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| FBI Searches Saudi Arabia's PR Firm | ||
| 2004-12-09 | ||
| The FBI searched offices of a prominent public relations firm Tuesday, looking for information about its client Saudi Arabia, law enforcement sources said. The firm, Qorvis Communications LLC, which was founded in 2000, bills itself as providing "communications for Wall Street, Main Street and K Street." Qorvis has offices in the District and Tysons Corner, and its clients also include Time Warner Inc. and the Urban League. The FBI searched three of the firm's offices Tuesday afternoon, sources said. Agents delivered subpoenas at a fourth Qorvis office. Michael Mason, head of the FBI's Washington field office, declined yesterday to characterize the nature of the investigation or identify the places that were searched. "We did execute searches at three locations," he said. Officials at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington said the case is under seal and would not reveal details. "The raids are in conjunction with an ongoing investigation and therefore it would be inappropriate for me to comment," said Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington. Qorvis said the company understood that the government is conducting a "compliance inquiry" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Under that law, the government keeps track of the lobbying activities of foreign governments and their representatives. The rigorous registration and reporting system is overseen by the Justice Department. Saudi Arabia is the only foreign government on Qorvis's client list. "Qorvis has fully complied with this registration statute and we feel confident this will be resolved favorably," the company said In January, Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi, former publisher of an Arabic newspaper in suburban Chicago, was convicted of failing to register as a foreign agent for Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Dumeisi was sentenced in March to 46 months in prison on those and other charges.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #11 That would be War Plan Nesmith. Serious fireworks on Xmas Day with Miami vs. Lakers (Shaq v. Kobe) - War Plan Kazaam! |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-12-09 7:11:26 PM |
| #10 Condi wants to be a commish - don't recall if it's the NBA or NFL... come to think of it, I don't think she specified if it was to be before or after her 2 Presidential terms, either. Prolly after. Bizzy, bizzy, bizzy! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-09 6:41:33 PM |
| #9 Then, then, then, THEN the final assault on the NBA can commence! That would be War Plan Nesmith. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-12-09 6:38:22 PM |
| #8 lex - Lol & Amen, heh. So, what will we do in February? Oh yeah, there's a domestic agenda like overhauling the tax system and social security - almost forgot. So March is prolly clear - how about Venezuela and, say, getting cracking on that Russia thingy, heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-09 6:38:12 PM |
| #7 Take down the Taliban, Saddam, Arafart. Next stop, Boy Assad and the mullahs. Then purge CIA and purge the K Street of the Bandar-Scowcroft-Baker Bandits. And finally, take down the MSM. My, my, what interesting times we live in. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-12-09 6:31:31 PM |
| #6 How about we give Ambassador Bandar a one-way ticket home? Would send huge shocking signals to Royals. Would be akin to Reagan (just after his inauguration) making Soviet ambassador use the front entrance to Foggy Bottom while visiting our diplos. Dobrynin couldn't use the garage entrance, which he preferred, apparently. The front door please, just like the ambassodors from NATO, etc. How else to let Royals know that they've had since 9/11 to get their stuff together, but all we get is mixed signals. Saudi clerics wanting martyrs to go to Fallujah; Former Mutawwa attacking our consulate; Naif is still Min of Interior. If they don't play ball, we just may have to contact a few Royals who see things our way. I know, easier said than done, but still... |
| Posted by: chicago mike 2004-12-09 4:23:01 PM |
| #5 Ditto, .com. |
| Posted by: too true 2004-12-09 3:30:57 PM |
| #4 lex - I totally agree about 41 - he was the worst sort of apologist, IMHO. Mrs D - I've got my fingers crossed... I'd love to see it go the way you describe because it would accelerate the process dramatically, despite the MSM efforts to derail it which will come just as surely as there are little green apples. I dunno who mentored Dubya, but he has utterly shit-canned Daddy's approach and agenda - to our benefit. 9/11 certainly did much (most?) of it and it amazed the hell out of me. Made me a believer - I thought him a lightweight before he made his stand and turned his admin 90 deg with one speech from Ground Zero. Phreakin' wow! And he hasn't disappointed me in direction since, only in speed of action. I wish to hell I knew everything he does so I could understand the whys and whos and whats when he goes slow... but I trust him, and his team, now. I can't recall the last time I felt that way about our leaders, either. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-09 3:20:49 PM |
| #3 I agree with lex and .com except that I think W will pull it off without Bandar's Beltway Buddies being able to say or do much about it. And the Republicans will pick up seats in the House to boot. That's just the way W works. And as for 41, all I know is that's where 43 apprenticed and he obviously learned the lessons well. Perhaps he had a mentor? |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-12-09 2:57:24 PM |
| #2 What .com said. This seems to be a truly major step. Every Republican admin before him-- most egregiously his own father's-- has offered up its leading national security figures to pimp for the House of Saud. And Wall Street isn't much better. Citigroup owes its survival to Sheik Al Waleed. Long past time we weaned Washington and Wall Street off of the Saudi crack pipe. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-12-09 2:44:38 PM |
| #1 I love it. Political Reality 101. Folks, compared to every President who has gone before him, only Dubya has had the balls to investigate the Saudis, to turn on the lights, to challenge the smarmy oil-tick routine with which they have underminded every attempt to force them to be honest brokers. This is yet another in-your-face example that Bush has ended the lap-dog / feathered-nest norm. The Special Relationship is on the rocks. Stop the bribe game, find the links to prove terror-enabling activities, call a spade a spade publicly, then declare them what we all know them to be: enemies of Freedom. Then, and only then, are we free to treat them as antagonists and enemies. The hue and cry from inside the Beltway will be deafening. Every swinging dick on the payroll, and it's longer than even we can imagine, will be out to scuttle Bush and the effort to shine a light on this big fucking rat living in America's kitchen. Say what you will, complain he doesn't move fast enough, bitch that you want what you want now - there's never been anyone before Bush who wasn't a total wimp regards the Saudis. I like the fact that Bush has proven he is a different breed of President and he's finally started the process of outting these cretinous back-stabbing assholes. The Republic of Eastern Arabia takes one more step toward reality. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-09 2:27:47 PM |