A bit of American History: Nixon, Clinton and Trump

August 20, 2018

Twenty years ago last Friday, President Bill Clinton testified before the independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, and a grand jury about his sexual relationship with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

That night, Clinton addressed the nation, in which he confessed:

I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible. But I told the grand jury today and I say to you now that at no time did I ask anyone to lie, to hide or destroy evidence or to take any other unlawful action. I know that my public comments and my silence about this matter gave a false impression. I misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that.

The Triangle–Hillary, Bill and Monica

It was a clear admission, even if offered under duress and after the option to lie had vanished, and even if still splitting some hairs.

Months earlier, Clinton had bluntly said, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time. Never. These allegations are false, and I need to go back to work for the American people.”

Days after Clinton made his admission, Donald Trump gave an interview to Chris Matthews in which he said of Clinton:

I think his little speech after it was a disaster. It wasn’t the right tone, and I’m not sure he should have done it. And, I’m not even sure that he shouldn’t have just gone in and taken the Fifth Amendment, and said: “Look, I don’t get along with this man, Starr. He’s after me. He’s a Republican.” He’s this, he’s that, and you know, just taken the Fifth Amendment. It’s a terrible thing for a president to take the Fifth Amendment, but he probably should have done it.

Donald Trump made clear then his approach to dealing with these sorts of problems: Admit nothing, confess nothing, deny everything, attack the person pursuing you.

Donald Trump: Admit nothing, confess nothing, deny everything, attack the person pursuing you.

 

For me, it is clear that there was at least an attempt by members of the Trump team to conspire with Russians to influence the elections. The evidence of that is now public record. And, it is just as clear that Trump has attempted to obstruct justice by hampering the investigation and continues to do so.

Whether the special counsel, Robert Mueller, will deem those actions to meet the legal threshold of criminality is another story.

But it seems to me that Trump is growing increasingly agitated over the very real possibility that more members of his campaign and possibly his family are open to liability and that he himself may be vulnerable to eventual impeachment.

As such, he is mirroring the actions of President Richard Nixon, who resigned before he could be impeached.

Almost 25 years to the day before Clinton addressed the nation with his confession, Nixon addressed the nation with a denial.

Nixon said:

I said on May 22 that I had no prior knowledge of the Watergate operation. In all the testimony, there is not the slightest evidence to the contrary. Not a single witness has testified that I had any knowledge of the planning for the Watergate break‐in. It is also true, as I said on May 22, that I took no part in, and was not aware of, any subsequent efforts to cover up the illegal acts associated with the Watergate break‐in.

We now know, of course, that that was a lie.

But a full reading of Nixon’s statements sound mild compared to the viciousness with which Trump is attacking the investigation looking into illegality, the press reporting on it and those providing information for it.

Even in Nixon’s false statement, one reads at least a rhetorical respect for American institutions and history, even if that respect did not exist in fact or in full. Trump has none of that.

I believe he has absolutely no plans to personally cooperate with the investigation by sitting for an interview. He may have once believed that he could bluff his way through such an experience, but now his hostility and fear about the inquiry’s conclusion has clipped his courage.

And, I don’t believe Trump is going to confess as Clinton did, or resign as Nixon did, regardless of what Mueller finds, whom he prosecutes or what he says in a report.

Trump lies about almost everything, but one thing that he says is true: He is a fighter. But he’s not a fighter because he is fearsome or brave. Valor has no relationship to the man. Trump fights for vanity.

One of Trump’s greatest fears and greatest insecurities is being embarrassed and being exposed. Trump is petrified that someone will remove the mask he has been crafting for seven decades, or of having it be revealed that that mask is made of paper rather than steel.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.

Charles Blow joined The Times in 1994 and became an Opinion columnist in 2008. He is also a television commentator and writes often about politics, social justice and vulnerable communities. @CharlesMBlow • Facebook

A version of this article appears in print on Aug. 20, 2018, on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Nixon, Clinton and Trump.

Malaysia: Murder Case Cover-Up

June 5, 2018

Murder Cover-Up Case: Najib, Rosmah and Lawyers Cecil Abraham & Shafee Abdullah in a legal Fix

by Sarawak Report

Cecil Abraham and Partners enable clients to realise solutions through clarity of thought and advice. We deliver smart and efficient dispute resolution solutions.

The significance of a court ruling in KL today (June 4, 2018) was perhaps muted by the extraordinary excitement of these moving times.  However, that ruling has opened the floodgates against a cover-up exercise that has strained the Najib administration for over a decade.

