The New York Times - 30.07.2019

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A14 0 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONALTUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019


The 45th PresidentThe Agenda


WASHINGTON — President
Trump again succeeded in turning
back bipartisan congressional ef-
forts to rebuke his lock-step sup-
port for Saudi Arabia after the
Senate on Monday failed to over-
ride his veto on a series of meas-
ures that would have blocked bil-
lions of dollars of arms sales to the
Persian Gulf region.
The failure is the second time in
recent months that the Senate has
been unable to muster enough op-
position to beat a veto on a rebuke
to the administration’s relation-
ship with Saudi Arabia. That un-
derscored that legislators’ sim-
mering anger over both the king-
dom’s murder of a dissident col-
umnist and its bloody war in
Yemen has its limits.
The measures, introduced by
Senator Robert Menendez of New
Jersey, the top Democrat on the
Foreign Relations Committee,
sought to stymie the administra-
tion’s effort to circumvent Con-
gress to sell munitions to the gulf
nations by declaring an emer-
gency over Iran. Mr. Menendez
and other lawmakers had blocked
some of those sales, but by declar-
ing an emergency, the administra-
tion was able to blow through the
blockades.
Mr. Trump, in his veto message,
said the legislation “would weak-
en America’s global competitive-
ness and damage the important
relationships we share with our al-
lies and partners.” He vetoed a
separate measure in April that


would have forced an end to
American military involvement in
the Yemen war.
The defeat on Monday left law-
makers who are intent on penaliz-
ing the administration’s relation-
ship with the kingdom pledging to
redouble their efforts. Democratic
senators and a handful of Republi-
cans — unwilling to let the issue
go but seemingly unable to ex-
pand their ranks of supporters —
are pressing on, bitterly dividing
the Foreign Relations Committee.
“It’s difficult to accept Saudi
Arabia as a trusted ally of the
United States right now,” said Sen-
ator Christopher S. Murphy, Dem-
ocrat of Connecticut. “Instead of
holding the Saudis accountable,
this administration instead con-
tinues to provide them a blank
check.”
The committee advanced legis-
lation last week, led by Mr. Me-
nendez and Senator Todd Young,
Republican of Indiana, that would
impose mandatory sanctions on
those found responsible for the
murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the
Virginia-based Washington Post
columnist. The bill would also pro-
hibit American refueling of Saudi
coalition aircraft engaged in the
civil war in Yemen and ban certain
weapons sales to the kingdom. It
is unlikely that Senator Mitch Mc-
Connell of Kentucky, the majority
leader, will bring the legislation up
for a vote.
But the passage of the legisla-
tion through committee over the
chairman’s wishes was remark-

able. It was the culmination of a
bitter internal fight between Sena-
tor Jim Risch of Idaho, the chair-
man and a Trump ally, and Mr. Me-
nendez, who offered competing
bills outlining a starkly different
vision of how Congress should ad-
dress the American relationship
with Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Risch’s legislation would
have directed the secretary of
state to conduct a review of the re-
lationship and deny or revoke vi-
sas to some members of the Saudi
royal family as punishment for the
kingdom’s human rights vio-
lations. The legislation would give
Riyadh a chance to reset the king-
dom’s ties with the United States,
Mr. Risch argued, and because it
was developed in consultation
with the White House and the
State Department, it would have a
chance at winning the president’s
signature.
“We can either send a messag-
ing bill to the president for a veto
or we can send legislation that will
drive and, more important, form
foreign policy,” he said.
In the end, three Republicans
on the panel, Senator Lindsey
Graham of South Carolina, Sena-
tor Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mr.
Young, broke ranks to support Mr.
Menendez’s more punitive bill,
and Mr. Risch withdrew his legis-
lation from consideration.
“No hard feelings to anyone, it’s
not sour grapes,” Mr. Risch said,
“but I’m interested in spending
time on something we can actu-
ally do.”

