WASHINGTON – A pair of PGA Tour executives will be answering questions from members in a Senate Subcommittee today, as Congress continues its scrutiny of the proposed deal between the golf tour and Saudi-funded LIV.
Both PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne – the Tour Board member who played a major role in orchestrating this deal – are scheduled to testify before members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at 10 a.m. in a Capitol Hill meeting room. ET.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is the chairman of this committee. He has publicly criticized the deal that will bring together the two golf factions who were once at war under the same umbrella.
Blumenthal’s opening remarks were excerpted on the day of the hearing. He said that this wasn’t just about golf but “how a brutal and repressive regime could buy influence, or even take over, a beloved American institution, simply to clean its public image.”
“A regime which has murdered journalists, jailed, tortured, and promoted the war in Yemen and supported other terrorist acts, including 9/11.” Blumenthal calls it “sportswashing”.
It is also about hypocrisy and how large sums of cash can cause individuals and institutions betray the values they hold dear or even reveal a lack of values. It’s not just about football. Other sports and institutions could also be a victim if their leaders make it all about money.
The subcommittee originally requested testimony from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. However, he’s been away with an unspecified health issue since June 13th. Monahan is expected to return to work on Monday.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images).
Greg Norman, chief executive of LIV Golf and Yasir Al-Rumayyan the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund were also requested to appear. Blumenthal, the subcommittee’s ranking member Ron Johnson (R-Wisc. ), and Blumenthal said last week in a press release that both LIV representatives had said they were unavailable due to “scheduling conflicts.”
In a statement, the senators stated that they were “looking forward” to working with the witnesses to come up with a date in the near future.
Two parallel investigations are underway in the Senate. The first is the subcommittee’s investigation into the PGA Tour and LIV Golf deal. The Senate’s Finance Committee is conducting the other investigation, which is overseen by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore). The Department of Justice is also investigating the deal.
The hearing on Tuesday comes 36 hours after The Washington Post published a report that a PGA Tour member had resigned due to concerns about the deal. In his resignation letter, Randall Stephenson (former chairman of AT&T) wrote that he could not objectively evaluate the agreement or support it in good conscience, especially in light of U.S. Intelligence Report concerning Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi was killed in a Saudi Consulate by a Washington Post journalist. According to the intelligence report, Mohammed bin Salman was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia who approved the operation. This is one of many incidents activists point out as proof of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.
Contact Tom Schad by email at [email protected], or via Twitter @Tom_Schad.
