'Our friends, the Saudis' funding Hillary's war on women and Israel
Greetings from Boston where the Sabbath doesn't start for quite a while. I was not on the ground very much yesterday, and when I was, I was trying to deal with a lost suitcase....
Nasser al-Rashid, an adviser to the Saudi royal family and one of the richest men in Saudi Arabia, has emerged as one of the largest donors to the Clinton Foundation, and his family members have emerged as large donors to the Democratic party.
Nasser al-Rashid, one of Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest figures and an adviser to the country’s royal family, has donated somewhere between $1 million to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, putting him in an elite category of prominent donors.
Al-Rashid’s children—including one who pled guilty to assaulting his
estranged wife—have poured almost $600,000 into Democratic coffers
during the past several years, raising questions about influence
peddling by prominent foreign families.
The controversy has already rippled through Florida’s contentious
race for a Democratic Senate seat and threatens to further entangle
presidential contender Hillary Clinton, who has already faced questions
about her close ties to foreign governments.
“This raises a very simple question in my mind—why is this family of
one of Saudi Arabia’s richest billionaires and a key adviser to the
royal family pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into our political
system to elect and influence these Democrats?” asked Ian Prior, a
longtime Republican political operative and current spokesman for the
Senate Leadership Fund, which advocates the election of Republican
candidates.
Nasser Ibrahim al-Rashid, the family’s patriarch, is the founder and
chairman of the Riyadh-based Rashid Engineering, making him one of the
country’s top five wealthiest men.
His high-dollar donations to the Clinton Foundationput him in league with other prominent donors such as financial giant Barclays Capital and beer magnate Anheuser-Busch.
Al-Rashid's son Ibrahim might be even worse.
Al-Rashid’s three sons have followed in their father’s political
footsteps, contributing large sums to top Democrats, including Rep.
Patrick Murphy (D., Fla.), whose Senate race could help decide which
party controls the Senate in 2017.
Murphy has already returned a portion of al-Rashid’s donations due to his involvement in a domestic assault incident.
Ibrahim al-Rashid allegedly forced his way into his estranged wife’s
Pennsylvania home, where al-Rashid allegedly “grabbed her by the wrist,
struck her about the head and face with a closed fist then threw her to
the ground,” according to a copy of the police report viewed by the Free Beacon.
Following the 2014 incident, al-Rashid allegedly sent his wife a text
message stating, “I am not sorry this time I hope you die in hell,”
according to the police report.
Murphy, a longtime friend of al-Rashid, was recently forced to donate
around $16,000 in campaign funds to domestic violence groups after the
assault charge became a public liability for the campaign. Murphy also
returned all of the donations made by al-Rashid during the last three
political cycles.
However, that did not account for all of the money al-Rashid donated
in 2012 to a pro-Murphy Super PAC, prompting calls for Murphy to return
that money as well.
Al-Rashid has donatedat least$490,000mainly to Democratic campaigns,
the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Super
PACs, according to funding data, raising further questions about whether
these candidates and organizations also will return the controversial
cash.
Al-Rashid's other sons have also donated significant amounts to Democrats.
Ibrahim’s brother, Salman al-Rashid, also has sunk at least$57,600 into Democratic campaigns, including the DCCC.
This includes contributions to the campaigns of Murphy and Sen. Cory
Booker (D., N.J.), as well as Rep. Ted Deutch (D., Fla.), Rep. Keith
Ellison (D., Minn.), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.), among
others, according to Federal Election Commission data.
A third son of Nasser, Mohammed al-Rashid, appears to have donated around $40,000 mainly
to Democrats, according to FEC data. This includes donations to the
DCCC, Murphy, Ellison, Booker, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D.,
Fla.), among others, according to the FEC.
One veteran political operative who has been tracking the 2016 election cycle told the Free Beacon that these donations raise questions about foreign influence in U.S. politics.
“Saudi Arabia is anti-Israel, anti-woman, and anti-human rights, yet
Hillary Clinton’s Foundation takes millions from the Saudi government
and well-connected billionaires like this al-Rashid,” the source said.
“Now we have down ballot Democrats looking the other way and taking
money from al-Rashid’s sons, one of whom committed domestic violence.