Sarawak Report has been covering the dogged litigation of widow Selvi Bala and her former lawyer Americk Sidhu (now himself a witness in the case) against 9 defendants, whom she holds responsible for blackmailing her husband PI (private investigator) Bala after he tried to speak out as a witness over the murder of the Mogolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Bala, like others, had considered the trial a travesty designed to protect ‘high level’ individuals caught up in Altantuya’s threats to expose both her knowledge about kickbacks on a French submarine deal with the former Defence Minister and later PM, Najib Razak, and also her alleged affairs with Najib and his proxy ‘defence consultant’ Razak Baginda.

The private investigator had issued a statutory declaration to the effect that both Baginda and Altantuya had told him that Najib had been her lover and that he was certain that Najib’s two bodyguards, who were found guilty of shooting then blowing up Altantuya’s body, would not have done so without orders.

Cover-Up

Today’s court hearing went to the heart of the cover-up that allegedly followed Bala’s declaration back in 2008, which Najib and his lawyers had managed to keep the matter out of court by one method or another right up until the last election.

Selvi’s case was that 9 defendants had conspired to force her husband Bala to change his declaration, in order to leave out Najib’s name.  These defendants were primarily Najib and his wife Rosmah, two of Najib’s brothers, a business partner of Rosmah, Deepak Jaikashan, (whom she used as fixer for the occasion) and some lawyers, primarily Cecil Abraham and his son Sunil, who were close to Najib.

Together, Selvi claimed, they had threatened, blackmailed and bribed Bala to flee the country with his family, after a night during which he was forced to sign a new declaration drawn up by Cecil Abraham and son Sunil. In 2013 Bala returned and retracted that second declaration, shortly before dying of a heart attack.

During the course of Selvi’s case for compensation, owing to the impact on her family, all of these defendants successfully pressured the courts to strike out the case against them (on highly controversial grounds accepted by Najib’s Chief Justice Raus) except for Deepak, who had since 2012 made clear he was prepared to back up Bala’s story.

This meant that Selvi’s litigation was continuing throughout last year, but against Deepak only.

Deepak’s Exposure 

Thus by 2017 Deepak alone was defending Selvi’s demands for compensation, keeping the case hanging on by a thread.  Nevertheless, the world could see that if Selvi gained a ruling in her favour by the court against this last defendant, then that judgement would confirm the complicity of all the others, including Najib and Rosmah, in the shocking cover-up of evidence in a murder trial that pointed heavily towards their additional complicity either in that killing or, at the very least, in the failure to prosecute those responsible for ordering the death of a woman who was blackmailing Najib and his proxy.

As Sarawak Report exclusively reported at the time, Deepak had no desire to plead other than guilty for his part, since he plainly wished for the greater guilt of those who had engaged him to fix the cover-up to be exposed.

We published an exclusive copy of the original defence drawn up by Deepak’s lawyers, which acknowledged all of Selvi’s allegations and named Najib and Rosmah as the “masterminds and beneficiaries” of the conspiracy to cover-up PI Bala’s evidence.

 

However, moments from putting that document into court last November, Najib’s agents intevened in the form of another lawyer, Shafee Abdullah (pic above), who together with the Tabung Haji Chairman, Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, liased between Deepak and the Prime Minister to force a change of story.

As Deepak has informed Sarawak Report, Najib was abusing his powers as PM-Finance Minister to hold huge tax bills over Deepak’s head, which he offered to drop if Deepak cooperated.  Ironically, those bills were linked to land deals that Deepak had conducted on behalf of Najib’s own wife Rosmah, for whom he was acting as a proxy, says the businessman.

To get off millions in tax demands, Deepak agreed to play ball and allow Shafee to place a new defence that denied all Selvi’s allegations.  However, right up to the election Deepak and his ‘new lawyer’ Shafee wrangled with each other and the court, finding excuses to avoid a hearing where Deepak could be cross examined about his change of tune.

What a Difference an Election Makes

When the case returned to court after the election what a different story Deepak had to tell.  In an exclusive interview with Sarawak Report last month the businessman had already confided that the endless hospital appointments, designed to keep him out of the witness box to avoid embarrassment before polling day, were of course a sham.

 

Dato’ Panglima Azeez Abdul Rahim–The Fixer

Azeez, says Deepak, had organised a doctor to provide a certificate and place him overnight in hospital, a matter he conspired over with Shafee. Deepak has played recordings to Sarawak Report of those conversations between himself, lawyer Shafee and the agent of Najib, Azeez, where the fake hospital appointments were arranged.

