'Mercenary' donor sold access for millions in foreign money

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

‘Mercenary’ donor sold access for millions in foreign money

By ALAN SUDERMAN and JIM MUSTIAN
November 30, 2020

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As an elite political fundraiser, Imaad Zuberi had the ear of top Democrats and Republicans alike — a reach that included private meetings with then-Vice President Joe Biden and VIP access at Donald Trump’s inauguration.

He lived a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle, staying at fine hotels and hosting lawmakers and diplomats at four-star restaurants. Foreign ambassadors turned to Zuberi to get face time in Congress. A CIA officer called him the “best connected person I know,” marveling at the depth of his Rolodex.

He was a charming networker and an inveterate namedropper. His Facebook account was filled with pictures of him next to the powerful and famous: having dinner with Hillary Clinton and Robert De Niro and rubbing shoulders with Trump’s then-chief of staff Reince Priebus outside Mar-A-Lago. Zuberi raised huge amounts for Clinton in the 2016 election before becoming a top donor to the Trump Presidential Inauguration Committee.

But federal prosecutors say Zuberi’s life was built on a series of lies and the lucrative enterprise of funding American political campaigns and profiting from the resulting influence.

“Everyone wants to come to Washington to meet people,” Zuberi said in a 2015 email obtained by The Associated Press, seeking a meet-and-greet between the president of Guinea and a powerful congressman. “We get request(s) for meeting(s) from all scumbag of the world, warlords, kings, queens, presidents for life, military dictators, clan chiefs, tribal chiefs and etc.”

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/imaad-zuberi-sold-donor-access-5a6b71bd05ddf2c1655847bb064edcc9


FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2019 file photo, Imaad Zuberi, left, leaves the federal courthouse in Los Angeles with his attorney Thomas O'Brien, right, after pleading guilty to funneling donations from foreigners to U.S. political campaigns. Zuberi, an elite political fundraiser, had the ear of top Democrats and Republicans alike — a reach that included private meetings with then-Vice President Joe Biden and VIP access at Donald Trump’s inauguration. But federal prosecutors say Zuberi’s life was built on a series of lies and the lucrative enterprise of filling the campaign coffers of American politicians and profiting from the resulting influence. They describe him as a “mercenary” political donor who gave to anyone -- often using foreign money given through illegal straw donors. (AP Photo/Brian Melley, File)

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

When Zuberi started giving money and rising in the political scene less than a decade ago, prosecutors said he was worth $1.5 million, with an unknown amount coming from foreign sources.

Currently, prosecutors estimate that his net worth is more than $30 million and said the “overwhelming majority” of it came from illegal activity. Prosecutors say that includes stealing from some of his foreign clients, which Zuberi has denied.

“Zuberi’s ability to obtain introductions to wealthy clients, politicians and business associates often began with false representations concerning his pedigree, education, experience, business, investment successes, and financial condition,” prosecutors wrote.

The Federal Elections Commission has long been mired in partisan gridlock and, until recently, the Justice Department had all but ignored violations of foreign lobbying registration requirements. Between 1966 and 2015 the department brought just seven criminal cases for violating the law related to registering as a foreign lobbyist, according to a 2016 inspector general’s report.

[SharonAnn]

3. So, he's basically a lobbyist.