This from the party that uses divisive ‘war on women’ rhetoric at every
turn.”
Booker and Deutsch both have reputations for being pro-Israel. You have to wonder how true that is if they're taking money from the al-Rashid's.
This video came from Arutz Sheva (Hat Tip: Gershon D).
Let's go to the videotape.
Which party is pro-Israel? Which party is conducting a war on women? And why is Debbie "I wear my support for Israel to work on my sleeve every day" Wasserman Schultz taking money from the al-Rashid's?
It's come to this: Cory Booker doing 'damage control' on Iran vote
It's come to this. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) is doing 'damage control' to try to save his Jewish contributions that are likely to dry up as a result of his choosing party loyalty over his constituents and voting for a nuclear-armed Iran.
The Observer has learned that Senator Cory Booker, who is under fire
from Jewish supporters who had long treated him as one of their own, has
convened an unusual emergency meeting to shore up his support in the
wake of his decision to support President Obama’s deal with Iran.
Around noon on Friday afternoon, Mr. Booker’s Deputy Chief of Staff,
George Helmy, started emailing leaders of the Jewish community to invite
them to a hastily assembled “small roundtable discussion on the JCPOA
in his office.” The meeting, which will take place at the Gateway Center
on Tuesday at noon, will be joined by Treasury undersecretary Adam
Szubin, who will help explain how, “After weeks weeks [sic] of study and
consultation, Senator Booker made the decision he feels [sic] in the
best interest of Israel, the United States, and our allies.”
Reflecting the seriousness of this issue – and the threat that it
poses to his standing in the Jewish community—Mr. Booker is pulling out
all stops to kosher his vote. He posted a lengthy essay
explaining his decision, so meeting with Jewish leaders has to be
perceived as an extension of that. Mr. Szubin has frequently been
trotted out by the Obama Administration to placate the Jewish community,
which is concerned that the terms of the deal permit Iran to develop a
robust nuclear weapons program.
The invitation appeals to its recipients’ vanity, assuring them it is
only being “sent to his dearest friends and those whom he relies on for
counsel.” For those still not feeling the love, another Booker staffer,
Matt Klapper, larded it on hours later, sending a follow-up note asking
to “discuss the JCPOA, as well as steps that need to be taken to keep
Iran in the corner given the new challenges we’ll soon face.”
Apparently, there’s a second minyan being convened by Mr. Booker, as
well – in Livingston, the heart of Essex County’s Jewish community, at
10 am.
The invitation lists comprise a who’s who of influential Jewish
leaders in New York and New Jersey, including Raphael Benaroya, the
managing director of Biltmore Capital Group; Menachem Genack, the CEO of
the Orthodox Union Kosher Division; Lori Fein, the New Jersey
Director of the Zionist Organization of America; Ben Chouake, the
Englewood, NJ, doctor who heads Norpac, the national PAC that supports
Israel-friendly candidates; and Rabbi Aaron Kotler, who leads an
important congregation in Lakewood, NJ.
Conspicuously absent from the guest list is Rabbi Shmuley Boteach,
whose friendship with Senator Booker is two decades old and had been
intensely close before the Iran deal came to the fore. The two had many
times traveled to the Rebbe’s grave in Queens, were guests at each
other’s family events, and both described their friendship in very warm,
near familial tones.
Rabbi Boteach has been highly critical of the Iran deal, taking ads in newspapers and organizing rallies
to apply pressure to his old friend. The absence of a prominent New
Jersey rabbi who had been a close friend may signal that Mr. Booker
prefers a room filled with Jewish leaders who have not been as vocally
critical.
You might recall that I have said many times that while Conservative and Reform Jews vote Democrat, Orthodox do not. I am as puzzled as you are by the presence of Rabbi Genack, Rabbi Kotler and Ben Chouake - Orthodox all - on this list (although Rabbi Kotler has not said he is going).
