ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
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Qatar has had a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. While we knew about the EU's '
Qatargate,' investments with the
Kushner family, and of course Sen. Bob Menendez
advancing Qatar's interests,
Politico reports tha
t the Biden family's ties to Qatar "would constitute some of the closest known financial links between a relative of President Joe Biden and a foreign government," if courtroom testimony about Jim Biden's foreign fundraising efforts is substantiated.
POLITICO illustration/Photos by AP, Getty Images, iStock
In June 2017, Qatar's neighbors - led by Saudi Arabia,
banded together and cut diplomatic ties with the country, citing its alleged support for terrorism. As a result,
the country was thrown into a sustained crisis.
To dig themselves out, Qatari rulers began showering well-connected Westerners with gifts and financial benefits, according to
Politico, "sometimes in the form of
investment funding."
Around this time, Jim Biden was trying to raise $30 million for embattled hospital chain Americore -
teaming up with Florida businessman Amer Rustom, CEO of the Platinum Group, who boasted of his ties to officials in the Middle East, as well as fund manager Michael Lewitt. Together, the three sought investment funding from various Middle Eastern sources for Americore and other ventures -
"which came to focus largely on Qatar," according to a former Americore executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to public records obtained by the outlet,
Jim Biden leveraged ties to his older brother and "sought workarounds to restrictions on international money movements," including one discussion about trying to move money across a Middle Eastern border in the form of
gold bars that may or may not have happened.
"
My family could provide a wealth of introductions and business opportunities at the highest levels that I believe would be worthy of the interest of His Excellency," Jim Biden and Rustom wrote in a draft letter to an official at the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. "
On behalf of the Biden family, I welcome your interest here," the draft continues.
Transactions related to the efforts are
central to a recently-settled fraud case brought by the SEC, and are under fresh scrutiny as part of a
federal criminal investigation in South Florida.
Jim Biden suggested to congressional investigators in February that his fundraising efforts stalled for lack of viable projects to back. But the previously unreported testimony by fund manager Michael Lewitt about the ownership of the two companies — the Platinum Group USA and Obermeyer Engineering Consulting — indicates that Jim Biden forged closer ties to Qatar’s government than previously understood. -Politico
In February of this year, Jim Biden told impeachment inquiry investigators that roughly
$600,000 in payments from Americore were for his role in arranging a series of bridge loans -
of which $200,000 was transferred to Joe Biden in March 2018 for what the White House claims is a repayment of an unrelated loan between brothers.
In a March 10, 2018 draft presentation emailed from Jim Biden’s wife, Sara Biden, to a Platinum Group executive, Julie Lander, Americore touted Jim as "Brother and Campaign Finance Chair of former Vice President Joe Biden."
One month later,
Lander emailed Jim Biden about the fundraising efforts - referencing an apparent meeting
with a high-ranking Qatari official.
www.fema.gov
www.cambridge.org
historyprogram.commons.gc.cuny.edu
Biden talks how Russia has killed kids but no mention of the 15,000+ Palestine kids killed by Israel.
www.nbcnews.com
foreignpolicy.com
POLITICO illustration/Photos by AP, Getty Images, iStock
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