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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MATTHEW PITTARD; and MATTHEW ALLENDE,
Plaintiffs,
Case No. 8:19-CV-1784
v.
H.E. SHEIKH KHALID BIN KHALIFA AL THANI; GEO STRATEGIC DEFENSE SOLUTIONS, LLC; and KH HOLDING, LLC,
Defendants.
Videotaped deposition of ALAN BENDER, under subpoena by the Plaintiffs herein, held before a stenographic court reporter at the offices of Toronto Court Reporters, 65 Queen St. West, Ste. 1410, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, the 23rd day of October, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. EST.
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Upon commencing at 9:17 a.m.
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This is Peter Goodale, Certified Legal Videographer, from Toronto Court Reporters. We are going on the record on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019, at the time indicated on the video, which is 9:17 a.m.
Here begins Media Number 1 in the deposition of Alan Bender, taken by the plaintiff in the matter of Matthew Pittard and Matthew Allende versus H.E. Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani et al., case number 8:19-cv-1784, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and being held at Toronto Court Reporters, 65 Queen Street West, Suite 1410, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The certified court reporter is Karin Jenkner from the firm Toronto Court Reporters.
Counsel, please introduce yourselves and state whom you represent; then the court reporter will swear in or affirm the witness.
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MS. CASTANEDA: Good morning. My name is Rebecca Castaneda, and I am counsel for the plaintiffs, Matthew Allende and Matthew Pittard.
ALAN BENDER,
having been duly sworn,
was examined and testified as follows:
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Please begin.
EXAMINATION BY MS. CASTANEDA:
Q. Okay. Good morning.
A. Good morning.
Q. How are you?
A. I’m good, thank you.
Q. Good. Before we start and I ask any questions, I want to ask that you wait until the full question that I’m asking you be asked before you go ahead to say an answer. Okay. What is your name?
A. Alan Bender.
Q. All right. And where do you live?
A. Toronto, Canada.
Q. All right. And where were you born?
A. Kuwait.
Q. What city?
A. Kuwait City.
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Q. Okay. Where did you go to school?
A. High school in Kuwait, university in Damascus University.
Q. Okay?
A. On a scholarship.
Q. On a scholarship?
A. Mm-hm.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And then move forward. So I got into business instead.
Q. Okay.
A. With my degree.
Q. Is your bar licence still active with the degree that you have?
A. There in Syria or Middle East, could be, yes.
Q. Okay. And what is your citizenship?
A. Canadian citizen.
Q. Have you ever held any other
citizenship?
A. No.
Q. No. Okay.
What languages do you speak?
A. Arabic, English, and a little bit of
Serbian.
Q. Are you considered fluent in all
those languages?
A. The two languages, yes; the third
one, not fluent.
Q. Do you speak more than you can read?
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A. In which?
Q. The third?
A. I would say I will understand their language the way they talk, what they say. I wouldn’t write anymore, no.
Q. Okay.
A. I didn’t spend long enough.
Q. Okay. Do you understand the regional dialects of those languages?
A. The Arabic language, yes.
Q. Okay?
A. All of it. Almost.
Q. Almost. Would you say that you can speak with anybody from any area of the Middle East?
A. From the 18, 17 countries, yes.
Q. Okay. Did you prepare for today?
A. No.
Q. Did anybody ask you not to comply with the subpoena to be here today?
A. Yes.
Q. Who?
A. The Government of Qatar.
Q. Okay.
A. Officials from the Government of Qatar.
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Q. Who specifically?
A. Abdullah Al-Athbah on behalf of the head of the Qatari Internal and External Intelligence, and Mohammad Al Masnad.
Q. So, two individuals?
A. Yes.
Q. And yet you’re here today complying?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And were you properly served with this subpoena?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that your name?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. I’d like to mark this as Exhibit 1, please.
EXHIBIT 1 marked for identification: Subpoena to Testify at a Deposition in a Civil Action, issued to Alan Bender, dated October 2, 2019
BY MS. CASTANEDA:
Q. Did anybody else ask you not to comply with this subpoena?
A. Yes. Some phone calls from local numbers in Qatar, unregistered numbers, but it’s a message, also on behalf of the Qatari government, hoping that I will just ignore it like they did.
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Q. Okay. So they ignored subpoenas?
A. Yes, they admitted to me that they received them and they decided not to attend.
Q. Subpoenas for this particular case?
A. For this particular case.
Q. Okay. I’m going to show you a couple documents and ask that you ID these.
A. KH Holdings, I don’t have any connection with KH Holdings but…
Q. You recognize the names of those are —
A. Yes.
Q. Okay?
A. Abdullah ibn Hamad Al-Athbah and Mohammad Al-Masnad.
(Query by reporter)
THE WITNESS: Sorry. I’m reading the names.
THE REPORTER: Could you repeat the name that you said more slowly.
THE WITNESS: Oh, okay. Mohammad bin Ahmed Al-Masnad.
Q. And who is that?
A. He is the chief royal advisor to the ruler of Qatar and head of intelligence, internal and external.
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Q. And to your knowledge, does he have awareness that he was subpoena’d?