Rabbi Genack told the Observer that he intends to attend. “I am going,” he emailed. In a later phone interview, he said, “I
am going. I’m profoundly disappointed in his decision. I’ve been
talking to him about it all along and I’m disappointed.” Reflecting the
charged atmosphere—or perhaps the lack of courage on display throughout
this episode—Mr. Genack tried to roll back his critical remarks moments
after making them. After twice characterizing himself as “profoundly
disappointed” by Mr. Booker’s decision, the rabbi thought better of his
words and told the Observer that he had intended his remarks not to be
attributed to him. However profound Mr. Genack’s disappointment, he also
helped organize a conference call two weeks ago during which Mr. Booker
explained his position to the Jewish community, before he had announced
which way he’d be voting.
Some attendees are characterizing their attendance as an opportunity
to give the senator a piece of their minds. Dr. Chouake told the
Observer, “I am planning on attending because members of the Senate are
working on legislation to mitigate the problems with the JCPOA and that
is what I expect to discuss.”
Mort Klein, the national president of ZOA, told the Observer that he
instructed Ms. Fein not to attend because it was a “blatant and
conspicuous attempt to sanitize Booker’s horrifying decision to support
this catastrophic deal and wash away the blood he will have on his
hands. Even the administration admits that the hundreds of billions of
dollars Iran will get over the next few years will increase terrorism,
many innocent people will be killed, and they’ll get nukes in 10 to 15
years.”
Given the anger among the community, some are shocked by how readily
Jews have lined up to attend a meeting hosted by someone who days
earlier announced his support for a deal widely perceived – among this
very same community at least – to represent an existential threat to the
state of Israel. One prominent rabbi told the Observer, “I think even
Booker’s staff is surprised how quickly the Jewish leaders said yes.”
The meeting schedule is correct - despite the refusal of Booker's staff to confirm it. I have already confirmed that much.
In any event, it looks like this is going to cost Booker.
One major donor to past Booker campaigns told the Observer in a phone
interview that Mr. Booker’s decision “was so cowardly. If you’re for
it, at least have the balls to say you’re for it. This guy hid. … I
don’t think I’ll support him anymore.”
That sentiment might explain the sudden scramble to do some damage
control. Mr. Booker has long been a darling of the Jewish community. As a
Rhodes Scholar, he served as the president of Oxford University’s
L’Chaim society, appointed by Mr. Boteach (who is now a frequent
Observer contributor), and Mr. Booker, a powerful orator, has spoken
movingly and with apparent sincerity about the need to protect and
preserve the Jewish state. He has long been the recipient of campaign
largesse from Jewish donors and peppers his talks with Yiddish
expressions and quotations from the Hebrew Bible.
That affinity has made his capitulation on potentially the most
important issue of Israel’s existence all the more puzzling to Jews who
have previously backed him. One large donor told the Observer he would
no longer be supporting the senator, despite having backed him dating
back to his first bruising run against Sharpe James for Newark mayor.
According to this donor, Mr. Booker called him personally the night
before he announced he’d be voting to support the deal. He said that he
told Mr. Booker, “You went to Stanford. The president went to Harvard.
You think you’re smarter than these Iranian guys with their bombs. But
you’re not.”
I still vote in New Jersey - the last place we lived in the US. I don't usually vote in the US except in Presidential elections. But I am entitled to vote in all federal elections in New Jersey. Unfortunately, Booker doesn't come up again until 2020. As you all might have figured out, I have a long memory. Assuming we haven't been nuked by then (God Forbid), not only will I vote against Booker, but I will encourage the thousands of former New Jersey residents then in Israel to do the same.
Khameni: The 'superpowers' of the West have surrendered to Iran; Oren pleads with Congress to reject sellout
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone. I am still in Boston.
Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan delivered a speech last Sunday (translation posted on Friday by MEMRI), in which he haled the surrender of the 'superpowers' of the West to Iran.
At an armed forces general command ceremony on August 30, 2015, Iranian
Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said: "Today, Iran has attained such
status that the superpowers have surrendered to it, because of its
majesty, its steadfastness, its resistance, and its unity. Despite their
great pride, the regime of the arrogance [the West, led by the U.S.]
sat humbly behind the negotiating table and obeyed the rights of the
Iranian nation."[1]
Sadly, he's correct. Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren has issued a plea to Congress to reject President Hussein Obama's sellout to a nuclear-armed Iran.
