Jeff Sessions was fired by US President Donald Trump as US Attorney-General six months too late to be of any use to Datuk Seri Najkb Razak to save him from the international 1MDB corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering scandal.
This must be one of Najib’s greatest regrets – to think that he might have salvaged his political life and the Prime Ministership if Jeff Sessions had been sacked very much earlier, as he and his legion of propagandists and cybertroopers would then be able to crow that even President Trump had repudiated Jeff Session’s caustic indictment at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery last December that the 1MDB scandal was “kleptocracy at its worst” and that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) was working to provide justice to the victims!
All these historic “IFs” were of course subject to the greatest “IF” of all, i.e IF Najib had not been thrown out of Putrajaya by the Malaysian electorate in the historic peaceful and democratic transition of power first time in six decades in Malaysia.
All these possibilities, combinations and permutations are now so much water under the bridge, for it is completely unthinkable that under the present circumstances, Trump would even spend a second of his time on the question of how to bail out Najib – although things might have been different IF Najib had won the 14th General Election and remained as Prime Minister.
Then the history of the 1MDB scandal might have been completely re-written. But everything is now too late, and the only thought for Trump after the US mid-term election is how far he dared to go to pursue the Trumpian agenda and interests – whether to sack Special Counsel Robert Mueller and squash the probe into Russian meddling into 2016 US Presidential elections.
I am very shocked and shamed to read today of the US Department of Justice (DoJ)’s filings and indictments against 1MDB mastermind Jho Low and two former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and Tim Leissner which were unsealed in a court in New York last Thursday – and the guilty plea of Tim Leissner to the criminal charges of grand corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering, as well as the forfeiture of US$43 million of illicit earnings by Tim Leissner.
In the US DoJ filings and indictments against Tim Leissner unsealed last Thursday, Najib was mentioned as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” over 30 times, Rosmah Mansor referred to as “wife of Malaysian Official 1” over 10 times, and although Najib had claimed not involved in 1MDB decision-making, at least six meetings involving the former Prime Ministe, Jho Loh or Tim Leissner were described.
The description of “MO1” in the US DoJ indictments and filings last week were updated from the US DoJ kleptocratic litigation in July 2016 and June 2017 to forfeit 1MDD-linked assets to “a Malaysian national and high-ranking official in the Malaysian government and the MOF from at least 2009 to at least 2018 and had approval authority over 1MDB business decisions”!
The US DoJ indictments and filings against Tim Leissner were shocking and astounding as it traced Tim Leissner’s five-year career in crime and corruption from January 2009 to October 2014 in the 1MDB scandal, including the description of a clear case of bribery of a top 1MDB official, who was promised in a chat that “one American burger should be delivered next week”, where the “American burger” is a reference to the transfer of US$1 million.
I can now understand why Najib is making numerous Facebook postings every day, which is clearly an attempt to distract and divert attention from the 1MDB scandal, in particular the US DoJ 1MDB filings unsealed in a court in New York last Thursday.
The US DoJ indictments and filings against Jho Low, Roger Ng and Tim Leissner are “must readings” for every Member of Parliament, especially for Opposition MPs who want to participate in the 2019 Buddget debate in Parliament beginning on Monday.
What is their stand on the 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” which brought unmentionable infamy and ignominy to Malaysia?
What has Najib got to say for bringing the worst infamy and greatest shame to Malaysia not only among the Prime Ministers but among Malaysians for the last six decades?
Furthermore, how can the Ministers and MPs in Najib’s governments from 2009 to 2018 redeem themselves for the unforgivable sins and crimes they have committed against Malaysia by aiding and abetting Najib’s kleptocracy?
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lm Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 8thNovember 2018)