A. Yes.
Q. And how do you know that?
A. Abdullah ibn Hamad Al-Athbah received it from me and confirmed that they all received it, that they are aware of them and they have read them, and they told me that I should do what they did, which is ignore them. Meshall bin Hamad Al Thani, that’s the Qatari ambassador in Washington, I, I do not have
Q. Okay. May I mark these as Exhibit 2.
EXHIBIT 2 marked for identification: Subpoenas (3) to Testify at a Deposition in a Civil Action, issued to: Abdullah ibn Hamad Al-Athbah dated October 9, 2019; Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Masnad dated October 8, 2019; and to Meshall bin Hamad Al Thani dated October 10, 2019
BY MS. CASTANEDA:
Q. Do you know the name Dean Dilley?
(Query by reporter)
Q. Mm-hm. Do you know the name Dean Dilley?
A. Dean Dilley is, I believe, a lawyer. Or they call him in Arabic “mustashar.” So he could be their lawyer, the Qataris’ lawyer.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Or he could be a mediator, or a fixer. So he apparently is a man they consult with.
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Q. Okay.
A. According to Abdullah Al-Athbah. But I don’t know him personally. I don’t know Dean Dilley.
Q. Okay.
A. I heard his name and they, they confirm that he’s their counsel.
Q. Okay. Counsel. And do you know where he lives?
A. No.
Q. Okay.
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A. I don’t.
Q. If you want to set those to the side, you may. Thank you. I’m going to hand you another document, ask that you read that.
A. You want me to read it?
Q. If you want to read it, not out loud —
A. I mean, to me or?
Q. — and then we’ll read it out loud.
A. Okay.
(witness perusing document) Okay.
Q. Are you familiar with the contents of this letter?
A. I am.
Q. And how is that?
A. I’ve seen a copy and also from the fact that the Qataris have informed me that according to his advice, Dean Dilley, they are following what this letter is saying.
Q. Okay. Thank you. This will be Exhibit 3, please.
A. Thank you.
Q. And you can set that aside.
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EXHIBIT 3 marked for identification: Letter from Dean M. Dilley to Rebecca Castaneda dated September 18, 2019
THE WITNESS: Do I get to keep these? Or just decoration?
BY MS. CASTANEDA:
Q. All right. What do you do for work?
A. I’m a businessman. I mediate, help companies in the US and Canada to expand in the Middle East. I’ve been doing that for several years. I’ve been helping some, also, government-related entities.
Q. Okay.
A. In also expanding. I sometimes intervene on behalf of members of the ruling families; mediate, solve their problems, problems that they don’t want to be solved via international media.
Q. Okay?
A. They want to keep it out of court. I’ve been involved in several Royal Family disputes that I solved.
Q. Okay?
A. So I do business and politics.
Q. And are you hired by these families
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because of your language ability and your education and your knowledge of the culture?
A. When they hire me, yes, it will be based on the fact that I am fully aware of the culture and the sensitive nature of things that they might address, yes.
Q. Okay.
A. And my expertise in that field.
Q. And I would assume that the culture, and knowledge of the culture, and history, and that your language abilities would be unique to not many people?
A. Yes.
Q. I would assume there’s a small group of people like you?
A. Also — yes, and also I am aware of secrets, if we could call that, and events that I would say majority of the population are not aware of that’s related to the Royal Families. So they trust me, with the fact that I already know everything.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. So, yes.
Q. And when you say “the majority of the population,” are you talking about the world or
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those specific countries —
A. the Middle East but now it expanded into the world, because international media is very interested in Royal Family disputes, and especially given the political situation in the Gulf.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. So I would say, yeah, it’s even beyond the Gulf region or the Middle East.
Q. Do you have expertise that you’ve built up with the media that gives you this ability to fix things?
A. Yes. Yes. I have direct friendship slash contacts with several prominent journalists in the US and the UK.
Q. Okay. Tell me about Qatar. How did you first become involved with them?
A. I believe they approached me through the head of the Qatari media centre, Abdullah Al-Athbah, who is also the editor-in-chief of their newspaper, Al Arab. It was after the, I believe, American and British media interviewed me regarding an incident that happened in London.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Involving a political Saudi dissident. And the Qataris were very interested in contacting me to know the details of what happened or why it happened or how it happened. And that was the initial contact from them on a high level.
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Q. Okay. In what year was that, approximately?
A. I would say it was three years ago, or last year. It was in the news 2017, I believe. It was before, two months prior to, the incident of Jamal Khashoggi, so just… It’s in every media outlet, actually…
Q. So approximately 20 — (Query by reporter)
A. It’s in every media outlet, almost. Like if you search it you will see pictures in, my pictures in.
Q. And that was in approximately 2017?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And you were talking about an incident. And where did that occur?
A. Exactly outside Harrods shopping building in London.
Q. Okay. And what time of day did that occur?
A. It was in the afternoon, after lunch. The Saudi dissident has invited me to join him for coffee.
Q. Okay?
A. And I accepted. I was on a business trip.
Q. Okay?
A. And when we finished having coffee, he was attacked by what turned out to be two Saudi individuals who may or may not have been part of the Saudi embassy in London.
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Q. Okay?
A. And I was the one who protected him. So I fought them off.
Q. Physically?
A. Physically.
Q. Okay. So did they not only verbally or try to verbally assault him, they tried to physically assault him?
A. Yes. They attacked him and they punched him. And, like, he said if I wasn’t there, he would have — they would have crippled him, as they put it.
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Q. Okay?
A. So, yes, I fought them off.
Q. Physically?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And then after that what happened? Was there a police report or was that
A. Yes, there was a police report. We insisted on having the police present. And ambulance showed up, and I accompanied him to the police station in the police car, to be a witness. And apparently there were a lot of tourists, so the whole incident was recorded on video from A to Z. And it was aired before we even left the police station, all over social media.