Ariel and Romi face 100,000 rockets — more than possessed by all of NATO
— supplied by Iran to Hezbollah. Currently, many of these rockets can
be intercepted by Iron Dome, the Israeli-designed and American-financed
anti-ballistic system. But Iran wants to upgrade Hezbollah’s rockets
into guided missiles capable of eluding Iron Dome and striking our
military bases, electrical grids, and airport. Only the sanctions have
prevented Iran from funding the upgrade. But since the nuclear deal
fails to compel Iran to cease threatening to destroy Israel, the
hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief can help Hezbollah
realize that goal. Before they are old enough to sprint, Ariel and Romi
may well be rushed by their parents into shelters while missiles
paralyze their state.
Israel will, of course, do its utmost to
protect my grandchildren, but its ability to do so will be hindered by
the Iranian deal. As the arms embargo on Iran wanes, the Islamic
Republic will equip its allies — not only Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also
Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza — with the world’s most advanced
weaponry. Shielded by its newly-purchased Chinese jet fighters and
Russian anti-aircraft system, Iran can also attack Israel with hundreds
of Shehab missiles, each packing a ton of TNT. To defeat the terrorists
and defend its home front, Israel can mobilize tens of thousands of
reservists, including Romi and Ariel’s fathers. But the nuclear deal may
reduce the chances of their safe return.
The nuclear deal grants the oppressive Iranian
regime, which is acting to overthrow pro-Western governments throughout
the Middle East, with unquestioned legitimacy. Iranian forces are
advancing to the south, east, and north of Israel, and have tried to
launch attacks against Israeli civilians from the Golan Heights, a short
drive from my grandchildren’s homes.
By the time they enter kindergarten, Romi and
Ariel will be even more perilously surrounded. Yet the West which views
Iran as a “very successful regional power” is unlikely to break that
stranglehold. On the contrary, to support the Palestinians and the
growing BDS movement, many of the same countries that freed Iran from
sanctions may be imposing them on Israel.
Condemned to endure the very war that the
nuclear deal was supposed to prevent, Ariel and Romi will grow up with
little hope of peace. The deal strengthens those Palestinians most
opposed to peace and deepens Israeli fears that creating a Palestinian
state will merely furnish Iran with another base for launching rocket
attacks. The American credibility essential to mediating and
guaranteeing peace will also have vanished. Having falsely promised that
Iran will never possess the right to enrich uranium and retain
underground facilities, Israelis and other Middle East partners will
unlikely place their trust in the United States.
And by the time Ariel enters middle school and
Romi celebrates her Bat Mitzvah, Iran will almost certainly be a
nuclear power. By submitting false specimens from secret sites to the UN
and repeatedly exploiting the minimum 24-day delay in international
inspections, Iran can cheat its way to weapons-grade uranium. Or it can
wait out the ten-year period, develop centrifuges capable of enriching
uranium at twenty times the current rate, and emerge the following day
with enough fissile material for two hundred bombs. Weaponizing —
forging a warhead and the intercontinental missile to carry it — will be
no obstacle for Iran, for all of its military activity is exempted from
the deal.
...
Advocates of the Iran deal must ask themselves one question. Would they
support it if the lives of their children and grandchildren depended on
it? Mine do. Indeed, the deal will threaten all of our families —
Israeli as well as American — for generations to come.
On August 24, 2015, the website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
published a poster titled "The Iron Fist," symbolizing Iran's might
following the agreement. The text on the poster states: "Those who
levelled sanctions against us yesterday are dying today, because Iran
has become the region's foremost military power. The Islamic Republic of
Iran has proven that it works diligently to defend itself. The entire
nation unites as a solid fist, standing fast against the aggressors who
lack all reason." The poster features a fist adorned with Iranian flags
breaking through clouds; the fist is made up of military equipment,
including missiles, jets, ships, tanks, and so on.[2]
All for Der Fuhrer's legacy.
If you live in a State one or more of whose Senators has come out in favor of the sellout (e.g. New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Florida) or in a Congressional District whose representative has come out in favor of the sellout (e.g Nadler's district in New York), please consider forwarding this to them.
