GOP fundraiser Broidy under investigation for alleged effort to sell government influence, people familiar with probe say - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-fundraiser-broidy-under-inyestigation-for-alleged-effort-to-sell-goyernment-influence-people-familiar-with-probe-say/2018/08/17/c9e55792-a185-11e8-8e87-c869fe70a721_story.html?utm term=.f7126cd4d51c  
GOP fundraiser Broidy under investigation 
for alleged effort to sell government 
influence, people familiar with probe say 
Carol D. Leonnig 
The Justice Department is investigating whether longtime Republican fundraiser Elliott 
Broidy sought to sell his influence with the Trump administration by offering to deliver U.S. 
government actions for foreign officials in exchange for tens of millions of dollars, 
according to three people familiar with the probe. 
As part of the investigation, prosecutors are scrutinizing a plan that Broidy allegedly 
developed to try to persuade the Trump government to extradite a Chinese dissident back to 
his home country, a move sought by Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to two of the 
people. 
They are also investigating claims that Broidy sought $75 million from a Malaysian business 
official if the Justice Department ended its investigation of a development fund run by the 
Malaysian government. The Malaysian probe has examined the role of the former prime 
minister in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the fund. 
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment. Christopher Clark, an attorney 
for Broidy, declined to comment. 
Broidy's alleged activities were detailed in news reports earlier this year that cited hacked 
emails. The Los Angeles-based venture capitalist, who served as top fundraiser for the 
Republican Party and President Trump, has said  that allegations against him are an effort by 
his enemies to smear him. 
Rudolph W. Giuliani, an attorney for Trump, said he had no knowledge of any request for 
records related to Broidy. The White House referred a request for comment to the 
Republican National Committee, which declined to comment. 
[Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy sues Qatar alleging cyber smear campaign] 
In recent weeks, prosecutors with the Justice Department's public integrity section___which 
examines possible political and government corruption___have sought documents related to 
Broidy's business dealings. 
Among the information sought by investigators are details about Broidy's work on behalf of 
and interactions with the Chinese and Malaysian officials, according to two people familiar 
with the document requests. 
As part of their efforts, prosecutors have subpoenaed casino magnate Steve Wynn, the 
former RNC finance chairman and longtime Trump friend, for copies of records and 
communications related to Broidy. 
An attorney for Wynn, Reid Weingarten, declined to comment, saying only that Wynn is 
cooperating with the Justice Department. 
"Steve Wynn is completely cooperating with the investigation and he certainly has no reason 
to believe that anyone acted improperly in anything he knew about or was involved in," 
Weingarten said in a statement. 
Wynn was tapped by Trump to serve as the RNC 's lead fundraiser after the election. Earlier 
this year, he stepped down from that post and from his executive role at his resort company 
after reports of sexual misconduct. Wynn has denied the allegations of inappropriate 
behavior. 
The public integrity probe is the latest legal challenge for Broidy, who helped corral big  
doners to support Trump's presidential campaign, throwing a lavish fundraiser for the then-
nominee at his Los Angeles-area home during the 2016 campaign. After the election, he was 
appointed to serve as a national deputy chairman for the RNC. 
Broidy sought to parlay his party role and connections to the White House and on Capitol 
Hill in pitches to foreign governments, according to a person with direct knowledge of his 
activities. 
In April, he resigned from his RNC position in the wake of a report that he had paid a former 
Playboy model $1.6 million in exchange for her silence about a sexual affair. Trump's 
personal attorney, Michael Cohen___another RNC fundraiser___helped arrange the 
settlement, Broidy acknowledged. 
[RNC deputy finance chair steps down after admitting Trump's lawyer negotiated settlement 
between him and pregnant Playboy model] 
Cohen is under investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan who are examining 
whether he fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in loans and whether his efforts to 
squash negative stories about Trump during the campaign violated election law. 
Broidy's business dealings captured the attention of investigators for special counsel Robert 
S. Mueller III, who asked at least one witness about Broidy's activities, according to a 
person familiar with the matter. 
Broidy's attempts to solve high-level headaches for the Chinese and Malaysian governments 
were first reported this spring by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, which 
cited in part a cache of hacked emails. 
Broidy has said the documents were stolen by enemies seeking to ruin his reputation. 
"This whole narrative is a fabrication driven by hackers who want to undermine me," Broidy 
said in a statement to the Times. Earlier this year, he filed a lawsuit against the country of 
Qatar, alleging that it hacked his email accounts in retaliation for his allegations that Qatar 
supports terrorists. A spokesman for the Qatari government has called the suit "without fact 
or merit. 
,1 
The Journal reported in March that, according to a draft contract, Broidy and his wife, Robin 
Rosenzweig, were seeking $75 million from Malaysian businessman Jho Low if federal 
prosecutors dropped their investigation into a Malaysian state investment fund. 
The Justice Department has filed civil suits claiming $4.5 billion in public money was 
misappropriated from the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, seeking to claim a portion 
of those assets. Last month, Malaysian authorities charged former prime minister Najib 
Razak with embezzling billions in public money from the fund. 
Clark, the Broidy attorney, told The Journal that Rosenzweig's firm had been hired to 
provide strategic advice to Low, adding that "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." 
The Times reported  in April that Broidy had explored ways to force Chinese exile Guo 
Wengui to leave the United States. The billionaire businessman had fled China in 2014 as he 
was facing arrest for a range of charges, including corruption. Guo has said the allegations 
were fabricated by a government that wants to silence him. 
Since his arrival in the U.S., Guo has publicly detailed allegations of corruption in the 
Chinese ruling party. 
The Times reported that Broidy drafted a plan to enlist Emirati officials to pressure the U.S. 
to turn over Guo. In his statement to the newspaper, Broidy said he "never had a strategy or 
plan regarding Mr. Guo nor was there any compensation given or even discussed." 
Broidy's alleged efforts to push for Guo's extradition came after Wynn separately helped 
deliver a message from the Xi government seeking to have the dissident returned to China, 
according to a person familiar with the effort. 
Wynn, who has contacts with Chinese officials because of his business interests in Macau, 
hand-delivered a letter to Trump seeking Guo '5 deportation, The Journal reported  last year. 
A spokesman for Wynn Resorts has said that the report about Wynn's role was false. 
At the time, the president expressed interest in assisting the Chinese, but was met with 
resistance by senior law enforcement officials, according to the person. 
White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.

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