Q. And it was filmed by tourists?
A. Tourists, yes. And probably, I’m not sure, but probably, other individuals who actually belonged maybe to political parties who are watching that situation.
Q. Okay. Are we speaking too fast?
THE REPORTER: Yes.
THE WITNESS: Oh, sorry. You can just ask me to repeat, I’ll repeat.
MS. CASTANEDA: I do it too, especially at trial.
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(Remark by reporter)
Yes. Okay.
Q. So it was in approximately 2017, and due to this incident in London, that Qatar first approached you and asked if you were willing to meet with them?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay?
A. Abdullah Al-Athbah — well, it wasn’t the first contact where they asked me to meet with them. They actually published in their newspapers the whole incident in Arabic, with my pictures and…
Q. The incident that occurred in London?
A. That occurred in London, yes.
Q. Okay.
A. And the first newspaper was Al Arab, I believe. And the editor-in-chief is Abdullah Al-Athbah, who is part of your subpoena.
Q. Okay?
A. He’s the one who contacted me via, I believe, direct messaging on Twitter the first time.
Q. Okay?
A. Introduced himself —
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Direct messaging on Twitter. On my Twitter account. That was the first. He introduced himself as Abdullah Al-Athbah and he said, “I wanted to commend you, we were very impressed with the fact that you saved that gentleman’s life. And we saw it live on video.” And I said: “Thank you very much.”
He sent me a second message probably an hour after that.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And he said: “Will it be possible if we can talk?” And I said, “Sure. This is my phone number and feel free to call me at your convenience.”
Q. Okay.
A. And I think two hours after that, he called me. And that was the first time I heard from him. And then he mentioned to me that they had been searching my background and what I do, and that they were impressed with my role in negotiating with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. He highlighted the fact that nobody in the world was able to defeat Prince Al-Waleed, especially when he was in his highest might. “How did you do that?” And I said, “Well, that’s going to be a long story, but you can read about it.” It was published in British media and American media, Huff Post and Daily Mail.
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Q. And which country is that prince from
A. Saudi Arabia.
Q. Okay. And do Saudi Arabia and Qatar get along?
A. No.
Q. Okay?
A. Qatar is at siege by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
(Query by reporter)
Qatar is under siege imposed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Q. Okay.
A. So Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal was, was, one of the five richest people or most powerful people in the world.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. He’s the largest single investor in the American economy. He’s the owner of the Four Seasons. He is… he was always received by kings and prime ministers and presidents. So he said they were mesmerized by “how you were able to tame him.” And that’s how it turned into phone calls, almost. He started calling
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me almost three, four times a day.
Q. Okay.
A. And we started discussing politics, and it was — then he asked me to help them. He said: “We need your help on social media. We want you to side with us.” I said: “Well, I always enjoyed protecting the underdogs and stood up to bullies since I was in school, so I will do that.”
And I started tweeting.
Q. Okay.
A. Sometimes information that is really beneficiary to the Qatari position —
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — that hasn’t been known to the public. And through my sources in the US and the UK, I publish it. And it turned out to be true.
And I usually publish information that a week or two after that will be published in major American newspapers. And Qataris were shocked as to how I knew all this before was even published. And
Q. Okay.
A. I said: “Well, that’s my recipe.”
A few months after that, it turned into like almost an hour to an hour and a half of conversations every day with Abdullah Al-Athbah, discussing political moves, political issues. And
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then he casually brought up the intention of inviting me to Qatar. And this was, I believe, months before my trip to Doha.
Q. When you have an invitation from a foreign government asking you to meet in their country, what does that mean from a cultural and political perspective?
A. That means they want to discuss things that cannot be discussed on the phone.
Q. Okay, so, sensitive?
A. Very sensitive, yes.
Q. Okay. I want to go back just a little bit.
You mentioned that Qatar was impressed with your ability to protect the individual that you were with in London. Why would they care about that individual being protected?
A. That individual is on their pay, as according to them. I didn’t know until they told me.
Q. What is
A. They said they finance almost 99 percent of Saudi dissidents in the US and the UK. They pay them.
Q. 99 percent?
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A. I would say — well, he said all of them. I would go with 99 hoping that leaves some room for
(Query by reporter)
He said all of them but I am saying that I would say 99.9 percent. And I think the percentage point left is going to join back too.
Q. Okay. So the individual that was physically assaulted that you protected, this person was on Qatar’s payroll?
A. According to the Qataris.
Q. And it was Saudi citizens that you believe physically assaulted?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay?
A. They were Saudi citizens, and according to the media, they claimed that they belong to the embassy of Saudi Arabia.
Q. The embassy in London?
A. In London.
Q. Okay. And were any of those individuals other than the person that you had coffee with known to you before that date?
A. No.
Q. Okay?
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A. The Saudi dissident, I knew him from a phone call he made; he called me, yes. But it was the first time I see him in person.
Q. Okay.
A. And I’ve never seen those two before in my life.
(Query by reporter) The Saudis.
Q. “They” being the two people in physically assaulted?
A. Correct. The Saudi attackers.
Q. Okay. And what is the name of the Saudi dissident that was attacked?
A. Ghanem al-Dosari.
Q. Okay?
A. He’s a well-known social media activist with a verified account on Twitter. And he’s been interviewed, I believe, by 28 international media outlets, and his political video comments. He’s a YouTuber also, for political matters.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. According to the Washington Post, New York Times and The Times in London, has exceeded 120 million views.