Today, again before the judge, Deepak admitted that his first and not the second defence devised by Shafee was the honest statement he plans to stand by.  He also made clear he had never formally appointed Shafee, who had represented him only through blackmail.

Both these points were accepted by the judge, leaving Deepak to face cross-examination on the case at the next hearings, as well as Shafee himself and the other witnesses named in the case.

Face The Music

The consequences for lawyer Shafee, now accused of faking hospital appointments and blackmailing a reluctant client on behalf of a separate interest, namely Najib and Rosmah, the prospect of the later stages of this civil trial are dismal.  Not least, because Shafee is likely to be also asked about a combined payment by Najib of RM9 million out of 1MDB money, for services not yet explained.

And what about two other Najib associated lawyers in the case?  Selvi’s petition stated that on the night her husband was blackmailed into changing his statutory declaration, in order to remove all reference to Najib, the prominent lawyer Cecil Abraham and his son Sunil joined Bala and Deepak overnight in a hotel room at the Hilton Sentral hotel in KL, in order to draw up that spurious new document.

Deepak, in his first and now revived defence, admitted this claim to be true and confirmed the role of the two lawyers, who had been called into the matter by Najib together with two of his brothers, who helped handle the situation that night. Americk Sidhu is expected to put in a complaint to the Bar Association shortly regarding this disturbing conduct.

Given the extensive and unhealthy ties between Najib and these lawyers, the present reported role of the father and son as key advisors to the Agong, currently resisting the appointment of the new Prime Minister’s choice of Attorney General is disturbing.  Are they representing the interests of the present administration or the old PM?

Most at risk from the developments in this marathon case, launched by a single widow to avenge her dead husband and compensate her family, are the former PM himself and his wife, described by the defendant himself as ‘masterminds and beneficiaries’ of the ‘conspiracy’ to silence Bala.

For ten years this couple have moved heaven and high water to hold this case at bay, now they no longer have the power to do so and the reason for their apparent attempts to obstruct the course of justice seem set to become fully known to all.

P.S. Tommy Thomas is now the new Attorney-General of Malaysia. All attempts to scuttle his nomination by Prime Minister and his Pakatan Harapan partners have failed.–Din Merican

1MDB: ‘Kleptocracy at its worst’ in Malaysia

March 11, 2018

So says US Attorney General Jeff Sessions as global investigators seize assets and tighten dragnet on premier Najib Razak’s 1MDB scandal

By Nile Bowie

http://www.atimes.com/article/kleptocracy-worst-malaysia/

Malaysian Premier Najib Razak aka MO1 is in a Bind over 1MDB

“Kleptocracy at its worst” is how US Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently characterized dealings at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a heavily indebted state development fund currently under investigation for fraud by the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

The fund, created and until recently oversaw by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, has been at the center of ongoing embezzlement probes in multiple countries since 2015. But while the embattled premier plays down the evolving scandal in an election campaign season, new overseas asset seizures are keeping it in the headlines.

 

Investigators believe US$4.5 billion was misappropriated from the fund by high-ranking Malaysian officials and their associates since 2009, making it one of the world’s largest ever financial fraud cases and the biggest action ever brought under the DoJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

Najib, believed to be the unnamed “Official 1” in the DoJ’s ongoing case, has avoided scrutiny and charges at home by sacking critics, including his former deputy, appointing an Attorney General who has exonerated him of all wrongdoing, and clamping down on probing media.

The Malaysian Premier has consistently denied involvement in any corruption and claimed the US$681 million discovered in his personal bank accounts was a “gift” from a Saudi royal family member rather than pilfered 1MDB funds.

While opposition parties have staged anti-kleptocracy rallies centered on 1MDB, it’s not clear yet the scandal will be Najib’s undoing at the polls, which must be held by August. But a new string of foreign asset seizures and developments are bringing the issue back to the fore as elections draw near.

Last week, Indonesian authorities and US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents seized a US$250 million luxury yacht belonging to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, a central figure in the 1MDB scandal.

A 1MDB-linked seized luxury yacht sought by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) seen off the shore of Banoa, Bali, Indonesia February 28, 2018. Photo: Antara Foto via Reuters/Wira Suryantala

Also known as Jho Low, DoJ documents describe him as “a Malaysian national who had no formal position with 1MDB but who was involved in its creation and exercised significant control over its dealings.”

Low, known for his flamboyant displays of wealth, is believed to have acted as an unofficial adviser to 1MDB, brokering the state fund’s largest business deals and allegedly siphoning the proceeds to purchase luxury items, including museum paintings and expensive jewelry.