House Democrats on the
Oversight and Reform Commit-
tee, however, have made clear
that they will continue their inves-
tigation into the administration’s
support of Riyadh despite the
White House’s refusal to cooper-
ate. In a report released on Mon-
day, they focused on Thomas J.
Barrack Jr., a top campaign fund-
raiser, inaugural chairman and
close friend of Mr. Trump, and
concluded that he pushed a pro-
posal to circumvent the normal
policymaking process and build
dozens of nuclear power plants in
Saudi Arabia that experts worried
could spread nuclear weapons
technology in the volatile Middle
East.
The New York Times reported
this week that federal prosecutors
were investigating whether Mr.
Barrack violated the law requir-
ing people who try to influence
American policy or opinion at the
direction of foreign governments
or entities to disclose their activi-
ties to the Justice Department.
The committee also concluded
that IP3, a private company lob-
bying the White House to transfer
United States nuclear technology
to Saudi Arabia, has had “unprec-
edented access to the highest lev-
els” of the administration, includ-
ing meeting directly with Mr.
Trump. It also said the company
had lobbied the administration
not to require Saudi Arabia to
agree to the “gold standard,” a
commitment not to use American
nuclear technology to make nucle-
ar weapons.

Senator Bob Menendez has twice started efforts to override President Trump’s vetoes of bills limiting arms sales to Saudi Arabia.


ERIN SCHAFF FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Senate Fails to Override Veto on Saudi Arms Sales


By CATIE EDMONDSON

defenders, Mr. Ratcliffe was
elected to Congress in 2014 after
mounting a conservative primary
challenge to a 17-term Republican
incumbent, Ralph Hall. Mr. Rat-
cliffe had served as a United
States attorney in Texas and as
the mayor of Heath, Tex., a town of
about 9,000 people outside Dallas.
Mr. Ratcliffe’s main intelligence
experience has come as a member
of the House Intelligence Commit-
tee, which he joined this year. But
his record is one of fierce combat
in the most partisan intelligence
and judicial fights. A relentless
critic of the Russia investigation,
he ably challenged Robert S.
Mueller III during his House testi-
mony last week and has cast
doubt on the C.I.A.’s finding that
Moscow favored Mr. Trump the
2016 election.
With Senator Rand Paul, Re-
publican of Kentucky, almost cer-
tain to oppose any nominee to the
position, Republicans can afford
to lose only two more yes votes if
Democrats line up against the
nomination.
Senator Marco Rubio, Republi-
can of Florida and a member of
the intelligence panel, said he
knew and liked Mr. Ratcliffe but
acknowledged that he could have
difficulty attracting broad Senate
backing because of his reputation
as a partisan.
A critical function of the direc-
tor, Mr. Rubio noted, is “to make
sure that the entire intelligence
community is working in an
apolitical way to arrive at a set of
facts that policymakers can make
decisions on.”
Mr. Rubio added: “I wouldn’t
say that I’m concerned that he’s
incapable of doing that job. I cer-
tainly think that’s going to be an
issue among Democrats and oth-
ers that we’re going to have to con-


