Trump Officials Tried To Rush Nuclear Technology To Saudis, House Panel Finds

[GMDino]

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/19/695954246/trump-officials-tried-to-rush-nuclear-technology-to-saudis-house-panel-finds?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20190219&fbclid=IwAR3FUGioOzACuOiGWGlFrl7-6bJ83f0nStaI5VT4oHjE46UicXi3KzdXxNs

Quote:The Trump administration sought to rush the transfer of American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in potential violation of the law, a new report from the House Oversight and Reform Committee alleges.



Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings' staff issued an "interim staff" report Tuesday, citing "multiple whistleblowers" who raised ethical and legal concerns about the process.


"They have warned about political appointees ignoring directives from top ethics advisers at the White House who repeatedly and unsuccessfully ordered senior Trump administration officials to halt their efforts," the report states. "They have also warned of conflicts of interest among top White House advisers that could implicate federal criminal statutes."

The committee's report alleges that the major drivers behind the effort to transfer U.S. nuclear technology were retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who served as the president's national security adviser, and Thomas Barrack, who chaired Trump's inauguration committee. Flynn was fired in February 2017 for lying about conversations with the Russian ambassador to Vice President Pence and the FBI.


For about seven months in 2016, including during the presidential transition, Flynn served as an adviser to IP3 International, a private company seeking to build nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia.

The whistleblowers told the committee that Flynn continued to advocate for IP3's plan even after he joined the White House as the president's national security adviser in 2017.


The Atomic Energy Act requires that Congress approve any transfer of nuclear technology to a foreign country. The committee's report states that a senior director at the National Security Council (NSC), Derek Harvey, "reportedly ignored ... warnings and insisted that the decision to transfer nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia had already been made."

The NSC's lawyers realized that Flynn had a possible conflict of interest that could violate the law, the whistleblowers said, and told NSC staff to stop working on the nuclear technology transfer plan. Despite Flynn's firing in February 2017, the plan appeared to continue to progress with Barrack's support.


The committee announced that it intends to launch an investigation into this matter "to determine whether the actions being pursued by the Trump administration are in the national security interests of the United States, or, rather, serve those who stand to gain financially as a result of this potential change in U.S. foreign policy."

Shortly after the release of the report, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., announced that his panel would be coordinating with Cummings' staff to explore these allegations.


Tuesday's disclosure of a plan to sell nuclear technology comes as the United States considers its relationship with the Saudi government in the wake of the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi.

Following his death, the House and Senate have both passed resolutions to limit U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led coalition fighting in the Yemeni civil war. The Senate also passed a resolution by voice vote — reflecting unanimity — that was fashioned to "hold Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi."


The report also comes as President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is scheduled to travel next week for a trip to the Middle East that includes a stop in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.


The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the committee's report.

[fredtoast]

Thanks Barrack!!

[Vas Deferens]

Grifters gonna grift.

[*michaelsean*]

Oh look. Jared Kushner’s involved.

[Belsnickel]

Uranium One!!

[Vas Deferens]

(02-19-2019, 08:58 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Oh look. Jared Kushner’s involved.

Really following through on only “hiring the best peoole”

Between Saudi and Israeli money, kush is going to clean the shit out of the Middle East.

[*bfine32*]

Somebody help me out:

Do we like Saudi or not?

[Vas Deferens]

(02-20-2019, 12:03 AM)bfine32 Wrote: Somebody help me out:

Do we like Saudi or not?

This sounds like a fun game!

No.

Do you think we should have an administration handing over US IP / tech for personal gain?

[*bfine32*]

(02-20-2019, 12:14 AM)Vas Deferens Wrote: This sounds like a fun game!  

No.  

Do you think we should have an administration handing over US IP / tech for personal gain?

Of course not.

I was just getting a feeler on our views of SA. 

[Bengalzona]

(02-20-2019, 12:03 AM)bfine32 Wrote: Somebody help me out:

Do we like Saudi or not?

Not THAT much.

We didn't even give nuclear secrets to Israel. And we definitely like them.

[Vas Deferens]

(02-20-2019, 12:19 AM)bfine32 Wrote: Of course not.

I was just getting a feeler on our views of SA. 

Not a huge fan of autocratic regimes that jail women for wanting to drive and dismember journalists for exposing the truth.