Low has denied any wrongdoing and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

Mohamed Azmin Ali, a senior opposition parliamentarian, called Indonesia’s seizure of the Cayman Islands-registered vessel a “milestone” in the 1MDB investigation, while lambasting the “failure of Malaysian authorities to act in the cause of justice.”

Low’s spokesperson dismissed allegations against him as “deeply flawed and politically motivated” and characterized the DoJ’s asset recovery efforts as a “pattern of global overreach.”

Other assets allegedly purchased by Low with 1MDB funds include a private jet, a New York hotel and real estate, and a US$107 million interest in EMI Music Publishing.

 

The DoJ has also sought to recover proceeds from the blockbuster film “The Wolf of Wall Street” made by Red Granite Pictures Inc, a production company co-owned by Riza Aziz, the Malaysian premier’s stepson and a friend of Low.

Leonardo DiCaprio, the film’s lead Hollywood actor, has cooperated with US investigators, turning over artworks and gifts worth millions of dollars reportedly given to him by Low.

On March 7, Red Granite Pictures announced a settlement with the DoJ that requires it to pay US$60 million in a civil forfeiture suit covering rights and interests claims to “The Wolf of Wall Street”, as well as two other films, “Daddy’s Home” and “Dumb and Dumber To”, also suspected to have been financed with siphoned 1MDB funds.

Though the settlement does not constitute “an admission of wrongdoing or liability on the part of Red Granite,” according to the court filing, analysts widely regard Riza’s compliance with the DoJ’s asset seizure demands as an admission of guilt.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently reported that Elliott Broidy, a top Republican Party donor close to US President Donald Trump, and his wife Robin Rosenzweig, an attorney, had been in negotiations with Low, who had apparently approached the well-connected couple in the hopes of influencing the DoJ’s investigation.

The fugitive Malaysian financier, according to a cache of emails reviewed by WSJ, was prepared to award Rosenzweig’s California-based law firm a US$75 million fee if it could persuade the DoJ to drop its civil asset forfeiture lawsuits within 180 days. It is not clear whether the agreement was ever finalized.

 

Elliot Broidy (R) and Robinn Rozenzweig (L) have been linked to Malaysian businessman Jho Low. Photo: Youtube

 

 

Broidy, previously Vice-Chairman for Trump 2016 election campaign’s joint fund with the Republican Party, had also prepared talking points for Malaysia’s premier ahead of his controversial September 2017 visit to Trump’s White House, in which Najib expressed his willingness to assist US efforts to isolate North Korea.

It is not clear whether Malaysia’s position was influenced by Broidy’s talking points. Lawyers for Broidy and Rosenzweig said the latter’s law firm had been engaged by Low “to provide strategic advice” and neither had discussed Low’s 1MDB case with President Trump or DoJ representatives.

Low’s purported efforts to influence the DoJ’s investigations, however, have failed to bear fruit, as evidenced by recent asset seizures and forfeiture settlements.

While similar 1MDB probes are underway in at least six countries, including Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong, Malaysian authorities have quietly started to wind down the scandal-plagued fund.

Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Malaysia’s Treasury Secretary General, announced last week that 1MDB would be permanently closed once it settles all outstanding debts. 1MDB paid US$603 million last December to settle a debt with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

Observers believe the sale of two land parcels from 1MDB-related entities to firms linked to Chinese state enterprises last year rescued the beleaguered state fund from defaulting, extending a political lifeline to Najib in the process.

1MDB and IPIC are still in a dispute over US$3.54 billion in cash advances that 1MDB claimed it made to several Abu Dhabi-controlled entities as part of obligations under a 2012 bond arrangement. IPIC denies ever receiving the monies.

Treasury Secretary Irwan Serigar projected it would take more than a decade for the state fund to settle its debts, which are slated to be repaid from revenues generated from government mega-projects, including the soon-to-be-launched Tun Razak Exchange commercial skyscraper and returns on high-speed rail infrastructure.

Malaysian officials have said 1MDB’s eventual closure is a business decision and have not apportioned blame for the fund’s indebtedness or mismanagement, conceding only “weaknesses” in its administration.

However, emergency motions to discuss recent 1MDB developments raised in Parliament by the opposition have been denied. Opposition parliamentarian Gooi Hsiao-Leung recently called on Najib to clarify whether Malaysia would seek to recover assets seized by the US DoJ and why the government did not intend to claim Low’s confiscated yacht.

Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali maintains the government has no ownership claim over the 1MDB-linked yacht. Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, meanwhile, denied discussion of Gooi’s emergency motion on grounds that such queries would be prejudicial to police investigations into Low.

