Key Trump insiders have pushed proposal to build dozens of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia while seeking to avoid restrictions on transfer of US nuclear technology and have stood to profit from the effort, Oversight investigative report says.
A longtime Trump insider has been pushing a proposal to build dozens of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia while seeking to avoid restrictions on the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology and has at times stood to profit from the effort, according to an investigative report by the House Oversight Committee.
The investigative report was completed late last week but is being released on the heels of a barrage of critical tweets by President Trump targeting the Maryland Democrat and his Baltimore district. There is no indication Trump knew the report was imminent. The report alleges that Flynn and later Barrack helped push the proposal during the 2016 campaign, in the White House and later during briefings with senior White House officials including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and ultimately President Trump. IP3 officials also briefed cabinet officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, according to the report.
A spokesperson for Barrack told ABC News in a statement after the report was released:"Tom Barrack has been cooperating with the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives and has provided the documents the Committee requested. Mr.
More recent efforts to lobby the Trump White House on the Saudi nuclear plan appeared to be spearheaded in part by Barrack, the report said. A billionaire financier and chairman of Trump’s inauguration committee, Barrack worked on several fronts to push the plan. The report alleged that he and other proponents would have had the potential to reap sizeable financial rewards if the deal went forward.
In June of 2016, as he was advising Trump’s campaign, Flynn was emailing Rear Adm. Michael Hewitt, a co-founder and CEO of IP3, about “trying to find time” to meet with then-Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Washington later that month. McFarlane, 81, who resigned as President Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser during the Iran-Contra scandal and later pleaded guilty in 1988 to charges involving the withholding of information from Congress, has been a global consultant in the security and energy sectors in recent years.
Barrack texted a business associate in UAE that he had floated the idea, which he said would be “to make me a special envoy to the Middle East to help them with Saudi, UAE and gulf USA cooperation…” While that bid for Westinghouse was unsuccessful, Barrack in January of 2018 began corresponding with a top official at Brookfield Asset Management, the firm that acquired Westinghouse, according to emails cited in the report, offering his assistance.
Advocates of the Saudi nuclear plan have repeatedly raised concerns about the stringent laws governing the transfer of nuclear technology, including a provision of the United States Atomic Energy Act that would require Saudi Arabia to sign an agreement effectively promising any nuclear technology obtained from the United States would only be used for civilian purposes.
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