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Q. And that’s pretty prolific in social media?
A. Yes.
Q. So it’s fair to say he has impact?
A. Yes.
Q. Through his social media accounts?
A. Yes. Yes.
Q. And would he be viewed, in your opinion, as a threat to anybody that he had information against?
A. because I wanted to be a little bit more cautious.
Q. Okay.
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A. They tried months after that. It was, I believe, in May.
Q. Of 2018?
A. Yes, like three months, four months ago. That was the second one.
And he said: “We have been begging you to come to Doha. We would like to show you around.” I said, well, it’s 14 — I explained to them that a 14-hour flight to see a supermarket is not worth the flight.
Q. I mean, maybe it’s a Whole Foods.
A. Not worth the flight and the… And he said:
“Well, okay, let’s talk on Signal.” And that’s when we switched to Signal.
Q. Okay. How were you previously speaking?
A. WhatsApp.
Q. Via telephone or messages? Or both?
A. Both. Both. Both.
Q. Okay.
A. Sometimes would do the video. He would want to show me some documents that he doesn’t want to send copies of.
Q. Okay?
A. Very sensitive political documents.
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Q. And that was via WhatsApp?
A. WhatsApp.
Q. And why did you switch to Signal?
A. He did. He asked me to speak to Signal.
He said it’s more secured —
(Query by reporter)
He asked me to switch to Signal because, according to him, WhatsApp has been hacked before. And he wanted a secure line, and he said: “Let’s go to Signal because it hasn’t been hacked yet.”
Q. And did he say who Whatsapp had hacked — who had hacked WhatsApp?
A. Yes, I asked that question. “The three of us.” I said: “What three of us?” He said: “Us, Emiratis and Saudi, we hacked into each other’s systems through–“
Q. WhatsApp?
A. WhatsApp.
Q. Okay.
A. And regular. And of course when I got there, I found out that they literally hack everything.
Q. “Everything” being?
A. E-mails, text messages, regular phone calls, laptops. Anything you can think of. They hacked into all that. They have…
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Q. So telecommunications?
A. Yes.
Q. And “electronic” means?
A. E-mails. Everything. Laptops, phones, cellphones, cameras.
Q. And they being the country of Qatar or does somebody else do that?
A. Well, no. Someone does that for them to keep it from being tracked to Qatar. So they hired… They deal with an Italian, a group of three Italians. They call them “the engineers.”
Q. Okay?
A. They are stationed in Italy, and they get paid really well by the Government of Qatar. And there is also, they connect with an underground intelligence unit.
Q. Okay?
A. A group of people being paid salaries, really good salaries, to just create fake accounts.
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Q. Mm-hm?
A. On Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, fake numbers.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And they do serve political purposes. The engineers specialize in hacking.
Q. Okay?
A. From a location in Italy, they didn’t want to say. But those engineers have been going back and forth to Doha. Or sometimes they — but they don’t go directly. And then they were asked not to fly to Doha, so they arranged for instructions to be conveyed in person. A private jet would go to London or to any European destination; from there they connect. So they established a network. And according to them: “They say we’re doing what the others are doing.”
Q. It’s okay to do it because everybody else is doing it?
A. Basically, yes. And he said: “Saudis, Emiratis are doing it. We can do it too.”
(Query by reporter)
Emiratis, yes, are doing it “and we are doing it but we beat them at the money we pay.” That’s what he said.
Q. “The money we pay”?
A. Yeah. They pay a lot of money. He said —
Q. The Government of Qatar?
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A. Yes.
Q. Okay. More so than other people?
A. Oil and gas. They don’t work for it, they said. They always joke about the fact that he said: “If there is a chosen nation on earth, by God, he said, “it should be the Qataris. We don’t work. We sleep in. And when we get up every morning, the ground underneath us is making $100- to $200 million in gas and oil, which we don’t even dig ourself. We bring foreigners to dig it. We give them a salary and we just use it.”
So it’s all gas and oil, which won’t stop pumping until, I think, another 220 years.
So…
Q. So the Government of Qatar is confident in its position to remain in power, at least from an economic standpoint?
A. Yes, he said, and from my meetings with the top officials, they were under the impression maybe a week after the siege started that
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Q. Siege being?
A. Qatar — I mean the Emiratis — Emirati-Saudi siege.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Against Qatar.
They were worried in the first few weeks, they told me, he said, “but after that, we knew that’s it. We knew the trick. Money. We just need to control the people who control them.”
Q. So money is their control?
A. Yes. And they use it without limits.
Q. Okay. So you flew over there finally?
A. Finally I accepted because he actually spoke to me on Signal and said: “The big boss wants to meet you in person.”
Q. Who’s the big boss?
A. I was under the impression it would be the ruler of Qatar.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Who is the big boss. But when I arrived there, it was Mohammad Al-Masnad is the big boss.
Q. Who’s the Emir of Qatar?
A. Tamim Al Thani.
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Q. Okay. And have you ever met with him?
(Query by reporter)
THE WITNESS: Sorry.
BY MS. CASTANEDA:
A. with Abdullah Al-Athbah. I met with the deputy director of intelligence. I met with the two — Mohammad Al-Masnad’s also right-hand man. I met with —
Q. Who’s that?
A. A gentleman, last name, Al-Khulaifi. He’s also in the news and the pictures. Wherever Mohammad Al-Masnad goes, this guy goes with him.
