House Democrats are digging into the Trump administration’s dealings with Saudi Arabia, making its plan to sell nuclear technology to the kingdom the subject of…
House Democrats are digging into the Trump administration’s dealings with Saudi Arabia, making its plan to sell nuclear technology to the kingdom the subject of the first major investigation by the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
The investigation was announced Tuesday in conjunction with the release of an interim report that details allegations made by unnamed whistleblowers that senior White House officials ignored warnings from legal and ethics advisers to stop pursuing a plan to build nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. It hits at a nexus of controversies from President Trump’s first two years in office, including the Trump-Saudi relationship, the downfall of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and the business ties of Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“The House Government Oversight Committee has a history of investigating activities and decisions executed by the White House, regardless of political party,” Mark Zaid, a Washington-based lawyer specializing in national security cases, said in an email. “It especially takes serious those concerns brought to it by whistleblowers.”
The 24-page report, prepared by the Democratic staff of the committee, focuses on the first three months of Trump’s presidency, when whistleblowers said Flynn and aide Derek Harvey pushed a proposal to share nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia. The proposal came from a private company for which Flynn served as an adviser.
“Based on this snapshot of events, the committee is now launching an investigation to determine whether the actions being pursued by the Trump administration are in the national security interests of the United States or, rather, serve those who stand to gain financially as a result of this potential change in U. S. foreign policy,” the report said. Cummings also sent letters Tuesday requesting further information to a wide range of subjects: the White House; the departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, State and Treasury; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the CIA; Flynn’s company, the Flynn Intel Group; the private company pushing the nuclear plan, IP3 International; a company run by a former business colleague of Flynn’s, ACU Strategic Partners; Trump confidant Tom Barrack; and Barrack’s investment firm, Colony NorthStar. A spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC) did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment Tuesday. Republicans on the committee said Democrats released the interim report without their input, accusing the majority of partisanship.“We did not receive a draft of the report until last night and have not had the opportunity to fully evaluate the material it presents,” minority spokeswoman Charli Huddleston said in a statement.
