Five years ago, the Libyan government decided to obtain lobbying heft in Washington, D.C. They went to two organizations — the Livingston Group and the Monitor Group — whom they paid $5.4 million for lobbying services.The story of the selling of Libya to the United States is a fascinating tale of how liberal academics and former members of Congress united to attempt a repackaging of Libya’s Gaddafi family as human rights reformers. PJM has pieced together the story of how the dictatorial regime was shamelessly presented as reformers to Congress and to Washington policymakers.
Gaddafi’s government — officially named the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya” — first hired the Livingston Group, founded by former House Speaker Rep. Robert Livingston. For $2.4 million a year, Livingston, a Republican, represented both Gaddafi and his (somewhat unhinged) second son Saif Al Islam Al Gaddafi. Tripoli then secured the services of the Monitor Group, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, image consulting firm founded by a group from the Harvard Business School. They tried to groom Saif as a “thought leader” in Europe and in the United States, and reportedly received $3 million for the attempted makeover.
With the Monitor Group in the lead, Saif was groomed as a Westernized, sophisticated new generation of young Arab leader. Monitor, which has 30 offices around the world, especially sold Saif to the British public as a new Muslim face for “progressive” Libya. The British political elite bought the image, especially at the London School of Economics — Saif gave the school a gift of $2.5 million, and he was rewarded with a Ph.D.
Last week, news of SaifÂ’s multi-million dollar gift led to the firing of the universityÂ’s head.
From South Capitol Street — a stone’s throw from the U.S. Capitol building — former House Speaker Livingston used his Washington Rolodex to contact U.S. Defense and State Department officials, members of Congress, and defense contractors on behalf of the regime. After receiving the $2.4 million retainer, Livingston also agreed to represent Saif on a pro-bono basis. Livingston introduced Saif to human rights activists in Washington as the head of an official “charity” — the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation.
I still wonder just how much of our policies come from influence from foreign sources. More than enough to scare the hell out of me, I imagine.