Malaysia’s Police Chief, Mohamad Fuzi Harun, has since said that his investigations revealed no link between Low and 1MDB.

“One of the strangest things surrounding the 1MDB and the DoJ’s accusations is that the Malaysian government has shown no interest at all in regaining any of the assets the DoJ says it is trying to recover,” Ooi Kee Beng, executive director at the Penang Institute, told Asia Times. “This is despite the huge sums involved.”

Putrajaya has also shown apparent disinterest in seeking restitution of 1MDB-linked funds seized overseas. Swiss financial authorities seized US$102 million from banks last year after sanctioning now defunct local bank BSI for its involvement with 1MDB.

Lawmakers in Switzerland will soon debate whether those sums should be absorbed into state coffers as no party has claimed or sought to repatriate the funds.

Singapore is the only country to have jailed or brought charges against financial sector workers for cases linked to 1MDB. The city-state, which enjoys close bilateral ties with Putrajaya, could ruffle feathers by bringing charges against individuals close to the premier, says Chandra Muzaffar, a Malaysian political scientist.

“Singapore has already acted against some 1MDB linked individuals, but it does not seem to have affected Singapore-Malaysia ties,” he noted. “However, if Singapore or the US pressed concrete charges against Jho Low or Reza Aziz, Najib’s step-son…Najib may take it as a personal affront and retaliate.”

As 1MDB investigations move ahead, some involved with its alleged illicit dealings have faced charges and fines overseas, though high-profile Malaysian figures and high-ranking politicians continue to maintain their iron-clad denials while thwarting calls for transparency and responsibility.

“It is unlikely that as long as the leading figure Najib Razak is in power that there will be any meaningful accountability,” said Bridget Welsh, a Malaysia expert at Italy’s John Cabot University. “The most tragic dimension of this scandal is that the burden has been passed onto ordinary Malaysians, who have had to pay for the abuse of power by their leaders.”

 

The Law starts with you, Tawfik Tun Ismail urges MPs to stop Hadi’s bill

March 8, 2018

 by FMT Reporters

 www.freemalaysiatoday.com

The former MP again says while the Royal Address is being debated, the Dewan Rakyat is set to debate PAS’ shariah bill in defiance of the High Court judgement.

KUALA LUMPUR: Outspoken former MP Tawfik Tun Ismail who is seeking to stop the tabling of PAS’ shariah bill in Parliament has again warned that matters on religion come under the jurisdiction of the Malay Rulers, and as such it would be against the Rule of Law to list the bill in the Dewan Rakyat’s Order Paper.

“The Rule of Law starts at the House of Laws,” said Tawfik, the son of the late Tun Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs in the Seventies.

Tawfik has named Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and Secretary Roosme Hamzah as defendants in his bid to seek a court order to stop the tabling of a bill to amend the the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, known by its Malay acronym RUU355.

 

What Rule is the Speaker talking about? Most of the time this moronic Pandikar does not know his job. The Rule of Law is Greek to him. He is another Najib Razak’s horndog, says The Chimp

 

The amendments proposed by PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang seek to give wider powers to shariah courts as well as introducing stiffer sentences on Muslim offenders.

On February 22, Tawfik scored an initial victory against Pandikar after the High Court rejected the Speaker’s attempt to throw out his suit.

Tawfik has since warned against debating the bill in Parliament, and urged the Attorney-General to advise Pandikar that it would be subjudice to list the bill in the Order Paper, which lists the day’s business for the Dewan Rakyat.

Strange Bedfellows in a Pact to ruin Malaysia for Political Gain

“It is unparliamentary and most improper of, and against the rule of law, for the House to debate the motion of thanks to His Majesty… while Hadi’s bill to amend RUU355 stares you in the face in the daily Order Paper, in defiance of the judgement from the High Court, using laws that were passed in this August House, and in blatant contravention of the Constitution,” he said today.

Tawfik said listing Hadi’s bill in the Order Paper also contradicted the Speaker’s own decision in the past to stop debates on matters that had gone to court, including foreign courts.

He said Pandikar “should apply the same standards to this matter currently being heard before our own nation’s courts”.

“As the next general election is imminent, members from both sides of the House must stand united and obey the very laws you passed, demonstrate your sworn commitment to the nation that gave you the sacred duty to defend, uphold and protect their constitutional rights, and demand the private member’s bill be withdrawn from the Order Paper immediately,” said Tawfik, who also reminded MPs of the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend” the constitution.

