The Justice Department is investigating whether former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz, and others with ties to the Republican Party were paid by a Malaysian fugitive with laundered funds.
Christie and Kasowitz are part of a legal team for Jho Low, a fugitive Malaysian businessman who, according to US court filings, played a key role in the alleged embezzlement of $4.5 billion from a Malaysian fund called 1Malaysia Development Bhd, The Wall Street Journal reported. . . .
Low has also retained the services of the lawyer Bobby Burchfield, who has served as an outside ethics adviser for the Trump administration. Ed Rogers, the Republican lobbyist based in Washington, is also reportedly consulting Low on his legal woes.
There’s a lot to process here – many dots to connect. I hope Mueller is looking into this.
The ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, is at the heart of this financial corruption scandal. Trump met with him while he was under investigation by our own DOJ and the Malaysian government for stealing $4.5 billion (that really is “billion with a b”) from a Malaysian government fund that he headed. Razak was subsequently ousted and has now been charged with financial crimes. Here’s the NYT’s coverage of that state visit back in September of 2017 along with an account of the crimes Razak was being investigated for at the time Trump met with him:
To me, the most interesting (and implicating?) connection between this scandal and Trump is that Eliott Broidy is also one of the cast of characters – yes, that Eliott Broidy who resigned in disgrace from his position as a deputy finance chair of the Republican Party. Check out his “rap sheet.”
The Business Insider article adds to Broidy’s list of dubious achievements by linking him to this latest financial scandal:
Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser with close ties to the Trump administration, is consulting Low, too, according to the report. Broidy was brought into Low’s services by Pras Michel, a founding member of the Fugees hip-hop group, who may have been one of the intermediaries who helped Low make payments.
The Justice Department is also investigating whether Broidy attempted to sell his influence in the Trump administration to the Malaysian and Chinese governments.
Low is closely linked to former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who’s facing legal troubles of his own after being arrested in Kuala Lumpur in July. Najib pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering and criminal breach of trust in relation to the broad investigation surrounding the 1Malaysia Development Bhd fund.
And, BTW, Broidy paid Rick Gates $125,000 to provide his clients with “access” to Trump – among those clients was – wait for it – Najib Razak.
CORRECTION: In my original post I wrote that Razak “is now in jail in Malaysia awaiting trial.” He’s not in jail, but has been charged with financial crimes. I’ve made the correction.