President Donald Trump’s swing through the Middle East this week is mobilizing lobbyists for Qatar and other countries on the tour, while that nation’s proposed Boeing airplane gift sparks controversy on Capitol Hill.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have deployed high-dollar, bipartisan lobbyists and registered foreign agents to tout their interests with some on the ground during Trump’s trip. Others are in Washington where they’re working to showcase the president’s economic deals with the Gulf nations – or tamp down criticism over Qatar’s offer to give Trump a plane to use as Air Force One because a new Boeing Co. order is overdue.
The maneuvering shows the huge stakes in Middle East lobbying, where the influence community is both promoting the latest economic deals and fending off criticism of their nation clients.
Over the past week, the most visible lobbying has come as Democratic lawmakers and ethics watchdogs have raised alarms about the Qatar jet gift.
Lisa Gilbert, the co-president of Public Citizen, said that accepting the jet would signal “US foreign policy is currently for sale.”
Former Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who lobbies for Qatar, said he expected to “put out brush fires” this week in Washington. Some of his former colleagues on Capitol Hill, he said, had “their panties in a bind” over Qatar’s offer to furnish Trump with a $400 million aircraft.
“The Congress has given Boeing all the billions of dollars that it has asked for for Air Force One. We were doing that when I was in the Congress,” Moran, who left Congress in January 2015, said in a phone interview. “It’s years overdue.”
His firm, Moran Global Strategies, disclosed payments totaling $560,000 from Qatar in a November semi annual report under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The filing disclosed meetings with lawmakers including Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. Warner was one of 27 senators who introduced a resolution Tuesday condemning the airplane gift.
Moran was briefly registered to lobby for Boeing in 2016, lobbying disclosures show. Boeing declined comment
Qatar has employed prominent Washington lobbying firms tied to both parties as it sought to burnish its relationship with the US government. Such work often comes with lucrative contracts.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House lawyers have given their approval to the gift, dubbed a “palace in the sky.” Bondi, who joined the administration from the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, previously was registered to represent Qatar under FARA, which is overseen by the Justice Department.
Ballard Partners recently registered to represent Saudi Arabia, a FARA filing showed.
BGR Group and Mercury Public Affairs have disclosed representing Qatar.
Hogan Lovells is registered for Saudi Arabia, while the firm Akin has disclosed working on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
Chase Kroll, formerly a registered lobbyist for Saudi Arabia when he worked at Hogan Lovells, traveled to Riyadh for Trump’s appearance in the kingdom. Kroll is now with TSG Advocates, the new federal lobbying arm of The Southern Group, a top Florida lobbying firm. Kroll said he was there at the invitation of the US Saudi Business Council.
“It was an incredible experience to be in the room,” he said of Trump’s address in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Kroll said he spotted numerous business leaders as well as administration officials including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a former lobbyist, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, formerly a Florida senator.
Trump, he said, highlighted “massive economic deals” in the region.
“There is a ton of enthusiasm for this expanded and strengthened bilateral relationship and the economic emphasis is very exciting for business leaders who are eager to engage in Riyadh and Washington,” Kroll said. “Our firm is well suited to help folks who want to engage.”
Moran said security concerns about the Qatar plane are unfounded, adding that the country is a strong ally of the United States, hosts the strategically important Al-Udeid Air Base, and that a US defense firm would strip and outfit the aircraft to make it secure.
The Qatari government’s position, Moran said, “is that the commander in chief of the United States, whoever it may be, deserves the best airplane available with the most modern technology.” The foreign government would have done the same for Joe Biden, Moran said.
Congressional Concerns
Moran will have his work cut out for him on Capitol Hill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said his party plans to slow progress on Trump administration nominees over the private jet matter.
Even some Republicans want more information into the arrangement.
“I think there are lots of issues associated with that offer, which I think need to be further talked about,” Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Tuesday.
Other ethics experts said they’d never seen anything like it.
“It’s unheard of,” said Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel and Vice President, General Counsel, and senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center. “A plane is beyond your imagination of the type of gifts that can be presented to a president.”
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