign National A. | Rather, it stems from his arrangement with Mr. Jho, a flamboyant Malaysian financier who the federal authorities say masterminded a plan to loot 1MDB and is identified in the court filing against Mr. Broidy as Foreign National A. |
| The filing said that Mr. Broidy and a pair of associates agreed to work for Mr. Low “to orchestrate back-channel, unregistered campaigns to lobby the administration,” including the Justice Department, to “end the 1MDB matters” and to remove a Chinese citizen from the United States “and send him back to” China. | The filing said that Mr. Broidy and a pair of associates agreed to work for Mr. Low “to orchestrate back-channel, unregistered campaigns to lobby the administration,” including the Justice Department, to “end the 1MDB matters” and to remove a Chinese citizen from the United States “and send him back to” China. |
| The Chinese citizen is not identified by name in the filing, but he is known to be the billionaire dissident Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of China who has been charged by its government with corruption and is seeking asylum in the United States. | The Chinese citizen is not identified by name in the filing, but he is known to be the billionaire dissident Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of China who has been charged by its government with corruption and is seeking asylum in the United States. |
| Some of Mr. Broidy’s associates involved in the arrangement have already been charged, including Nickie Lum Davis, a political fund-raiser who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Another person involved in the effort, George Higginbotham, a former Justice Department employee, pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiring to lie to banks about the source of tens of millions of dollars he funneled into the United States from Mr. Low. | Some of Mr. Broidy’s associates involved in the arrangement have already been charged, including Nickie Lum Davis, a political fund-raiser who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Another person involved in the effort, George Higginbotham, a former Justice Department employee, pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiring to lie to banks about the source of tens of millions of dollars he funneled into the United States from Mr. Low. |
| In his guilty plea, Mr. Higginbotham admitted that he and the entertainer and businessman Pras Michel, a former member of the Fugees, a defunct hip-hop group, arranged for millions of dollars of Mr. Low’s money to be transferred to a law firm owned by Mr. Broidy’s wife to pay them to try to end the 1MDB investigation. | In his guilty plea, Mr. Higginbotham admitted that he and the entertainer and businessman Pras Michel, a former member of the Fugees, a defunct hip-hop group, arranged for millions of dollars of Mr. Low’s money to be transferred to a law firm owned by Mr. Broidy’s wife to pay them to try to end the 1MDB investigation. |
| Mr. Michel is identified in the Broidy charging document as Person A. | Mr. Michel is identified in the Broidy charging document as Person A. |
| Prosecutors said in the filing that Mr. Michel received $8.5 million from Mr. Low, while Mr. Broidy was paid $6 million and Ms. Davis $1.7 million. | Prosecutors said in the filing that Mr. Michel received $8.5 million from Mr. Low, while Mr. Broidy was paid $6 million and Ms. Davis $1.7 million. |
| But the prosecutors cited a contract with Mr. Broidy’s wife’s law firm stipulating that if the Justice Department dropped its civil forfeiture proceedings against Mr. Low within 180 days, Mr. Low would pay a $75 million success fee, or $50 million if the matter was resolved within 365 days. | But the prosecutors cited a contract with Mr. Broidy’s wife’s law firm stipulating that if the Justice Department dropped its civil forfeiture proceedings against Mr. Low within 180 days, Mr. Low would pay a $75 million success fee, or $50 million if the matter was resolved within 365 days. |
| The Justice Department did not drop its pursuit of Mr. Low. | The Justice Department did not drop its pursuit of Mr. Low. |
| He was charged with money laundering in 2018. And in the civil forfeiture case, he agreed last year to give up his claim to hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury apartments, yachts, jets and artwork that prosecutors say were bought with stolen money. | He was charged with money laundering in 2018. And in the civil forfeiture case, he agreed last year to give up his claim to hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury apartments, yachts, jets and artwork that prosecutors say were bought with stolen money. |