front, because I do think the D.N.I.
needs to be someone that goes in
with a strong vote of support.”
Republican Senate leaders
showed subtle signs of discontent
about the nomination. Mr. Burr
waited nearly a day to publicly
congratulate Mr. Ratcliffe. By con-
trast, Mr. Burr issued an effusive
endorsement when the president
nominated Dan Coats to the post
in 2017.
The Trump administration has
done little to vet cabinet nomi-
nees, to the frustration of many
Republicans. While they have
been loath to block many of Mr.
Trump’s appointments, they have
slow-rolled some nominations,
like that of former Acting Defense
Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan,
who withdrew from consideration
after a drawn-out review of his
background and qualifications.
And questions on Capitol Hill
about the qualifications of two
picks for the Federal Reserve ef-
fectively torpedoed them.
The political winds from the
Trump White House have buf-
feted the intelligence agencies,
and Mr. Coats worked to insulate
them. If Mr. Ratcliffe is confirmed,
some current and former Ameri-
can officials believe that other top
intelligence officials like the C.I.A.
director, Gina Haspel, and the
F.B.I. director, Christopher A.
Wray, could lose their shield
against White House interference
and partisan criticism.
Democrats said on Monday that
they were worried that Mr. Rat-
cliffe would do little to push back
against the Justice Department’s
review of the origins of the Russia
inquiry, for which Mr. Trump gave
Attorney General William P. Barr
broad power to declassify intelli-
gence. Democrats also said they
had concerns that Mr. Ratcliffe
would not stand up to Mr. Trump
when his views on Iran or North
Korea were at odds with the as-
sessment of intelligence analysts.
Mr. Ratcliffe’s chief qualifica-

tion is “his record of promoting
Donald Trump’s conspiracy theo-
ries,” said Senator Ron Wyden, an
Oregon Democrat who is on the
Intelligence Committee.
He added, “Congressman Rat-
cliffe is the most partisan and
least qualified individual ever
nominated to serve as director of
national intelligence.”
Mr. Ratcliffe has relentlessly
criticized the F.B.I. for using un-
corroborated information pro-
vided by a former British spy to
obtain a surveillance warrant on a
former Trump campaign adviser.
He has also repeatedly raised the
issue of anti-Trump bias among
key investigators. While he ac-
knowledges Moscow interfered in
the election, Mr. Ratcliffe has also
questioned whether the Russians
were really trying to aid Mr.
Trump, as the formal intelligence
committee assessment and Mr.
Mueller’s report concluded, or
were merely trying to sow chaos
in the American political system.
His record of criticism of the
F.B.I. has provoked fears among
former law enforcement officials
that Mr. Ratcliffe would continue
his assault on the bureau. ‘
“Mr. Ratcliffe’s partisan politi-
cal behavior on behalf of the presi-
dent, including attacks on the spe-
cial counsel’s investigation, raises
serious questions about whether
he possesses the requisite quali-
ties to fulfill that responsibility,”
said David Laufman, a former top
Justice Department official.
While the response to Mr. Rat-
cliffe on Capitol Hill was more tep-
id than the White House hoped for,
the nomination is still in its very
early stages, and the congress-
man could build support as he be-
gins to meet with senators.
Mr. Ratcliffe’s Republican de-
fenders insisted he is fair. His po-
litical bite is largely virtue of cir-
cumstance, they said, adding that
he harbors greater respect for the
law enforcement and intelligence
communities than many House

Republicans in his circle.
In private, his allies said, he is
inclined to give national security
officials the benefit of the doubt
and has defended — sometimes
against his political allies — the
need for law enforcement and in-
telligence agencies to have access
to tools like domestic surveillance.
And despite his criticisms of the
Russia investigation, they pointed
out, he did not join calls for Mr.
Mueller’s removal as special
counsel or question the evidence
of Russian election interference.
Democrats’ criticism of Mr. Rat-
cliffe is “more reflective of the po-
litical environment we are in than
John Ratcliffe,” said Trey Gowdy,
a former congressman from South
Carolina who like Mr. Ratcliffe is a
former federal prosecutor.
Mr. Ratcliffe has not always
toed the Trump administration’s
rhetorical line: He said Ameri-
cans were more at risk from a dig-
ital attack than from someone
crossing the southern border and
has told associates that his focus
as director of national intelligence
would be on cyberthreats and
counterterrorism.
Mr. Ratcliffe pledged in a state-
ment on Sunday to “work on be-
half of all the public servants who
are tirelessly devoted to defend-
ing the security and safety of the
United States.”
Mr. Trump , of course, has

