Electronic data was seized on Tuesday by the FBI as part of a potential criminal case investigation of a retired four-star general who allegedly withheld incriminating documents and made false statements about his role in an illegal foreign lobbying campaign on behalf of the gas-rich Qatar.
FBI’s action is part of a wider investigation focused on the former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, Richard G. Olson, who pleaded guilty to federal charges last week, and the political donor Imaad Zuberi, who’s already serving a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges.
The investigation alleges that behind-the-scenes efforts of the former Marine Gen. John R. Allen, who led US and NATO forces in Afghanistan before being tapped in 2017 to lead the influential Brookings Institution, helped Qatar influence US policy during the 2017 diplomatic crisis between Persian Gulf monarchy and its neighbors.
Qatar has long been one of the biggest financial backers of the Brookings Institution, one of the most influential think tanks in the US, which failed to respond to a request for comment though it recently said it has stopped taking Qatari funding.
Allen also failed to disclose he was simultaneously pursuing multimillion-dollar business deals with Qatar’s government, misrepresenting his role in the lobbying campaign to US officials.
The affidavit says that during a 2020 interview with law enforcement officials, Allen gave a false version of events about his work for Qatar and didn’t produce relevant email messages in response to an earlier grand jury subpoena.
FBI agent Babak Adib wrote in a search warrant application that there is substantial evidence that these violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) were willful.
After he previously denied ever working as a Qatari agent, emphasizing that his 2017 efforts on Qatar were aimed at preventing potential war in the Gulf that would endanger US troops, Allen declined to comment on the new filings.
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