Elliott Broidy plotted to force Chinese dissident from US: NYT

Documents obtained by US daily show Republican fundraiser drafted plan in hopes of getting payoffs from China and UAE.

Elliot Broidy - Trump Fundraiser
Broidy allegedly sent a proposal for the three-way deal to Nader in May 2017 [File: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Pepperdine University]

Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, explored plans to get Chinese dissident Guo Wengui expelled from the US in hopes of receiving payoffs from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), documents obtained by the New York Times appear to show.

According to a report published on Friday in the US newspaper, Broidy proposed working with George Nader, the adviser to Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to use their combined influence in the White House and Abu Dhabi for personal gain.

Broidy allegedly sent a proposal for the three-way deal to Nader in May 2017, 20 pages of emails from Broidy’s account reportedly show.

In the plan, as outlined by the newspaper, Nader would try to sway Mohammed bin Zayed to ask the US to hand over Guo.

The grounds for the extradition request would reportedly be a business dispute between the billionaire Chinese dissident and the UAE.

Broidy, for his part, would use his influence in the White House to try to persuade the administration to comply with the UAE’s request.

UAE investment funds

Broidy wrote that the UAE could then hand Guo over to China in exchange for them paying off Guo’s $3bn debt to UAE investment funds, according to the New York Times report.

In the draft email, Broidy reportedly wrote that “China would agree to pay” Nader and himself.

“Abu Dhabi would pay” as well, the New York Times quoted the email as stating. 

A source familiar with the case allegedly told the New York Times that Broidy had not sent the email but did approach Nader “in general terms” about the proposal.

It is unclear if Broidy’s plan has had any results. Guo Wengui is currently still in New York.

Broidy has denied the allegations, telling the New York Times in a statement that “I have never had a strategy or plan regarding Mr Guo nor was there any compensation given or even discussed. And, to be clear, at no time was I told by George Nader or anyone that anyone from UAE had any interest whatsoever in Mr Guo”.

The New York Times said it received the trove of emails from “an anonymous group critical of his [Broidy’s] advocacy of foreign policies in the Middle East”.

Broidy’s lawyers in March filed a lawsuit charging the government of Qatar of hacking his emails. Qatar has denied the accusations. 

Broidy has previously been accused of using his political capital to attempt to get former State Secretary Rex Tillerson fired for not supporting the UAE-backed blockade of Qatar.

Nader has been described as a “shadowy” figure who travels extensively throughout the Middle East, reportedly serving as a means for backchannel communications between the US government, Israel and its sworn enemies – Syria, Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

Source: Al Jazeera