“Not to do so is clear contempt of His Majesty and His Majesty’s judges, in blatant defiance and contravention of the constitution, and the trust that the citizens of this nation have placed upon you all, and the thin end of the wedge that would open the door to further erosion of our fragile Constitution.”

Hadi’s bill seeks to raise the maximum punishment on shariah offenders from the current 3 years’ jail to 30 years, as well as to impose a fine of up to RM100,000 and 100 strokes of the cane.

But Tawfik, in his suit against Pandikar, said Hadi’s motion did not conform with the requirements of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat and that it violated Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees equality for all Malaysians.

The 1MDB Plot thickens

March 5, 2017

Trump Ally Was in Talks to Earn Millions in Effort to End 1MDB Probe in U.S.

Emails indicate Republican donor and wife were negotiating fee if the Justice Department closed its investigation

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ally-was-in-talks-to-earn-millions-in-effort-to-end-1mdb-probe-in-u-s-1519919321?mod=e2fb

Elliott Broidy, a longtime GOP donor, right, and his wife, Robin Rosenzweig, an attorney, discussed setting up a consulting contract with Jho Low, the Malaysian businessman at the center of the 1MDB scandal, in emails. Photo: Billy Bennight/UPPA/Zuma Press

By Bradley Hope,

Tom Wright and

Rebecca Ballhaus

A top Republican fundraiser close to President Donald Trump was in negotiations to earn tens of millions of dollars if the U.S. Justice Department dropped its investigation into a multibillion-dollar graft scandal involving a Malaysian state investment fund, according to emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

In emails dated during the past year, Elliott Broidy, a venture capitalist and a longtime Republican donor, and his wife, Robin Rosenzweig, an attorney, discuss setting up a consulting contract with Jho Low, the Malaysian businessman at the center of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. scandal, which brought scrutiny to the country’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak. The messages include draft agreements between Ms. Rosenzweig’s California law firm and representatives of Mr. Low about the possible terms of their business engagement. In one draft, there is a proposal that includes a $75 million fee if the Justice Department quickly drops its investigation.

Along with the contract drafts, the emails also appear to show Mr. Broidy prepared talking points for Malaysia’s Prime Minister ahead of a 2017 visit to Washington that included a meeting with Mr. Trump and other officials. In the talking points, the Prime Minister was advised to state that Malaysia wanted to emphasize its work with the U.S. in confronting North Korea, while also arguing against the U.S. legal pursuit of the 1MDB matter. It isn’t clear what, if anything, came of the talking points.

The details of the purported effort to influence the Justice Department investigation were included in a cache of emails from Mr. Broidy’s and his wife’s email accounts that were provided to the Journal.

Mr. Broidy was a Vice Chairman for the Trump campaign’s joint fund with the Republican Party during the 2016 campaign, helping it raise more than $108 million. A longtime Republican donor, he gave more than $160,000 last year to the Republican National Committee, where he is currently a national deputy finance chairman. In March, Mr. Trump is set to attend a fundraiser in Los Angeles that Mr. Broidy helped organize.

Chris Clark of Latham & Watkins LLP, on behalf of Mr. Broidy and Ms. Rosenzweig, who runs Colfax Law Office Inc., said in a statement that Ms. Rosenzweig’s law firm was engaged by Pras Michel, a member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees and a friend of Mr. Low, “to provide strategic advice as part of a broader team to Mr. Low.”

 

The statement adds: “During the course of this engagement a number of strategies were discussed with Mr. Broidy, Mr. Michel, and other members of the team. But at no time did Mr. Broidy or Ms. Rosenzweig, or anyone acting on their behalf, discuss Mr. Low’s case with President Trump, any member of his staff, or anyone at the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Mr. Clark said neither Colfax Law nor Mr. Broidy has ever represented Malaysia or any of its officials “in any capacity.”

“We are concerned that the Wall Street Journal is in possession of internal drafts of documents that were never used, and that were never intended to be shared with third parties,” he said. “We question the legality and propriety of the manner in which the documents were obtained.”

The Justice Department declined to comment.

President Donald Trump welcomed Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak in September. Emails appear to show Elliott Broidy prepared talking points for Mr. Najib ahead of the visit. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

 

Mr. Low didn’t respond to a request for comment on the arrangement. He has denied wrongdoing in the 1MDB matter. The 1MDB fund has denied any money is missing and said it would cooperate with any lawful investigation. Multiple investigations in Malaysia into 1MDB closed without finding wrongdoing.

Prime Minister Najib, who oversaw 1MDB and gave Mr. Low control over investment decisions, has been keen for the Justice Department to drop its probes.

