Trump meets Malaysia leader under investigation by his Justice Department
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 13 September 2017, 7:09 am
By Kevin Liptak,
CNN White House Producer
September 12, 2017
Washington (CNN) Malaysia’s prime minister visited the White House on Tuesday seeking a dose of legitimacy amid a US Justice Department investigation into his finances.
The US Justice Department criminal probe into Prime Minister Najib Razak centers around billions of dollars in assets the US claims were acquired using a government fund and laundered through American firms. Najib denies any wrongdoing.
In meeting with him at the White House, President Donald Trump hoped to cultivate a dependable ally in Asia, but the visit made for awkward timing.
Last month, the Justice Department shifted its focus from seizing the disputed assets — including real estate, art, jewelry and movie rights — to a criminal investigation into the money used to purchase them. The US asserts the money was stolen from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state investment fund that Najib founded.
The corruption matter didn’t arise, at least in public, during Najib’s visit. Seated around the Cabinet Room table at the White House, the men praised new cooperation between their two countries, including agreements for sales of US-made Boeing jets and General Electric engines. Read the rest of this entry »
From Trump hotel lobby to White House, Malaysian prime minister gets VIP treatment
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 13 September 2017, 6:40 am
By Jonathan O’Connell
Washington Post
September 12, 2017
Malaysian prime minister’s visit to Trump International Hotel could be violation of Constitution’s emoluments clause
Before arriving at the White House late Tuesday morning to meet with President Trump, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak strode through the golden doors of an elevator at the Trump International Hotel and past the lounge to his waiting motorcade.
The prime minister’s official White House visit also brought at least 24 hours of activity and sales to the glamorous 263-room hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue that Trump owns through a trust. And it is likely to escalate debate over whether the president is benefiting from a luxury property that has become Washington’s new power center — and, its critics say, a staging area for those seeking White House access.
Hotel staffers and Malaysian officials declined to say whether Najib and the other officials stayed overnight at the hotel, among the most expensive in Washington, or if they did stay, for how long.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed a question about the delegation’s stay. “We certainly don’t book their hotel accommodations,” she told reporters Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »
It makes no difference, as after Najib’s White House visit and photo-op with Trump, Najib’s infamy as “kleptocrat” and “MO1” and Malaysia’s shame for being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy” remain
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 12 September 2017, 1:14 pm
Never before has a Prime Minister of Malaysia invested so much on publicity and propaganda (not to mention funds) for his visit to the United States to visit the White House and meet with US President Trump in Washington Tuesday or several hours from now.
On his departure for the US on Sept. 10, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak wrote a special article in his blog entitled “Malaysia’s Record of Democracy and Free Speech is Strong” extolling his own democratic virtues and commitments and human rights record, which are quite dismal indeed.
But this was not enough. On Sept. 11, the Prime Minister’s Office ensured that Najib’s special message appeared in the top American political website, the Hill, entitled: “Malaysian prime minister: Trump, we have your back in fighting ISIS”.
But all these PR exercises to generate positive vibes for Najib’s visit to the White House and meeting with President Trump were drowned in an ocean of bad press, not only in the United States but in the world as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Nation grieves at the passing of Sultan of Kedah, who was twice Yang di Pertuan Agong
Posted by Kit in Constitution, General on Monday, 11 September 2017, 5:21 pm
The nation grieves at the passing of the Sultan of Kedah, who made history for being twice the Yang di Pertuan Agong of the country.
When I first entered Parliament in February 1971 when Parliament was reconvened after being suspended for 21 months after the 1969 general election, Sultan Abdul Halim was the Yang di Pertuan Agong from 1970 to 1975. He served his second term as Yang di Pertuan Agong more than three decades later from 2011 to 2016.
Sultan Abdul Halim endeared himself to the nation as the people’s King.
The nation and people are in deep bereavement over Sultan Abdul Halim’s passing.
(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 11th September 2017)
Challenge to Najib to prove he is true democrat: declare he would peacefully and democratically transfer power to Pakatan Harapan if voters in Malaysian voters in 14GE decide on change of government in Putrajaya and that there won’t be riots or any declaration of emergency
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Monday, 11 September 2017, 4:54 pm
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has written a most extraordinary and unprecedented article on his blog entitled “Malaysia’s Record of Democracy and Free Speech is Strong” clearly with two objectives:
Firstly, on the eve of his visit to the White House and meeting with US President Trump, to burnish his credentials as a true democrat and advocate of free speech. Najib’s strategic advisers regard Trump’s invitation to Najib as a “coup” and a great national honour for Najib and Malaysia, especially in the run-up to the 14GE. This however is not universally shared by Malaysians who regard Najib’s White House visit as a “national humiliation and shame” as Najib would be visiting the White House under the cloud of the infamy of a kleptocrat and “MO1” – both branded by the US government through its Department of Justice (DOJ).
