Elliott Broidy is expected to plead guilty on October 20, according to a source.
Washington, United States:
Elliott Broidy, a former fundraiser for US President Donald Trump, has been accused of illegally pressuring him to drop an investigation involving a massive embezzlement scandal in Malaysia, court documents show.
Broidy also illegally lobbied for the return of a dissident from mainland China living in the United States.
In return for millions of dollars, Broidy agreed to pressure Trump and the Justice Department to end an investigation into a “wealthy businessman living in East Asia” for the role of this person in the Malaysian 1MDB scandal, according to documents filed Tuesday.
Broidy is expected to plead guilty on October 20, according to a source familiar with the situation on Thursday.
Broidy, a businessman who held high-level finance positions during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and on his inaugural committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is the last person linked to Trump to be charged with a felony and comes as the president lags behind in the polls with less than four weeks to go to the November 3 election.
Although not identified in court documents, the person involved in the 1MDB scandal is believed to be Jho Low, and the Chinese dissident is believed to be runaway billionaire Guo Wengui.
Low faces charges in the United States and Malaysia over allegations he orchestrated the $ 4.5 billion theft from 1MDB. Low has denied the wrongdoing.
The United States Foreign Registration Act (FARA) requires those who lobby the United States government to register foreign entities.
Nickie Lum Davis, a co-conspirator, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting violations of the law in August.
Last year, the Justice Department stepped up its enforcement of the rarely prosecuted foreign lobbying law.
The prosecution of Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, involved FARA violations.
Manafort has made tens of millions of dollars underground lobbying for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