Q. Okay.
(Query by reporter)
Wherever Mohammad Al-Masnad goes, his right-hand man will be with him, and he’s in the media. Like, any picture published of Mohammad
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with a beard.
A. I met with him. I met with the deputy directors of intelligence, who is also always with Mohammad Al-Masnad wherever he goes on missions.
Q. Okay?
A. My meeting with Mohammad Al-Masnad was inside the royal palace of the Emir of Qatar, in his private chamber, his private office.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. They chose that location for two reasons, according to my understanding, is that as a show of respect to me.
Q. To you?
A. Yes. And also to secure that nobody can hear anything. Apparently it is the most secured electronically location outside the CIA.
Q. And whatever they said to you, if you know, so no one can hear anything, who is — who are the people that they’re concerned with hearing, if you’re in the middle of the country?
A. They are concerned that these conversations or their details will be heard by either the Saudis or the Emiratis from — through their “moles,” as they call them, or their recruit.
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Q. Mm-hm?
A. Against the Qataris. And most importantly, CIA.
Q. Okay. So within the palace, there are moles?
A. That’s what I understood from them. So that’s why, when I walk in, they take my cellphone, they take their cellphones, and they say: “As a show of respect we are putting our cellphones they put it in a box with equipments
Q. Mm-hm?
A. around it. And they keep it outside the royal office.
Q. Okay. So the only things in this room are people?
A. People.
Q. Without any electronics?
A. Yes. But of course, fancy furniture, all gold-plated and made of gold. But, yeah. Individuals.
Q. So this room is a room made to impress and made to actually do real business?
A. This room is atta— is actually located inside the ruler’s private chamber.
Q. Okay.
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A. So —
Q. Private chamber being a bedroom or?
A. No, his office. His office.
Q. Okay.
A. The office where he discusses the most sensitive topics with the government minsters.
Q. Now, is it he the one who’s discussing or is it other people that are actually making decisions on behalf of the government? If you know?
A. I don’t know if — how it works, but they explained it to me that this is the most secured room.
Q. Okay.
A. In the world. And this is where the Emir sits. And they said: That’s his chair; that’s his door; that’s his private meeting room.
And that’s where I sat down with Mohammad Al-Masnad and deputy director and the other individuals I’ve mentioned.
Q. Okay. Does it strike you as either odd and/or surprising that the Emir himself was not there to speak with you about things that the Government of Qatar felt were so important?
A. Maybe. I thought he would be there, but then when I, after a couple of hours of talking,
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I understood that the Emir of Qatar doesn’t want — he’s not in charge. Mohammad
Q. He’s not in charge?
A. No. Mohammad Al-Masnad runs the show. I was on my way to the palace in the morning, and with an assigned bodyguard and driver from the intelligence. And Abdullah Al-Athbah called me to say that: “The foreign minister just found out that you’re here.”
Q. Mm-hm?
A. “And he would like to have lunch with you. And we told him you’re busy.” And I said: “Why is that?” He said: “Why would you care to meet with a secretary when you are going to meet with the CEO?” CEO meaning Mohammad Al-Masnad.
Q. Mm-hm.
A. So the foreign minister of Qatar is also deputy prime minister and he’s a member of the ruling family.
(Query by reporter)
The Emir of Qatar, yeah, after a couple of hours, I was convinced that the Emir of Qatar does not run the show and Mohammad Al-Masnad is in charge
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of everything. He is also the Emir’s uncle.
Q. Okay?
A. He is also the first cousin to the Emir’s mother. And the Emir’s mother is the real king of Qatar.
Q. She’s a queen.
A. Well, they call her the king; I said: “The queen–“
Q. She’s really the king?
A. Yeah. Because in the Middle East you have to — I said: “Why would you call her the king? He said: “Because we don’t allow queens to rule.” He said: “Women are not allowed to rule or have power, so they prefer to call her king.”
Q. And what is her name?
A. Sheikha Moza al-Missned. Just same last name as Mohammad Al-Masnad. And what I was informed is that she appointed Mohammad Al-Masnad back in 2006 or ’07, when —
Q. She herself?
A. She herself. She decides.
Q. But she doesn’t have the power to do that, at least to the —
A. Nothing official.
Q: So how—
A: Officially, she doesn’t have any title except her charity foundations.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: But off the record, she decides the policies. She meets with Mohammad Al-Masnad, government ministers, and she decides.
Q: And how did she come into this position?
A: Well, she belongs to a family—al-Missned is actually a family that was so opposed to the rulers of Qatar back in the 1950s, and they fled Qatar and went to Kuwait.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: As an opposition family. Moza al-Missned is probably the smartest woman I’ve ever heard of. She vowed, because her father and her family were kicked out and fled with nothing and went to Kuwait…
Q: Mm-hm?
A: She vowed to not only get her family back but that she would be the ruler of Qatar one day.
Q: She herself?
A: She herself.
Page 42
Q: In any way that it needed to happen?
A: By all means necessary.
Q: Okay?
A: And she found a way, through the international fashion industry or whatever, to connect with the son of the Emir of Qatar.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Who is Tamim’s father—because the ruler of Qatar is her son.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And she managed to get him to fall in love with her, marry her, and leave his other four or five wives and their children. She managed to eliminate her opponents one after another, and…
Q: Which number of wife is she, if you know?
A: She is, I think, either the fifth or the sixth. The last one.
Q: Okay?
A: Nobody after that.
