WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump former leading fundraiser Elliott Broidy today pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws in a bid to lobby the White House on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests, reported The New York Times today.
Broidy, 63, will forfeit US$6.6 million (RM27.4 million) to the federal government and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their investigations.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 12. He stands to face a prison sentence of up to five years.
Although fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho is not identified by name in court filings or during the hearing today, Broidy admitted to accepting US$9 million (RM37.35 million) from him.
The New York Times reported that Broidy also paid off an associate as he pushed the Trump administration to stop investigating the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal.
The scandal involved the theft over US$4.5 billion (RM18.7 billion) from state investment fund 1MDB, and Low was central to moving and hiding some of the stolen funds.
Broidy also helped China to push for the extradition of a Chinese dissident.
At the time Broidy was national deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee after having been a major fundraiser for Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.
After being recruited by Low, Broidy personally asked Trump to invite Najib to play golf during the Malaysian leader’s September 2017 visit to the United States, the indictment said.
The goal was to give Najib a chance “to attempt to resolve the 1MDB matter” with the US leader, the document said.
The golf game never happened, and Low was indicted in 2018 for his role in siphoning off billions from 1MDB. – The Vibes, October 21, 2020
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