named other partisans to top in-
telligence jobs. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo, his first C.I.A. di-
rector, had a reputation as a
strong skeptic of the Iran nuclear
deal and a critic of the Obama ad-
ministration’s handling of the
Benghazi attacks.
But Mr. Pompeo appointed Ms.
Haspel, an agency veteran, as his
deputy and quickly came to rely
on her expertise, signaling to the
C.I.A. rank and file that he valued
intelligence professionals.
Mr. Ratcliffe, however, has indi-
cated that he intends to clean
house, according to people famil-
iar with his plans. The fate of Mr.
Coats’s deputy, Sue Gordon, who
runs the office’s day-to-day opera-
tions, is unclear. The White House
did not immediately announce
that she would serve as the acting
director when Mr. Coats departs
on Aug. 15, as is typical.
Republicans on the House Intel-
ligence Committee have long been
pushing for an overhaul of the of-
fice, eliminating jobs, slimming
the agency and changing how it
operates. Mr. Ratcliffe, according
to American officials, is likely to
try to push through some of those
changes if confirmed.
But Mr. Gowdy expressed skep-
ticism that Mr. Ratcliffe would fo-
cus on shaking up the office. “Peo-
ple are most upset with John be-
cause he is good at what he does,”

Mr. Gowdy said. “He is also going
to be good at what he is fixing to
do, and that is intelligence, not
politics.”
The White House has consid-
ered Mr. Ratcliffe for at least one
law enforcement position in re-
cent months, and he won over Mr.
Trump in a meeting in recent
weeks. He appeared to have
sealed the intelligence nomina-
tion by executing one of the most
effective Republican attacks on
Mr. Mueller during his closely
watched House testimony last
week.
Indeed, if Mr. Ratcliffe is con-
firmed, the appointment would
deprive the president of one of his
ablest allies in the House. Republi-
cans consider Mr. Ratcliffe so im-
portant to Mr. Trump’s defense on
Capitol Hill that his appointment
would have been less likely if they
still feared that Democrats would
advance an impeachment case
against Mr. Trump, said one law-
maker familiar with the presi-
dent’s thinking.
In addition to the reservations
over Mr. Ratcliffe’s partisanship,
some former intelligence officials
have said they do not think he has
the necessary background. The
law establishing the intelligence
post required that the director
have “extensive national security
expertise.”
Though directors of national in-
telligence do not have to have ex-
perience as intelligence officers —
Mr. Coats did not — they should be
deeply immersed in national secu-
rity and the uses of intelligence,
said Mark M. Lowenthal, a former
senior C.I.A. official.
“This is not a great position for
on-the-job training,” Mr. Lowen-
thal said. “There is a very steep
learning curve.”

Pick to Head Intelligence Faces Hurdles


From Page A

Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Emily
Cochrane contributed reporting.


Some former intelligence offi-


cials have questioned whether


Representative John Ratcliffe


of Texas has the necessary


background for the position.


His criticism of the F.B.I. has


also caused concern.


DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — Twelve days
after President Trump was sworn
in and five days after he roiled the
Arab world with his first effort to
restrict the entry of people from
many predominantly Muslim
countries to the United States,
Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a close
friend of the president’s and a top
fund-raiser for his campaign, had
an idea for the White House.
In an email to Stephen K. Ban-
non, Mr. Trump’s strategist, Mr.
Barrack promoted what he called
“an elegant thought” about how
American companies, possibly in-
cluding Mr. Barrack’s own private
equity firm, could help Saudi Ara-
bia build nuclear power plants.
The plan, Mr. Barrack said, would
be “backed immediately” by the
Saudis and would “balance the
current noise” caused by the furor
over the travel restrictions.
A few weeks later, Mr. Barrack
texted a friend and business asso-
ciate who had close ties to the rul-
ing family of the United Arab
Emirates. Mr. Barrack told the
friend, Rashid al-Malik, that he
wanted Crown Prince Moham-
med bin Zayed, the de facto ruler
of the United Arab Emirates
widely known by his initials,
M.B.Z., to intervene with Jared
Kushner, the president’s son-in-
law and senior adviser, to push Mr.
Barrack’s appointment as a spe-
cial envoy to the Middle East.
The crown prince should tell
Mr. Kushner that he “would be
happy to work with me as special
envoy on bolstering the economy
of Egypt and the Gulf region,” Mr.
Barrack said in one text.
Those communications and oth-
ers were disclosed on Monday in a
report by Democratic staff of the
House Committee on Oversight
and Reform, which is investigat-
ing the links between Mr. Trump’s
advisers and Persian Gulf offi-
cials, including a plan the help
Saudi Arabia acquire nuclear
power plants.
Mr. Barrack never got the spe-
cial envoy post, and the push for a
nuclear power plant deal with the
Saudis stalled, in part because of
Saudi reluctance to agree to
American nonproliferation poli-
cies intended to ban the enrich-
ment of nuclear materials for
weapons, the report said. But
questions about Mr. Barrack’s ties
to the governments of Saudi Ara-
bia and the United Arab Emirates,
which are closely aligned, have at-
tracted not only congressional
scrutiny, but the attention of fed-
eral prosecutors who have been
looking at foreign influence over
several of Mr. Trump’s aides or
supporters.
Mr. Barrack’s aides say he has
cooperated with both the federal
prosecutors and congressional in-
vestigators. He had no immediate
comment on the committee’s re-
port.
The 50-page report laid out in

substantial new detail how — dur-
ing the campaign, transition and
early stages of the Trump admin-
istration — Mr. Barrack and other
aides and supporters of Mr.
Trump mixed business opportuni-
ties and political access. It focused
largely on Mr. Barrack and Mi-
chael T. Flynn, the president’s for-
mer national security adviser, set-
ting out a timeline intended to
make a case that they had blatant
conflicts of interest.
“With regard to Saudi Arabia,
the Trump administration has vir-
tually obliterated the lines nor-
mally separating government
policymaking from corporate and
foreign interests,” Representative
Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of
Maryland and the chairman of the
oversight panel, said Monday in a
statement. Mr. Trump has been at-
tacking Mr. Cummings over the
past few days, calling his district
in and around Baltimore a “dis-
gusting, rat and rodent infested
mess” where “no human being
would want to live.”
The report says that at the same
time Mr. Barrack was seeking to
become the administration’s Mid-
dle East envoy or ambassador to
the United Arab Emirates, he was
exploring the possibility that his
private equity firm, Colony Capi-
tal, would be part of a deal pur-
chase Westinghouse Electric
Company, the sole American man-
ufacturer of large-scale nuclear
reactors — partly with capital
from Saudi Arabia or its close ally,
the United Arab Emirates.
The idea was that Westing-
house would then be well posi-
tioned to bid for Saudi govern-
ment business building nuclear
power plants. Because the United
States carefully regulates the
transfer of nuclear technology to
prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons, any such deal would re-
quire the approval of Congress
and the administration.
An early contender for that
business was a private company
called IP3 International, which
had assembled a consortium of
American companies eager to get
in on what could have amounted
to a multibillion dollar deal. Be-
fore he became Mr. Trump’s na-
tional security adviser — a post he
held for less than a month — Mr.
Flynn had listed himself as an ad-
viser to IP3. Officials at IP3 said
that the listing was in error and
that Mr. Flynn was not associated
with the company.
The Oversight Committee in-
vestigators tried to explore ques-
tions that federal prosecutors in
the United States attorney’s office
in Brooklyn have been scrutiniz-
ing for months: whether Mr. Bar-
rack, who led financing efforts for
Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and
inauguration, tried to shape the
Trump team’s message in favor of
the governments of Saudi Arabi
and the United Arab Emirates,
where his firm has done hundreds
of millions of dollars in business.

House Report Finds Conflicts


In Trump Donor’s Proposals


By SHARON LaFRANIERE
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