How do you say “kompromat” in Arabic? Asking for Hillary Clinton.
Allen received a hero’s welcome on the final night of the convention when Clinton formally accepted the party’s nomination. After being introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu (D., Calif.) as the “general who knows more about ISIS than anyone,” Allen marched on stage to the sound of a military drum cadence as if he was Gen. George S. Patton celebrating the Allied victory in Europe.
Brookings placed Allen on administrative leave Wednesday amid revelations that investigators have obtained “substantial evidence” that Allen knowingly violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act by failing to disclose his work for the government of Qatar, a notorious sponsor of terrorism and anti-Semitic propaganda. The influential think tank has been criticized for its close ties to the controversial regime, which has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Brookings over the years and in 2014 pledged nearly $15 million to build a satellite campus in Doha. Allen was named president of Brookings in October 2017.
Qatar’s longstanding efforts to buy influence in the United States have, quite unsurprisingly, included substantial donations to the Clinton Foundation. In 2011, for example, the foundation accepted a $1 million gift from Qatar in honor of former president Bill Clinton’s 65th birthday. Hillary was serving as secretary of state at the time, but failed to disclose the massive donation to the State Department despite her pledge to keep the agency apprised of the foundation’s foreign donors.
Investigators say Allen was secretly lobbying on behalf of Qatar alongside Imaad Zuberi, a Pakistani-American businessman who donated $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation. In February 2021, Zuberia was sentenced to 12 years in prison for falsifying records related to his foreign lobbying. They were joined by Richard Olson, who served as U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates under former president Barack Obama and recently pleaded guilty to illegally lobbying on behalf of Qatar.
Hillary Clinton and her allies continue to insist that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was infiltrated by foreign agents. They have also repeatedly peddled the false notion that Clinton was the legitimate winner of the 2016 election because Russian operatives with ties to Trump hacked voting machines to manipulate the outcome.
Qatari efforts to exert influence over Democratic politicians have shown no sign of slowing in recent years. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), the failed presidential candidate best known for farting on live television, was photographed while enjoying a shirtless camel ride in Qatar during a 2021 trip financed by the U.S.-Qatar Business Council.