Qatar hires former U.S. attorney general to lobby
WASHINGTON – Qatar, isolated by its neighbors and singled out for supporting terrorism by President Donald Trump, hired former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s firm as its lobbyist, according to disclosures released by the Justice Department.
Qatar hired Ashcroft Law Firm for 90 days, agreeing to pay it $2.5 million to help the Persian Gulf nation comply with U.S. money laundering and counterterrorism financing regulations, and to stress its efforts to combat global terrorism, according to disclosures filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. That law requires lobbyists for foreign clients to disclose information about their activities.
On Friday, Trump called Qatar a “funder of terrorism at a very high level.”
To fight that image, Ashcroft said he would enlist former government leaders who held senior positions in the Treasury and Homeland Security departments, the FBI the intelligence community. Their services would be paid for out of the $2.5 million fee, according to the contract, which also says that Ashcroft, who was attorney general from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush, will lead the effort.
Ashcroft didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The contract cites the “urgent need to commence work immediately.” After Trump’s trip to the Middle East last month, four U.S. Arab allies took steps to isolate Qatar because of its ties to Iran and support of Islamist groups. Saudi Arabia, the United Arabic Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic relations to the nation Monday. That day, Trump congratulated the Saudis for their actions.
Shortly after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations to ease their blockade of Qatar Friday, Trump seemed to contradict his top diplomat. Trump called the actions against Qatar “hard but necessary.”
Qatar’s population is smaller than Houston’s, but it has a sovereign wealth fund with stakes in global companies like Barclays and Credit Suisse. It hosts the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s central command in the region.
Ashcroft’s firm promised to provide crisis response and management, program and system analysis, media outreach and advocacy, stressing Qatar’s efforts to combat global terrorism, according to the contract. The firm plans “a comprehensive legal and government relations strategy,” one that will communicate broadly and to “certain domestic agencies and leaders.”
In addition to Ashcroft, six members of his firm registered as lobbyists for Qatar, including Christopher Peele, a former special trial attorney in the fraud section of the Justice Department, and Michael Sullivan, a former director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.