I’m sure you have a different, more ‘nuanced’, view of a country that played a major role in financing and coordinating the greatest attack on the U.S. in our great history. But a man can’t wear his wrap around American flag Oakley’s all the time now can he?

[*bfine32*]

(02-20-2019, 12:56 AM)Vas Deferens Wrote: Not a huge fan of autocratic regimes that jail women for wanting to drive and dismember journalists for exposing the truth.  

I’m sure you have a different, more ‘nuanced’, view of a country that played a major role in financing and coordinating the greatest attack on the U.S. in our great history.  But a man can’t wear his wrap around American flag Oakley’s all the time now can he?

Not a fan of that stuff either and have personally seen the aftermath. I have no "nuanced" view; just read/heard where SA is becoming one of the more progressive countries in the ME. I assume you're no fan of any Muslim country and I understand your view. Last time I was in SA was almost 30 years ago. 

[Bengalzona]

This is incredibly destabilizing for that entire region.

So this was the reason the Iranian Agreement (which they were adhering to) was scrapped... in order to set up a scenario where the Saudis could claim they needed nukes to protect themselves from a potential Iranian nuclear threat and then get them from a weak and willing U.S. admin.

And if you have any doubts about whether the Saudis would use nukes, consider that they are currently starving their neighbor Yemen with our help through an embargo... with relative impunity.

So, now we have two Middle East countries developing nuclear weapons, since Iran will feel it necessary to counter the Saudis, and probably more to follow. Profiteering through proliferation.

I can think of nothing more shameful and endangering to U.S. interests and world peace than this.

[Benton]

(02-20-2019, 12:19 AM)bfine32 Wrote: Of course not.

I was just getting a feeler on our views of SA. 

The oligarchy loves their money.

Should Americans? Depends.
They jail Christians, state murder journalists, repress minorities and promote terrorism. Oh, and 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers we're Saudis. 

So if you're in favor of the above, sure. If you're against, then no. The problem is, they've got a lot of support in Washington.

[*bfine32*]

(02-20-2019, 01:09 AM)Benton Wrote: The oligarchy loves their money.

Should Americans? Depends.
They jail Christians, state murder journalists, repress minorities and promote terrorism. Oh, and 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers we're Saudis. 

So if you're in favor of the above, sure. If you're against, then no. The problem is, they've got a lot of support in Washington.

Hell, I'm ready to hate them as much as the next guy. I have read where we have recently dialed back our dealings with SA. As I mentioned to Urine: I assume you're no big fan of any Muslim country. 

[Benton]

(02-20-2019, 01:13 AM)bfine32 Wrote: Hell, I'm ready to hate them as much as the next guy. I have read where we have recently dialed back our dealings with SA. As I mentioned to Urine: I assume you're no big fan of any Muslim country. 

Urine?

To the point, no, not really. As I've said for decades, we should leave the me to the me. Their issues date back thousands of years, nothing we do is going to have a positive impact there. 

I've advocated for more than a decade, take the money were spending "improving" the me and subsidizing oil, spend it on renewable energy and stay as far away as possible from that part of the world.

[*bfine32*]

(02-20-2019, 01:22 AM)Benton Wrote: Urine?

To the point, no, not really. As I've said for decades, we should leave the me to the me. Their issues date back thousands of years, nothing we do is going to have a positive impact there. 

I've advocated for more than a decade, take the money were spending "improving" the me and subsidizing oil, spend it on renewable energy and stay as far away as possible from that part of the world.

Vas is the artist formally known as Urinal Cakes. BTW, glad to see him being more active in the forum lately.

As to the ME: I'm in the shit or get off the pot mentality. I just lean more toward shitting because I've seen the suffering of those that we would abandon if we get off the pot. But yeah, we could treat it like Africa. 

[GMDino]

Not a matter if we (you, me, Kushner) "like" them.  It's a matter of the law.

Something the GOP used to say they cared about.

I mean at least they gave it lip service rather than just providing no oversight.

[Beaker]

We like them as long as we keep getting oil from them. Invest in alternative energy, break the dependence on foreign oil and those countries become dirt poor again.

[GMDino]

(02-20-2019, 10:10 AM)Beaker Wrote: We like them as long as we keep getting oil from them. Invest in alternative energy, break the dependence on foreign oil and those countries become dirt poor again.

But then they don't spend billions buying our military stuff!  

Why do you hate the military?