BBC News — 20 February 2019
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Whistleblowers told the panel it could destabilise the Middle East by boosting nuclear weapons proliferation.
Firms linked to the president have reportedly pushed for these transfers.
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What does the [ProPublica] report say?
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It states that "within the US, strong private commercial interests have been pressing aggressively for the transfer of highly sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia".
These commercial entities could "reap billions of dollars through contracts associated with constructing and operating nuclear facilities in Saudi Arabia".
Mr Trump is reportedly "directly engaged in the effort".
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The commercial entities mentioned in the report are:
- IP3 International, a private company led by ex-military officers and security officials that organised a group of US companies to build "dozens of nuclear power plants" in Saudi Arabia
- ACU Strategic Partners, a nuclear power consultancy led by British-American Alex Copson
- Colony NorthStar, Mr Barrack's real estate investment firm
- Flynn Intel Group, a consultancy and lobby set up by Michael Flynn
The report states that Flynn had decided to develop IP3's nuclear initiative, the Middle East Marshall Plan, during his transition, and while he was still serving as an adviser for the company.
How do you like Team Trump’s new mercenary motto: “Have Nukes — will travel” ...
That ProPublica Report also describes these connections between IP3, Tom Barrack, Mike Flynn, Saudi Arabia and Donald Trump — the newly installed president:
At the start of the Trump administration, IP3 found an ally in Tom Barrack, the new president’s close friend and informal adviser and an ultra-wealthy investor in his own right.
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Many U.S. officials didn’t think the idea was serious, reputable or in the national interest. “It smelled so bad I said I never wanted to be anywhere close to that,” one former White House official said. But the proponents persisted, and finally found an opening in the chaotic early days of the Trump administration, when advisers Michael Flynn and Tom Barrack championed the idea.
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Flynn, now on the receiving end of IP3’s lobbying, told his staff to put together a formal proposal to present to Trump for his signature, according to current and former officials.
www.propublica.org
It seems a bit more than “coincidental” that Trump would put “IP3-front-guy” Tom Barrack in charge of his $100 Million dollar slush Inauguration fund. Then again, who better than someone with a ‘stake in the game’ ? (Colony NorthStar)
[Rick] Gates maintained close contact with Trump's world this year even though he didn't ultimately go to work in the White House. After a brief stint at a pro-Trump super PAC, he served as a Washington consultant for one of Trump's closest allies, inauguration chairman Tom Barrack, for much of the last six months, according to Barrack spokesman Owen Blicksilver. He said that Gates' contract was terminated on Monday, the same day of his indictment.
ABC News — Nov 2, 2017; dailykos.com , jamess — Feb 12, 2019
A $100 million still under investigation. A $100 million, much of which was paid by Foreign interests, very much wanting to stake their claims, in the new shake-it-up, burn-it-down Administration.
He and Trump go back decades
[Tom] Barrack, a billionaire real estate investor, is one of Trump’s oldest friends. In 1985, he sold Trump a one-fifth stake in the New York department store chain Alexander’s and three years later sold him the entire Plaza Hotel for about $410 million. [...]
He chaired Trump’s inaugural committee
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Barrack was the chairman of the committee overseeing Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, a committee under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York. The committee’s deputy chairman was Richard Gates, who previously served in a top role on the campaign.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is investigating how the committee raised and spent $100 million. Earlier this month, the prosecutors subpoenaed the committee for a trove of documents.
The investigation is reportedly examining whether sizable checks were written in exchange for access to the Trump administration and whether any foreigners illegally donated to the committee.
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He’s close to others in Trump’s orbit
Barrack is the one who connected Trump with a now-familiar name: Paul Manafort.
No wonder MBS and Vlad were doing ‘high fives’ right under Donald Trump’s orange nose — they know WHAT they have gotten away with. How they have played America for the fool, in the furtherance of their own re-empowerment sagas.
Nuclear war in the Middle East seems all but inevitable now (someday). The genie is out of the bottle. MBS has pledged no fidelity to American interests. But who cares? As long as we have yet another Trump-tantrum news-cycle to cover … long as the Putin chess pieces have all fallen into place.
Including the biggest ‘rook’ of all: Donald J Trump, and his legions of sell-out America followers:
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