Secondly, to take the opportunity to demonise and launch a bitter attack against Pakatan Harapan and its leaders, as well as critics of the Najib administration, for the American audience, to paint the picture of the Najib administration unfairly under attack and even “siege” by undemocratic opponents.
Najib is riled by the bad publicity in the US media over his visit to the White House, but who is responsible for such press in the American media? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should compete with Pakatan Harapan to raise the bar higher for Malaysia to achieve and excel and not to plunge the country into an unprecedented low as reducing Malaysia into a global kleptocracy
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Sunday, 10 September 2017, 10:19 pm
I fully support the sentiment expressed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his congratulatory speech in conjunction with the birthday of Yang di Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhamad V at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia must always raise the bar higher to enable the country to stay ahead and create more success stories and developments.
He said in the government’s effort to make the Malaysia Digital Policy a success and to prepare the nation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, Malaysia had no choice but to dare and convince itself that the country was able to leap further than usual.
Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Harapan Selangor must be all-systems-go to ensure that the four component PH parties win the majority of the Selangor state assembly seats to continue to govern the state even in a three-cornered contest with PAS as spoiler
Pakatan Harapan Selangor must be all-systems-go to ensure that the four component PH parties win the majority of the Selangor state assembly seats to continue to govern the state even in a three-cornered contest with PAS as spoiler
I welcome the formation of Selangor Pakatan Harapan by the Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) Selangor must be all-systems-go to ensure that the four component (PH) parties, DAP, PKR, Amanah and Pribumi Bersatu, win the majority of state assembly seats in Selangor in the 14GE to continue to govern the state, even in three-cornered contests with PAS as the spoiler.
Selangor is one of the five states which PAS under the leadership of Datuk Seri Hadi Awang had announced as the target of PAS to form state governments in the next general election – the others being Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Kedah.
I do not see PAS has having the remotest possibility of winning the Selangor State Government on its own steam. In fact, PAS in Selangor will be struggling just to win one State Assembly seat in the next general election. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian Leader, Under Corruption Cloud, Will Meet With Trump
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak on Sunday, 10 September 2017, 12:12 pm
By RICHARD C. PADDOCK
New York Times
SEPT. 9, 2017
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — For more than a year, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia has been under the cloud of a corruption investigation by the United States Department of Justice. On Tuesday, his scheduled visit to see President Trump at the White House may give him a chance to offset the political damage.
The Justice Department had concentrated for more than a year on seizing $1.7 billion in assets, including jewelry, real estate and Hollywood movie rights, that it says Mr. Najib’s family members and associates acquired with money diverted from a Malaysian government fund that he headed.
But in August, the department indicated it would shift its focus to a criminal investigation into the missing money, which is estimated to total more than $3.5 billion. Officials say much of it was laundered through United States financial institutions.
Now, Mr. Trump’s invitation to visit the White House comes at a perfect time for Mr. Najib and could give him a much-needed dose of legitimacy at home as a general election nears. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO/BN should stop insulting intelligence of Malaysians thinking Malays can be deceived into believing that Mahathir has become my puppet while the Chinese will believe that I have become Mahathir’s stooge
UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers should stop insulting the intelligence of Malaysians thinking Malays can be deceived into believing that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has become my puppet while the Chinese will believe that I have become Mahathir’s stooge.
Any primary school student will know that it is not possible Mahathir has become my stooge and I have become Mahathir’s puppet, one at the same time.
Furtheremore, both allegations are lies and falsehoods of the most heinous variety.
Mahathir is not my puppet and I am not Mahathir’s stooge. Read the rest of this entry »
My three personal objectives in the 14th GE: for Pakatan Harapan to capture power in (I) Putrajaya (ii) Johore and (iii) Malacca
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Harapan on Saturday, 9 September 2017, 10:54 pm
When I left Malacca in 1986 to contest in Tanjong parliamentary seat in Penang, the objective was to make a bid to capture the Penang State Government.
That was the highest political ambition of the DAP three decades ago.
But we did not succeed in the two serious bids to capture the Penang State Government in the 1990 and 1995 general elections, although we laid the basis for the DAP’s eventual win of the DAP-led Penang State Government in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.
If ten years ago, in 2007, anyone had asked whether it was possible to topple the UMNO/BN coalition government in Malaysia, the answer would a categorical “No” and the questioner would even be viewed as to whether he is a bit crazy to ask such a question.
But there has been a sea-change in the political landscape in Malaysia, and we are aiming not only for a change of Federal Government in Putrajaya, but even talking about a change of government in several states. Read the rest of this entry »
By clumsy and Luddite block of Steam because of “Fight of Gods” computer game, Salleh has caused greater global embarrassment to Malaysia than all the five Prime Ministers put together in 60 years
By his clumsy and Luddite block of Steam because of “Fight of Gods” computer game, the Minister for Multimedia and Communications Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak has caused greater embarrassment to Malaysia than all the five Prime Ministers put together in 60 years.