Timing of Schumer announcement shocked White House, Senate colleagues now not sure an Obama veto would be sustained
In case you missed it earlier this week, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has serious doubts that the Senate has the votes to override an inevitable veto of a resolution disapproving President Hussein Obama's nuclear sellout to Iran. McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader and as such should be the guy leading the fight to override that veto. Forgive me for saying this but if the Senate fails to override the veto, McConnell should be removed as Senate Majority Leader.
It seems that the Senate Democrats and the White House are in a panic over Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) announcing his opposition to the sellout. It's not that they didn't expect it - they did. It's the timing that got to them. And the announcement that Schumer will vote to override the Presidential veto. And the hints that Schumer will - despite his calling it a vote of conscience - work to convince his Senate colleagues to vote against Obama.
But the White House and some of Schumer’s Democratic colleagues strongly
urged him not to announce his opposition until late August or early
September. Republican leaders have set a vote in mid-September on a
resolution to disapprove of the deal. Should that resolution pass, Obama
has vowed to veto it. In a move that also surprised his colleagues,
Schumer said that he would vote to override Obama’s veto as well. As
another Senate staff member told me, “It is protocol, if you’re a member
of the leadership who is going to oppose your President on a major
issue like this, that you not do so in a way that is going to undercut
the President and give the President’s opponents fodder to use against
him.” Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, responded in an e-mail,
“Senator Schumer was pressed both on the right and the left on the
timing of his decision, but said from the very beginning that after
careful deliberation, when he made up his mind, he would announce his
decision publicly and explain the reasoning. He finished deliberating on
that Wednesday afternoon, wrote his statement that evening, and
published it soon after.”
...
After Gillibrand’s announcement, pro-deal forces were ebullient. The tide was strong. Some enjoyed imagining a panic at AIPAC.
According to several Senate aides, they believed they were close to
having enough votes to block Republicans on the resolution of
disapproval itself, so that it would never reach the President and he
wouldn’t have to exercise his veto. But hours later Schumer posted his
decision online, in the form of a sixteen-hundred-word essay. “What
Schumer has done now, unfortunately, is that he has made what was within
realistic reach super-difficult,” the first Senate aide said. “By
coming out so early, before recess, it’s been really detrimental to the
cause of the President and other Senate Democrats who want to be in
favor of this deal, because now he’s given a lot of time for senators on
the fence to be hit with political attacks like, ‘Why aren’t you where
Schumer is? He’s leading; why are you so weak?’ ” The aide continued,
“If he wanted to be helpful, as future leader of the caucus, he could
have waited. He personally would have had to withstand pressure back
home, in exchange for helping out his colleagues. Instead, he said, I’m
going to take the pressure off myself and put the pressure on my
colleagues.”
On Saturday, that dynamic played out in a full-page ad in the Times—the
first, but surely not the last. Featuring side-by-side images of
Schumer and Senator Cory Booker, the ad demanded, “Senator Cory Booker:
Will you join Senator Schumer and reject the catastrophic Iran deal?” It
implored Booker to do so “before Iranian nukes kill millions of
Americans.” Among those who funded the ad was the World Values Network,
whose executive director, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, is a longtime close
friend of Booker but, evidently, not loath to exert intense public
pressure. Booker is viewed as undecided.
As of
today, twenty Democratic senators have come out in favor of the deal; a
total of thirty-four are needed to sustain the President’s veto. “It’s
still very much an open question whether we can sustain a veto,” a third
Senate aide said. “It will depend on how hard the deal is whipped
against within the caucus.” Schumer, by nature an aggressive whip, known
for his “full Chuck Schumer” style, is working against Durbin, who
chose not to try to contest Reid’s endorsement of Schumer for leader.
Schumer’s statements on the subject of his whipping, or not, have been
ambiguous. A relentless phone canvasser, he has acknowledged he is
making calls to members. “I will certainly share my view and try to
persuade them that the vote to disapprove is the right one,” he said, in
what might constitute a definition of whipping, but he added that, in
the Senate, members make up their own minds—“especially in matters of
conscience and great consequence, like this.”
And in case you missed it, no great surprise here but on Tuesday Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the co-sponsor of all the sanctions legislation, came out against the sellout.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
