The second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah is being totally dishonest and dishonourable to claim innocence for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Wall Street Journal (WSJ) charges from the Auditor-General’s (AG) interim report on 1MDB when the AG’s report is under lock and key and not released to MPs and the public.

In a statement today, Husni said as the preliminary report by the Auditor-General has found no evidence of wrongdoing, the “reckless allegations by some parties, including the disappearance of RM42 billion and transfer of US$700 million to a certain individual, do not arise”.

He said: “It is my hope that all baseless allegations will be put to rest. We have to remain patient and look forward to the final report by the A-G and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).”

If Husni is so sure that the Auditor-General’s preliminary report cleared Najib of the WSJ allegation about the US$700 million or RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts in AmBank, he should ask the Cabinet tomorrow to release the AG’s preliminary report to the public.

At least the 30 million Malaysians can heave a big sigh of relief that the Prime Minister is free from the WSJ allegation, at least one allegation less from the mountain of allegations of Prime Ministerial misconduct and impropriety dogging Najib’s every step.

It must however be news to everyone that the Auditor-General’s terms of reference include probing into the WSJ report and allegation that that Malaysian government investigators have found some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) deposited into Najib’s personal accounts at AmBank in March 2013, shortly before the dissolution of Parliament on April 3, 2013 in the run-up to the 13th General Election.

But this cannot be true, as the WSJ report and allegation came out on July 2, after the Auditor-General had completed the preliminary report on 1MDB at the end of June for submission to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee.

It would appear that the Auditor-General must also be a mind-reader to be able to surmise how his investigative terms of reference into 1MDB could expand or even shrink depending on the latest twists and turns of the 1MDB scandal – without receiving anything in black and white from his superiors!

But I am completely confounded that Huzni, known as a conscientious and industrious Minister, could have missed the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Ambrin Buang’s comments to reporters after last Thursday’s briefing in Parliament with PAC members on 1MDB.

Ambrin made it clear that the National Audit Department will not be investigating allegations that 1MDB funds had been channeled to the Prime Minister, as the special task force of the Four Tan Sris was better equipped for the task, including the power to look into people’s bank accounts.

He explained that if the National Audit Department were to require banking information, it would have to obtain it through other agencies such as Bank Negara. Since Bank Negara is already a part of the task force, it is best to leave it to its investigations.

Can Husni explain firstly, how the Auditor General’s interim report could clear Najib of the WSJ allegations when firstly, the allegations were made after completion of the AG’s 1MDB preliminary report; and secondly, when the AG never investigated into this subject?

This is not the only mystery of this mystery-laden 1MDB scandal, with the Prime Minister presiding over the pile of investigators although he is in the capacity of the “accused” – with everybody under him investigating everybody so much so that nobody really knows who is investigating what!

Only today, the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar reiterated his priority “to shoot the messenger”, when he declared that “all parties” will be investigated over the allegation of leakage of information and documents about the RM2.6 billion deposit into Najib’s personal bank accounts in March 2013, including the allegation that three Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) senior officers had leaked “sensitive documents” to WSJ.

The obsession to ferret out those responsible for leaking the documents and “shoot the messenger” is sending out the message that documents which prove the veracity of the WSJ report and allegations exist!

The Minister for Tourism and Culture, Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said yesterday that the RM2 million reported to be deposited into Rosmah Mansor’s bank account was legal.

Does this mean that the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts (which have never been denied) is not “legal”?

It is almost two weeks since the WSJ allegation about RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts and what really stands out is the Prime Minister’s inability to come out with an outright denial of the allegation, which naturally leads to the question where the RM2.6 billion came from and where they had gone to.

Najib cannot continue to run and feint, but must take a stand to clear his name by opening his books to investigators – not to the ridiculous “special task force” of four Tan Sri subordinates, which has no credibility whatsoever, but to a Royal Commission of Inquiry of three Tuns – Mahathir, Abdullah and Musa Hitam – who are not beholden to him at all.