Yesterday, Salleh ordered that the popular gaming provider, Steam, be blocked over its failure to prevent Malaysians from downloading the controversial new computer game “Fight of Gods”.
The block order to Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was rescinded by Salleh this morning.
In this period of blockade of Steam, Malaysia came into the radar of consciousness of hundreds of millions of youth in the world, who otherwise have never thought of Malaysia, but unfortunately in the most embarrassing and worst possible light – with Malaysia the butt of global outrage and frustration by tens even hundreds of millions of computer gamers, reinforcing the impression that Malaysia is very intolerant and has a closed mentality, totally contradictory to an open, inclusive and tolerant approach.
Isn’t it possible for Salleh and the MCMC to carry out their duties under the Communications and Multimedia Act without causing such colossal damage to Malaysia’s international standing and reputation – as if the country’s infamy and ignominy in the last two years as a global kleptocracy as a result of the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal is not bad enough!
Malaysia needs a Minister and IT experts to man the MCMC who are savvy enough to know the far-reaching implications of every move to ban or block Internet communications, and not to have a Minister for Multimedia Communications or those who helm the MCMC to behave like bulls in China shops. Read the rest of this entry »
Which is Which – MCA’s Star Online’s two reports yesterday: “PM’s aide: DAP is ‘Top Dog’ in Pakatan” and “MCA: Dr M controlling Pakatan Harapan”
Posted by Kit in MCA, Media, Najib Razak on Friday, 8 September 2017, 10:13 pm
MCA’s Star Online carried two reports yesterday: “PM’s aide: DAP is ‘Top Dog’ in Pakatan” and “MCA: Dr M controlling Pakatan Harapan”.
Which is which?
The timeline for the first report was 11.56 pm yesterday while the time-line for the second report was 7.04 pm.
In the “PM’s aide: DAP is ‘Top Dog’ in Pakatan”, the press secretary to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad was quoted as saying that I am the “de facto leader cleverly pulling the strings and dictating Pakatan Harapan’s narrative and appearance” while in the report “MCA: Dr M controlling Pakatan Harapan”, the MCA publicity spokesman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker was quoted as saying that former premier Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is controlling Pakatan Haran despite Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia being the “newest” kid on the block and “calling the shots in the Opposition pact”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Aung San Suu Kyi must end her silence and speak up for justice and human rights for the Rohingyas and protect them from ethnic cleansing
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, International on Friday, 8 September 2017, 1:40 pm
During the 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010 when she became one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners, I have issued countless statements espousing her freedom and her cause for democracy and human rights in Myanmar.
It is heart-breaking to watch her silence and failure to speak up and end the violence, horrors and human rights violations perpetrated on the Rohingya minority in Myanmar.
I fully endorse the call by another Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu who have come out of retirement to issue a heart-felt letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, calling on her to end the violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar. Read the rest of this entry »
Attorney-General Apandi should be part of Najib’s delegation to Washington to meet up with US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ascertain what evidence the US Government has to pursue the 1MDB case against 1MDB conspirators including “MO1”
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Friday, 8 September 2017, 12:55 pm
Yesterday, I suggested that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Dzulkifli Ahmad should accompany the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the latter’s trip of Washington so that Dzulkifli can meet his counterparts in the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to ascertain the basis and latest status of US Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations into the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal as well as to learn the FBI investigation techniques which had enabled FBI to amass a mountain of evidence about criminal aspects of 1MDB scandal but which is beyond the present investigatory capabilities and prowess of MACC.
However, Najib’s delegation to the United States would be incomplete without the participation of the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali himself, especially as Malaysia had been tarred with the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy precisely because of the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic litigation in US history to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets around the world, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.
Apandi should meet with US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ascertain what evidence the US Government has to pursue the 1MDB case against 1MDB conspirators including “MO1”.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Real Test for US-Malaysia Relations in the Trump Era
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Friday, 8 September 2017, 4:51 am
By Prashanth Parameswaran
The Diplomat
September 06, 2017
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s first White House visit is a chance to address broader challenges in bilateral ties.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Predictably, the chatter ahead of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s visit to the White House next week has focused either on specific deliverables, like potential defense deals, or thorny issues like a high-profile corruption scandal implicating the premier. While both sides are expected to make some headline-worthy progress in the heavily scrutinized visit, the true test for U.S.-Malaysia relations lies less in the successful conduct of this interaction and more in the ability of both sides to manage the challenges likely to relations further down the line.