Q: She was the final?
A: She’s the final. And she—
Q: According to the Qatari constitution, the current ruler, her son, Tamim, shouldn’t be a ruler. The Emir of Qatar from his first wives, he has older sons.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And she managed to put them on the side.
Q: Internally negotiate?
A: No. She gave them one of two choices: Either we accuse you of being insane and we throw you in a mental institute; or you voluntarily accept that her son is going to be the ruler. Her son is also her second son.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: So her eldest son wasn’t fit. She convinced him to step aside, and she put Tamim, the current one. She decides which minister should hold which Ministry.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And for how long. So one of the Emir’s sons was sent to a mental institute, who is still there now, because he complained that he should be in line to become the ruler.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: He is way older than the current ruler, but he’s from another wife.
Q: And where is he, if you know, where is he held?
A: They say he’s in some hospital in Qatar.
Q: Within their country?
A: Within their country, yes. They don’t allow them to go outside because then the scandal would be… So she eliminated everybody who could have posed a threat to her son and her power.
Q: In her line?
A: Her line.
Q: Okay.
A: And she appointed her son—her second son, which is Tamim.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Her first son wasn’t fit either.
Q: Where is he?
A: He’s in Qatar, in Doha. They give him honorary titles, and probably $500 to $700 million a year to…
Q: Play?
A: To play. And he agreed. He’s not fit to be a ruler for psychological reasons. So Tamim was appointed, but Tamim is not trained for all this. So he understood that he will be a ruler in title, but the real rulers are Mohammad Al-Masnad and his mother.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And the Palestinian Azmi Bishara. He’s the head of the Qatar think tank in Doha.
Q: Okay.
A: But really, he is probably the second most powerful man in Qatar.
Q: And Sheikha Moza appointed all of them?
A: Sheikha Moza influences a lot of decisions. Many decisions are made based on whether or not she’s okay with that. She also made sure that the former Prime Minister of Qatar, when he left, would not think about coming back to power, so she got him busy—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: —with a lawsuit filed by another Qatari in London courts. That kept him—
Q: Occupied?
A: Occupied. And because he left his position as Prime Minister of Qatar.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: He was one of the most influential people in the world, but he was forced to resign. The deal was he keeps all the money he took, around $15 to $16 billion he stole.
Q: “Billion” with a “b”?
A: “B,” yes. So the deal was: Resign, go to London.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And you can keep the money. Nobody will ever bother you. But leave my son alone. So her son became ruler, and that guy went to London. But then she instigated a lawsuit to keep him from thinking about anything else. When the lawsuit became media coverage and very serious, she sent a messenger to him and said: “Well, we can protect you by giving you diplomatic status at the Qatari embassy in London. Then you have immunity. If you want me to do this favor, you have to ask.” And he knew, if he asked for that favor, it meant he could not continue posing a threat. And that’s what happened.
Q: Qatari embassy, which is registered with the Foreign Ministry of the UK?
Q: Mm-hm?
A: As a diplomatic advisor, to justify giving him diplomatic immunity.
Q: Diplomatic immunity?
A: And the minute he gained that, he was saved from the lawsuit. But now he is saving another scandal, which—Barclays, because he also took another £400 million, which is almost a billion.
Q: Because the other billion he received was not enough?
A: It was not enough.
Q: I mean, it is expensive, it’s 2019, so…
A: Yes, it is. And that’s why they need more and more. It’s a small country, 250,000 people population. They wake up at 10 o’clock, work for an hour, then take a nap after lunch for five hours. That’s the routine. So you need somebody to run the show. There is no Parliament, no Congress. They are the government. The rest are public relations. It’s a birthday cake to them. Qatar is a birthday cake.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And they just divided it among them. They leave scraps to the people. But from the outside, Qatar’s the richest country on earth.
Q: Right. So you were invited to Doha—
A: I was invited and I said to—
(Query by reporter)
Q: Doha, and you met with the power of the country, in a secure room, with no electronics?
A: Yes.
Q: What did you discuss?
A: Almost everything I wanted to ask. They made it very clear to me—Abdullah al-Athbah was aware and present in many meetings. He said: “Now you’re here. Whatever you cannot ask us outside Qatar, you can ask us now.”
Q: Mm-hm?
A: “We will answer all your questions no matter how embarrassing you think they might be.” But they added that there is a lawsuit that is going to happen. From the conversation, I think they were monitoring your clients’ phones because they knew everything.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: They knew they were planning on filing a lawsuit. They knew about your name even before you actually stepped in. How, I have no idea.
Q: You mean, before this lawsuit was filed?
A: Yes.
Q: Did they tell you that we were in negotiations with an attorney in Miami to settle this case before we filed?
A: Yes, they did. They brought that up and said they are not interested in settling because settling is admitting that something wrong happened.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And they don’t want to admit to that. I said: “So then just issue a statement. If it didn’t happen, just issue a statement.” He said: “No. It happened. But we’re not worried about what those guys are saying. We’re worried about what will be dug up from under the desert sand.” Which I didn’t understand. Then they said Khalid Al Thani had killed people.
Q: Sheik Khalid Al-Thani?
A: Yes.
Q: The defendant named in this case?
A: Yes.
Q: Sheik Khalid bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani?
A: Yes. The person you are suing.
Q: One of the three defendants of this case?
A: Yes. They said they’re not worried about what’s being said in the lawsuit; they’re worried about what hasn’t been said. He killed people, and he buried them. We don’t want that to come up, so we’ll just make this lawsuit go away. That’s where your name and your lawsuit came in.
