This archive report was first published on 14 August 2019.
On the sidelines of a 2018 conference, former CIA Director David Petraeus and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates met privately with Michael Broidy, a close ally of President Donald Trump, according to interviews and contracts. The think tanks that paid the speakers were reimbursed by Broidy, who assured them that he was using only his own money and not foreign sources, people familiar with the conferences said.
However, updates sent by Broidy to George Nader, a lobbyist who helped arrange Bannon's appearance, listed Circinus as the entity overseeing the advocacy campaign, which included plans for the conferences, op-eds, articles, and congressional and media outreach, including to Fox News host Sean Hannity.
One update listed the Emirati and Saudi governments as the 'clients' of the campaign, and a senior Saudi general, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, who would later be blamed for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as a consultant. Broidy's lawyers say that the updates were early drafts and that references to the involvement of Circinus and the Saudi and Emirati governments were errors that were corrected in subsequent drafts.
Banking records obtained by The New York Times show that Nader received two payments of about $5 million worth of Emirati currency from an entity controlled by the government of the United Arab Emirates, months after the first think-tank conference and days before the second.
“Any payments by the U.A.E. to Mr. Nader had absolutely nothing to do with the conferences or the broader educational initiative,” said Tim McCarten, a lawyer with the firm Latham & Watkins, who represents both Nader and Broidy. The purpose of the payments remains unclear.
The second $5 million payment came months after Nader began cooperating with prosecutors looking into whether Emirati money was funneled into Trump's political operation.
