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Elliot Broidy was one of Trump’s top fundraisers. He has been carefully negotiating with two princes from the Arabian Peninsula for more than a year. He thought that he had finally closed a $1 billion business deal with them.

Broidy was trying to please two crown princes from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The princes are seeking to adjust U.S. foreign policy and also to punish Qatar. They consider Qatar to be an archrival in the Gulf.

Negotiating Plan

Broidy colluded with his Lebanese-American business partner, George Nader, to get closer to the princes and to act as a backchannel to the White House. They used to pass the princes’ messages and praises directly to the President.

In December 2017, Broidy was supposed to be awarded for his work.

According to the media’s investigation on hundreds of leaked emails between Nader and Broidy, the two were expecting to make huge contracts with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In return, the American government was supposed to push policies against Qatar.

Lawyer Defending Broidy

Chris Clark is Broidy’s lawyer. He stated that what the media reported is based on fabricated and fraudulent documents. They supposedly obtained the documents from sources that want to harm Broidy. He added that Nader is a citizen of the United States and that there is no evidence showing his involvement.

But the media checked Broidy and Nader’s content with numerous sources and determined that they were, in fact, putting a lot of effort to please the princes, the White House, and the lobbyists to Congress.

The investigation also revealed that the two had an unreported meeting with Trump.

Neither Nader nor Broidy registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act with the U.S. government. The law requires lobbyists that work for foreign governments to disclose their political activities and ties.

Questions from the American People:

• Is it unethical for Trump to use business contacts to negotiate foreign policy?
• Are “backchannels” sometimes more effective than official negotiations?
• How much did Trump know of Broidy and Nader’s promises to the foreign governments?
• Is it possible that Broidy and Nader were making empty promises to the princes?