For all the focus on Najib himself, the reality is that the United States and Malaysia have successfully cooperated on a range of issues under six prime ministers since the Southeast Asian state’s independence despite disagreements on matters such as economic policy, human rights, and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East (See: “Getting to Full Bloom in US-Malaysia Relations”). And even though bilateral ties had hit new heights under Barack Obama – with both sides elevating ties to the level of a comprehensive partnership and Malaysia becoming a member of key U.S.-led initiatives, be it the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL – incidents like the 1MDB scandal and issues like human trafficking continued to pose complications for ties (See: “Malaysia in 2015: Crises of Confidence”). Read the rest of this entry »
Trump’s Malaysia Swamp
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Friday, 8 September 2017, 4:34 am
By The Editorial Board
Wall Street Journal
Sept. 6, 2017
Did Tillerson tell his boss he’s repeating an Obama mistake?
A visit to the White House is a diplomatic plum that world leaders covet. So why is President Trump bestowing this honor on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who jailed an opposition leader and is a suspect in a corruption scandal that spans the globe?
Mr. Najib will visit the White House next week for a presidential photo-op that could help him win the next general election and imperil Malaysia’s democracy. Yet it isn’t clear that Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are getting anything in return for associating with a leader their own Justice Department is investigating. This could set them up for a repeat of the way Mr. Najib humiliated Barack Obama. Read the rest of this entry »
MACC Chief Commissioner Dzulkifli should accompany Najib to Washington to meet FBI head so that he could report to Malaysians the basis and status of US Department of Justice’s multi-billion dollar kleptocratic investigations into 1MDB scandal
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Thursday, 7 September 2017, 3:53 pm
I do not think the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should accept the invitation to visit the White House and meet with US President Trump next Tuesday, as it would put him in an inferior position as if a supplicant after being branded as a kleptocrat and “MO1” by the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic litigation in US history and had done nothing since the DOJ action in July last year to clear or cleanse the Malaysian government of implication in the 1MDB scandal or challenge the appellation of Malaysia as a “global kleptocracy”.
But if the Prime Minister insists on visiting Washington and meeting Trump as scheduled, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad should accompany Najib to Washington to meet with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) head so that he could report back to Malaysians on the basis and status of the US DOJ’s kleptocratic investigations into the 1MDB scandal. Read the rest of this entry »
Saravanan has given the new IGP the first test of his professionalism on Fuzi’s second day as the No. 1 Policeman in the country
I congratulate Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun’s appointment as the new Inspector-General of Police and welcome his commitment on assuming the post that he would tackle long-standing police problems like deaths in police custody and corruption in the police force.
I also commend the Malaysian police for its success in thwarting a plan by a member of the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf militant group to attack the closing ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games last week.
Fuzi revealed on Tuesday that the suspected attacker, a 25-year old Philippine national, had been involved in fighting, kidnapping and beheading of foreign hostages in the Philippines.
The new IGP can be assured of the DAP’s full support in police efforts to ensure the safety and security of Malaysians in the their own country, whether in the homes, streets or public places, and to restore public confidence in the professionalism and non-partisanship of the police to fight and reduce crime and unlawful activities in Malaysia.
This is why DAP Members of Parliament are asking the Police for a briefing on the terrorist threat by Islamic State and other organizations in Malaysia.
What cannot pass notice however is that the MIC Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports M. Saravanan, has given Fuzi the first test of his professionalism as the new IGP on his second day as the No. 1 Policeman in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Please grow up, MACC Chief Commissioner!
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 6 September 2017, 12:50 pm
Today, the international press reported that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigator conducting criminal investigation into 1MDB-linked funds is encountering problems as several possible witnesses are too scared to speak out.
US media network Bloomberg reported that some people in “certain foreign countries” already assisting the criminal probe, are concerned for their safety, while others say it’s too dangerous to co-operate, FBI said in a Federal Court filing in Los Angeles yesterday.
The report said FBI has requested to keep the names of its informants secret from the alleged masterminds of the 1MDB conspiracy.
Individuals who were otherwise willing to provide information said they were worried about putting “the safety and security of both themselves and their families at serious risk,” FBI said in its filing.
FBI also cited Malaysian news reports, where local officials arrested due to their role in probing the 1MDB embezzlement and the driver of former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, who was shot at his house in Ampang Perdana late last month. Read the rest of this entry »
1MDB Stolen Funds Witnesses Are Scared to Talk, FBI Says
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 6 September 2017, 11:58 am
By Edvard Pettersson
Bloomberg
September 6, 2017
Possible witnesses to the alleged looting of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Bhd are too scared to talk to U.S. investigators because they fear retaliation, according the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Some people in “certain foreign countries” already assisting the criminal probe are concerned for their safety, while others say it’s too dangerous to cooperate, according to an FBI request to keep the names of its informants secret from the alleged masterminds of the 1MDB conspiracy.
Individuals who would otherwise be willing to provide information have told the government they’re worried about putting “the safety and security of both themselves and their families at serious risk,” the FBI said Tuesday in a federal court filing in Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry »
