A few weeks ago, a federal prosecutor who was investigating the mishandling classified documents by former President Donald Trump quietly subpoenaed dozens of business records of the former president.
One of the subpoenas requested information on Trump’s financial relationship with LIV Golf, a new upstart that happens to be backed by Saudi Arabia.
Jack Smith, the federal attorney who was specially appointed to investigate Trump’s connections to LIV golf or the Tour’s financial supporter, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (which is controlled by Saudi royal family), it’s still not clear why Jack Smith would want to do so.
Smith hasn’t commented on the latest subpoenas , which were first reported by The New York Times. The U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland is also mum, having assigned Smith the task of investigating Trump’s decision to take an assortment of top-secret papers to his Mar-a-Lago property when he left Washington in January 2021.
A question is looming large: Is Trump’s business plan — in this instance, his post-presidential deals with Saudis and LIV Golf – tied to Trump’s bizarre decision to not only take top-secret papers but also insist on the right to keep them?
Smith seems to be examining this connection with great care.
What motivated Trump to steal top secret documents from the White House is one of the greatest mysteries surrounding the “documents case”.
What was Trump’s motivation?
Was it just a case of Trump wanting some interesting souvenirs to take home? He was a pack-rat. He was so disorganized, he simply gathered up files from the White House to be sorted later. Were the 15 boxes of top secret documents important to Trump’s memoirs? Did Trump intend to use the documents in any way? Perhaps in future business deals with other countries and their leaders?
Trump falsely claimed to have taken the files. (Sorry Mr. Trump, these files belong to the U.S. government.) To make matters even stranger, Trump falsely claimed that as president he was able to declassify any secret whenever he wished — and that his staff had been given a directive to do so. (Again, sorry, Mr. Trump. You can’t simply wave your finger to declassify America’s secrets.
What’s your motive?
Was there a business benefit to Trump holding onto top-secret files? Was Trump trying to lure investors by promising to reveal secrets?
This question, in and of itself, is so absurd that it sounds like something out of a half-baked spy book. This is Trump. It is the same Trump who, as president, called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and demanded dirt on Joe Biden, in exchange for weapons to protect Ukraine against a possible Russian invasion.
This type of deal-making in the Mafia is known as extortion. It led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Let’s also not forget Trump’s overly friendly demeanor towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid reports that Trump had been looking forward to his post-presidency as well as a possible Russian deal to build a Trump Tower replica in Moscow. Was the presidency a continuation of Trump’s “Art of the Deal?” This question has unfortunately followed him around like a subpoena.
CNN reported that federal investigators have now obtained a recording in which Trump boasted about having a top secret military plan to attack Iran for the U.S. Military during a July 2021 meeting at his Bedminster New Jersey golf club. Why did Trump retain such a document even after leaving the White House. What was his plan? Would he inform the Israelis if he discussed the plan in his golf club? What about Saudi Arabia?
Trump had promised to separate himself from his property empire once he was elected president. This promise has dissolved or at least become cloudy. The hotel of Trump in Washington’s downtown, just a few steps from the White House was a magnet for foreign dignitaries, politicians, and others.
Recent federal subpoenas issued by the Special Counsel targeted the Trump Organization for licensing real estate and other ventures in Saudi Arabia Kuwait China France Turkey United Arab Emirates Oman. Fairness to Trump: There is no proof that he made any deals during his tenure as president. There is no evidence that Trump has used secret documents to make business deals. Trump’s family has been very active in Saudi Arabia, particularly since leaving the White House. He claims he was defrauded of a second term.
Jared Kushner’s father-in-law Trump, Jared Kushner received $2 billion from the same Saudi fund which financed the LIV golf tournament. Kushner was not known to be the wizard or wolf of Wall Street. A Saudi real estate firm has struck a deal with Trump to license his name for a new hotel, housing and golf complex in Oman.
Remember LIV last summer?
Then there’s LIV Golf.
Let’s go back to the summer of last year to understand why LIV is important to Trump, and why it is controversial.
LIV Golf was looking to make an impact. The new golf league billed themselves as a hip alternative to the PGA tour which controlled the prize money and most of the professional golfers in the world.
LIV declared that golf shouldn’t be treated like a religious service with whispering TV analyst and large crowds of spectators who stood on fairways or around putting greens and watched their favorite golfers attempt to push a golf ball into a hole.
LIV played rock over loudspeakers that were the size of a small car. The crowds were encouraged cheer. The players chatted to the crowds as well as with each other. The players were guaranteed a lot of money. The festival was a big, happy event.
There was a catch. All this was interesting, and it was, at least on paper. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was reportedly worth $620 billion. The Saudi royal family controlled the fund, including Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Saudi Arabian royals have a bad reputation when it comes human rights. The kingdom mistreated gays, women and dissidents under the guise of religion. Other lawbreakers in Saudi Arabia are subjected to a Kafkaesque court system, with records kept secret – if at all – and the ultimate punishment being a sword-wielding executor lopping off their heads in public.
There was also the Saudi government and its spy agencies.
While Trump was President, America’s intelligence services directly connected bin Salman, a team from the Saudi spy agency, and a group of thugs to the murder and dismemberment Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi is a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist who lived in the United States and had been critical of the homeland.
The FBI released documents shortly after Khashoggi’s revelations. These documents linked Saudi officials, including the Saudi ambassador in the U.S. with the 9/11 terror attacks.
The FBI documents made public by the FBI are not conclusive. They raise serious questions as to whether Saudi officials would have been willing to offer advice and logistical support, to the 19 hijackers that carried out the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. territory. These documents demand answers from both the Saudis as well as U.S. Intelligence Services.
Saudi Arabia has so far treated these questions as insults and refused to cooperate with U.S. attorneys or investigators who represent thousands of 9/11 victims, their families, and those who filed a federal lawsuit against Saudi Arabia. U.S. officials have begun to speak out, but there is still a way to go.
Saudi Arabia and the U.S. government have taken so long to reveal the true story of the 9/11 attacks, we may not ever know the truth. Or, if we do, it may take decades.
Trump was under a heavy cloud last summer, when he hosted a LIV golf tournament on his course in Bedminster. New Jersey. Trump then hosted a second LIV Golf event at his course in Florida a few months later.
Trump refused to reveal how much money the LIV League paid for using his course.
Trump’s linguistic tangle was a response to 9/11 victims in New Jersey and their families who held two protests. He defended Saudi Arabia when pressed by the media. He claimed that the LIV investment is “great for golf,” and “fantastic” for golf.
Nobody, Mr. Trump?
You might want to look at FBI documents which show that Saudi officials made phone calls to the 9/11 hijackers and had contact with them.
LIV Golf returns to Trump’s Bedminster course in August. LIV Golf will return to Trump’s course in Florida in October. Let’s not forget that just in time for Memorial Day this past weekend, , the LIV Tour, made a stop in Northern Virginia at Trump’s golf course.
Saudi Arabia, say critics, is using money to soften the image of its country. This “sport-washing” game has been called by some.
Trump has his own deal. It seems that the man who was once in the Oval Office, and wants to return there again, has enough for the moment.
Mike Kelly is a NorthJersey.com columnist, part of USA TODAY Network. He has also written three non-fiction books that have been critically acclaimed, and produced a documentary film and podcast. Subscribe or activate your account to get access to Mike Kelly’s insightful thoughts about how we live in the Northeast.
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