The Justice Department alleges Mr. Low, a 36-year-old Malaysian financier, helped siphon off at least $4.5 billion from 1MDB, between 2009 and 2015. Mr. Low and conspirators from Asia and the Middle East allegedly used the proceeds to buy luxury homes in the U.S., frequent Las Vegas nightclubs and fund Hollywood movies, among other things. At least six countries are investigating the affair, including Singapore and Switzerland.

Since mid-2016, the Justice Department has sought, via civil lawsuits in California, to seize almost $2 billion in assets allegedly bought with the stolen money. On Wednesday, authorities in Indonesia seized Mr. Low’s $250 million yacht at a port on the resort island of Bali after a request from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A representative for Mr. Low said in a written statement in the wake of the yacht seizure that the case was “completely without foundation’’ and that “rather than reflecting on the deeply flawed and politically motivated allegations, the DoJ is continuing with its pattern of global over-reach—all based on entirely unsupported claims of wrongdoing.”

U.S. authorities also allege in civil lawsuits that “Malaysian Official 1,” which people aware of the matter say is a reference to Mr. Najib, received $681 million from 1MDB into his personal accounts. The Justice Department in its asset-seizure suits identified tens of millions of dollars worth of jewelry purchased with funds originating from the alleged 1MDB fraud, including for Mr. Najib’s wife. Mr. Najib has denied taking money for personal gain and he was cleared by Malaysia’s attorney general of any wrongdoing.

In September 2017, Mr. Trump invited Mr. Najib to a meeting in the White House to discuss trade ties. Given the 1MDB scandal, and Mr. Najib’s alleged personal involvement, the timing of the trip sparked contention among the prime minister’s critics. Ahead of that trip, Mr. Broidy sent an email to a colleague at his venture-capital firm on Aug. 7, 2017, with the subject line “Malaysia Talking Points *Final*.”

The email appears to outline how Mr. Najib should approach his U.S. visit. The first-listed priority was to make it clear that Malaysia fully backed U.S. efforts to isolate North Korea, the email said. The talking points also list the 1MDB affair: The U.S. investigation “has caused unnecessary tension,” the talking points read, “and could cause a negative reaction among Malaysians.”

A spokesman for Mr. Najib didn’t respond to a request for comment on the purported talking points or his visit to Washington.

In his September 2017 visit to the White House, Mr. Najib met with Mr. Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and other U.S. officials. In a public appearance together, Mr. Trump identified Malaysia as a strategic national-security ally in Asia. “He does not do business with North Korea any longer,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Najib. “We find that to be very important.”

Ahead of Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Najib last fall, Gen. McMaster and a member of the White House Counsel’s Office advised him that the prime minister was under investigation by the Justice Department and that the issue might come up, a White House official said. Mr. Trump was advised that Mr. Najib might bring up the case and could lobby him to ask the Justice Department to shut it down, and that he should respond that he wouldn’t interfere, the official said.

Mr. Najib subsequently didn’t raise the issue in his private meeting with the president, nor did Mr. Trump, the official said.

The White House didn’t respond to a question about whether Mr. Trump had ever discussed the Justice Department probe with Mr. Broidy.

Legal experts said certain actions described in the emails had little precedent in Washington. An effort to approach White House officials to close a Justice Department investigation would be unusual because administrations have typically not had any involvement in federal investigations, to avoid giving the appearance of any political motivation. Mr. Trump, by contrast, has often waded into Justice Department matters, criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions as recently as Wednesday, when he labeled Mr. Sessions’ handling of a surveillance-related probe as “disgraceful.”

Mr. Broidy’s involvement with Malaysian politics dates to at least March 2017, when his wife, Ms. Rosenzweig, drew up an agreement between her Beverly Hills law firm and Mr. Low, according to the emails.

On March 12, 2017, Ms. Rosenzweig emailed the agreement to Nickie Lum Davis, whose Hawaii-based firm, LNS Capital, acted as a consultant to Colfax on the deal with Mr. Low, the emails show. The unsigned draft stipulated various terms, including a $75 million payment if the firm could help get the Justice Department to drop its civil-asset forfeiture lawsuits within 180 days.

Ms. Rosenzweig later changed the details of the agreement to a flat fee, which she said was to ensure they complied with U.S. law, according to an email later in March to LNS’s Ms. Davis.

Ms. Davis didn’t respond to a question for comment.

By May, there was still no final agreement, according to the email chain. Mr. Low didn’t want to pay Ms. Rosenzweig directly, but through Mr. Michel, the former hip-hop star, the emails show. Mr. Michel was among the many celebrity friends Mr. Low made in the years after the alleged fraud began in late 2009. The emails didn’t state a reason for the payment structure.

