House Democrats on Tuesday shed more light on a yearslong lobbying campaign in which Saudi Arabia and the US nuclear industry worked with some of President Donald Trump’s key allies to secure a favorable civil nuclear agreement.
The House Oversight Committee released a new tranche of documents — obtained from Trump administration whistleblowers — indicating that the president’s longtime friend and campaign inauguration chairman, Tom Barrack, had solicited Saudi and Emirati funding in his bid to buy the US nuclear reactor firm Westinghouse even as he pushed the White House to reach a nuclear deal favorable to Riyadh.
Barrack worked with IP3 International, a nuclear industry consulting firm, to push the Trump administration to transfer US nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The report also reveals that Barrack acted as liaison between the Trump campaign and the Gulf states, allowing Saudi and Emirati officials to edit the campaign’s speeches.
IP3 International convened a meeting between Trump and nuclear industry officials in February. The oversight report also notes that the White House canceled a meeting between IP3 International with national security adviser John Bolton in March because of “legal and ethical concerns.” The president’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn pushed the firm’s proposal during his short tenure in the White House. The White House did not respond to request for comment.
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