Q: And we discussed everything, from Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s briberies, that they are—
(Query by reporter)
Q: Ilhan Omar.
(Query by reporter)
Q: Briberies, and how they recruited her; all the way to Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and how they played a major role in exposing him to the Saudis to provoke the kind of reaction.
Q: When you say “provoke” and “expose him,” what does that mean? Tell me a little about him. How is he related to the Qataris?
A: Jamal Khashoggi, from my meetings, I understood, like, I knew that Jamal Khashoggi and Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal were very close friends. I knew from my negotiations with Prince Al-Waleed that somebody was leaking secrets—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: —about the Saudi Royal Family that they didn’t want to be leaked. They were reaching specific media outlets indirectly sponsored by Qatar from way before the siege started.
Q: Okay.
A: So the Qataris were apparently in cahoots with Jamal Khashoggi. He would receive sensitive secrets—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: —from or through Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and other members of the ruling family, and he leaks them to the Qataris. The Qataris would leak them to media outlets that are…
Q: Willing to print that information?
A: Yes.
Q: In a light that was not favorable?
A: What I understood was he was playing both sides. He was misleading the Saudis by pretending to be their friend—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: —as a Saudi citizen and former advisor to the head of Saudi Intelligence, part of the system.
Q: So he’s a former advisor to Saudi Intelligence?
A: Yes. Prince Turki Al Faisal was head of the Intelligence.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Then he was appointed ambassador of Saudi in the UK, and then ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Washington. Jamal Khashoggi was his advisor in all these three positions. He was also the secret messenger to Osama bin Laden from the Saudis; when they wanted to deliver a message to Osama bin Laden, they sent Jamal Khashoggi. There are pictures posted of Jamal Khashoggi carrying a machine gun in Afghanistan after a visit with—and he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. I got that confirmation from the Qatari officials.
Q: And he was a member until he was killed?
A: Until he was killed.
Q: ‘Til death?
A: Yes, ’til then. He was on Qatar’s payroll, and they were paying him, buying him.
Q: Do you know when he joined Qatar’s payroll?
A: Way long before Mohammad Musselman—
(Query by reporter)
Q: The current Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Musselman, was appointed. Way before that. He was on Qatar’s payroll.
Q: And was he ever a journalist?
A: He was.
Q: Was he in intelligence before he was a journalist?
A: Yes, and he was in intelligence while he was a journalist. Being a journalist is the best cover for any intelligence agency. When they want to send someone in, they give them the title of journalist or recruit a journalist.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Because that’s the best way of asking questions without raising a red flag. So Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist, and for several years, he was working a double-agent thing.
Q: When you say “thing,” was he a double agent?
A: He was. I didn’t know he was a double agent until he was killed, but I got the confirmation when I was in Doha.
Q: Okay.
A: The Qataris wanted him to die.
Q: Why is that?
A: Because he tricked them too. He was leaking information to the Saudis, according to them.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: That Qataris didn’t want to be leaked. So, according to them, Khashoggi was leaking Qatari info to the Saudis and Saudi info to the Qataris, collecting money from both sides.
Q: Hence why he received the penthouse in Istanbul paid for by the Qatari government, which his fiancée now owns. And it was doctored up without any legal justification for her to own it because—
Q: No—
A: She wasn’t his wife.
Q: Right?
A: But because of her very strong relationship with Turkish intelligence and the President of Turkey, they changed the rules for her and made an exception.
Q: So she owns the penthouse, which was paid for by the government of Qatar?
Q: Is she herself in intelligence or labeled a journalist?
A: She’s not a journalist but an activist, according to her title.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: But she works with Turkish intelligence through the President of Turkey’s top advisor. They are very close friends. So she cooperates with the intelligence.
Q: And the “activist” title, is that one she gave herself?
A: Yes.
Q: Is that what she uses on social media?
A: Yes. And that’s what she used also when she showed up at the conference a couple of weeks ago.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Where the owner of Amazon and the owner of Washington Post were present and hugged her, and they both were so sad that Jamal Khashoggi’s anniversary just came around. But it’s all about the money. These are not sincere cries.
Q: So Jamal’s title as a journalist is in media, obviously mainstream media. Who was the first outlet, if you know, to print that that’s who he was or what he did?
A: In favor of his name, I think media outlets owned by Qatar.
Q: Okay.
A: But some actually did publish—I don’t recall the names, but they did publish—the fact that he was involved with Saudi intelligence for, I think, 18 years.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And he was a messenger who went to Afghanistan. According to the Qataris, when Jamal Khashoggi fled to Washington, he made a deal with the CIA.
Q: Washington, D.C.?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay, so the United States?
A: Yeah, United States, and that’s where he lived until he got killed.
Q: Okay. And the news shows that Saudi Arabia was to blame for his death mainly?
A: Yes.
Q: Was that intentional on the part of Qatar?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay.
A: I know the Qataris leaked specific things about Jamal Khashoggi to the Saudis indirectly that provoked them into deciding to kidnap him and bring him back to Saudi Arabia. That was the initial plan.
Q: Okay?
A: To kidnap him. He wouldn’t have walked into the Saudi consulate without assurances from the highest level of Saudi officials. But the Qataris also said to him: Choose the Saudi consulate in Istanbul because Turkey is Qatar’s playground.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: So he fell for it. The Qataris convinced him it’s a good idea to go in and see what they have to say.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And that was the last time he walked in.