Mr. Michel didn’t respond to a request for comment.The emails the Journal viewed didn’t show whether Ms. Rosenzweig’s firm had finalized terms of the agreement with Mr. Low.

In 2009, Mr. Broidy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of rewarding official misconduct and admitted to making nearly $1 million in gifts to benefit four former top officials in the office that oversees New York state’s pension fund, which made $250 million in investments in Mr. Broidy’s firm, the Journal reported. As part of his guilty plea, he agreed to forfeit $18 million to New York state.

—Aruna Viswanatha contributed to this article.

Write to Bradley Hope at bradley.hope@wsj.com, Tom Wright at tom.wright@wsj.com and Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com

RUU 355: The Bloody Fool Speaker Pandikar Amin !

 

February 23, 2018

by Din Merican

On February13, 2018, I wrote about Tawfik Tun Dr Ismails’s case against the Speaker and secretary of the Dewan Rakyat for wrongfully allowing the tabling of a Bill by PAS chief Hadi Awang seeking to increase the sentencing powers of the Syariah Courts more famously known as the RUU355 case.

Tawfik Tun Dr Ismail claimed that Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia acted unconstitutionally by allowing the tabling of Hadi’s Motion and RUU355 without consulting the Conference of Rulers and breaching various laws and the standing orders of Parliament. This amendment would also create inequality in the law amongst Malaysians especially Muslims for purported Syariah criminal offences as the Syariah laws in the states are not uniform.

This case showed that PM Najib and UMNO were playing politics with religion and the Speaker behaved deceitfully in Parliament. See link:

https://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2018/01/13/the-constitution-is-supreme-not-speaker-parliament-pandikar-amin/

 

My friend Lawyer Rosli Dahlan, who represented Tawfik, pointed out to Judge Dato Wira Kamaludin Said that Pandikar was misleading the court and showed that the doctrine of Parliamentary supremacy does not apply in Malaysia.

Lawyer Rosli revealed the abuse of parliament by the politicians to pass bad laws for political mileage without concern for the Rakyat especially Muslims. He also said that the Speaker committed treason against the Sultans by sidelining and disregarding the Rulers role to be consulted under Article 38 of the Constitution.

To avoid answering to Rosli’s charges about his treasonous behavior, Pandikar applied to strike out Tawfik’s case by claiming that as Speaker he has absolute immunity and is not answerable to the Courts.

Speaker Pandikar arrogantly defended his deceitful ways by saying -“If you have power, you are powerful. If you don’t use that power, you are a bloody fool!”

On Thursday afternoon February 22, 2018, Judge Kamaludin delivered his verdict that Parliament is not supreme and that the Speaker of Parliament is also subject to the Court’s jurisdiction.

The Judge said -“I agree with En Rosli and in my opinion, the court has jurisdiction to hear this case,” and directed Pandikar to file his affidavits. “I want affidavits to be filed in quick. We cannot keep Parliament waiting,” he said.

By these firm words, Judge Kamaludin has shown to Speaker Pandikar that he is not above the law. Pandikar has been put into his proper place and is now forced to eat the humble pie that he is not as powerful as he thinks he is. Judge Kamaludin is showing to Pandikar that a speaker who thinks he is powerful is actually the ultimate bloody fool!

Pandikar who had arrogantly refused to answer to the affidavits by Tawfik is now being treated like a delinquent child who refused to hand up his homework. Judge Kamaludin is now chiding Pandikar that he will be punished if he doesn’t file his affidavit.

Once again my friend Lawyer Rosli Dahlan is taking to task public functionaries who misbehaved and abused their powers regardless even if he is the Speaker of Parliament. I salute him for his bravery. Rosli had previously sued Attorney General Gani Patail and successfully moved the court to rule that Gani’s does not have absolute unbridaled powers as Public Prosecutor.

The RUU355 case is significant because a High Court Judge is brave enough to instill discipline even in the Speaker of Parliament that there must be respect and compliance with the Constitution. It is significant because a member of the public is suing the Speaker of Parliament not to sideline the Rulers in matters that involve public policy. This case symbolises the people defending their rulers. Daulat Tuanku!

Thank you Tawfik, thank you Rosli for showing us that Pandikar is the ultimate bloody fool!

https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/bahasa/s/39255/

Former UMNO MP can challenge Dewan Rakyat Speaker on RUU355, court rules – https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/39252 – Updated: 22 Feb 2018 3:58PM – The Malaysian Insight