Q: Walked in general?
A: In general. Yes.
Q: So the Qataris provided assurances that led him to his death?
A: Yes. And leaked information about him to the Saudis that provoked their anger.
Q: Right. So you mentioned that many things were discussed in your closed-door, no-electronics meeting. One of the things you mentioned was Ilhan Omar.
Q: Was that name known to you before you flew to Doha?
A: Yes.
Q: How?
A: They were talking about her on the phone with me.
Q: “They” being Qatar?
A: Qatar, yes. They call her Sister Ilhan, a term you only use when you’re a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. So Abdullah al-Athbah refers to Ilhan Omar as Sister Ilhan, and Sister Linda, which is Linda Sarsour, the other activist who is now going to run for Senate.
Q: Mm-hm? These are Americans?
A: Yes. Linda Sarsour is a well-known activist, and Ilhan Omar is a Senator. But I knew they recruited Ilhan Omar way before she even thought about becoming a government official.
Q: They recruited her. So Qatar recruited—
A: Qatar recruited her.
Q: —Ilhan Omar. And what does that mean?
A: That means they groomed her and arranged the foundation for her to get into politics way before she even showed interest. They convinced her. They consider her the “jewel of the Crown,” as they called her.
Q: Jewel of Qatar’s crown?
A: Yes. And their Trojan horse. In one comment, they referred to her in a very derogatory way, saying: “If it wasn’t for our money, she would be another black Somali refugee working part-time at Starbucks.” That’s it.
Q: Did they seek her out?
A: Yes. From my understanding, somebody recommended her to the Qataris. They had several names, several options to pick from, to appoint, because they call her winning the elections an appointment.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: He said: “We appointed her in the Senate.” He said: “We were considering several names to appoint in the Senate, but we settled on Ilhan because of her father’s history.”
Q: And what is that?
A: Very violent interrogations. He was part of the unit in charge of interrogating military opponents in the Somali army. He was a general, I think, or high-ranking officer who also had a history of making visits to the US and military ties with the US when the regime was in charge of Somalia.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Her father has a history of interrogating people very violently, and they thought that would be very suitable because the more dirt you have on your candidate, the easier to control the candidate.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Because you can remind them that “maybe we can leak all this stuff.”
Q: So they apply the Mafia style. They recruit someone when they know they can trace everything about them to use it against them if they don’t obey orders?
Q: Is her father labeled a terrorist by anybody?
A: No.
Q: Does he engage in terrorist activities in any country that you know of?
A: No.
Q: So he has a violent history and past?
A: Well, he was an interrogator in the Somali army, yes. He was an officer.
Q: And that’s, as far as you can tell, generally frowned upon?
A: Yes. But I think there were other reasons for them to specifically choose Ilhan Omar.
Q: Mm-hm? So she’s from Somalia; she’s an American now, correct?
A: Yeah. She came as a refugee to the US. That’s why specific Muslim Brotherhood organizations seek out specific people at specific locations.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And they groom them.
Q: Okay?
A: And they said she had to swear allegiance to the Turkish President, Erdogan.
Q: She—they—so Qatar told her she had to swear allegiance to Turkey?
A: That’s what they told me.
Q: Right?
A: That she swore allegiance to the President of Turkey, Erdogan. Hence, some pictures were published.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: With her meeting with Erdogan before she became a Senator. The initial meeting was her and a group of people too. They showed me a picture of her with Erdogan. The way she was sitting, they said, “She’s sitting like a student facing the principal after doing something bad.” Erdogan, in the picture, you can see him crossing his legs with his shoe facing her. And they said: “There you go.”
Q: So the body language of that photo spoke volumes?
A: Yes.
Q: About that situation?
A: About that situation. So to them, she is the Trojan horse because she sits in a very sensitive committee and has access to information that the US doesn’t want to be leaked out.
Q: Was that Qatar’s goal?
A: One of the goals, yes.
Q: To have access to information—
A: To information.
Q: —that’s publicly available?
(Query by reporter)
A: Yes.
Q: Does that include classified information?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. So she was groomed by Qatar?
A: Yes.
Q: To reach the position she currently holds in the United States Government in 2019?
A: That’s what they told me.
Q: And she was funded by them? I’m assuming that campaigning costs money.
A: Yes. They were the main source of her money, but it was disbursed and delivered in many different methods, including some guy opening a PayPal, I believe; they brought that up.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: They sought every possible method to provide money without raising a red flag.
Q: And they picked her because she was weak and vulnerable to the information they had?
A: Yes. Apparently, she did not object to any of the demands they set as conditions to appoint her in the Senate.
Q: Do you know what those were or are?
A: No.
Q: Okay.
A: No. But full obedience and…
Q: So, Turkish favors as voiced by the Government of Qatar?
A: Correct.
Q: Okay.
A: Yes. Ilhan Omar didn’t show any objection to that, according to the Qataris. I never had direct contact with her, but according to them, yes. Given that she’s such an obedient “element,” as they call her, they wanted to—
Q: So if Qatar is going after Imam Tawhidi because he is critical—
A: Of—
Q: Publicly critical of Ilhan Omar?
A: Correct.
Q: And how is he publicly critical of her?
A: He obtains information that is solid and confirmed that exposes her true activities.
Q: Her allegiance to the Government of Qatar, not to the Government of the United States?
A: Correct. Apparently, she doesn’t like that at all. So the Qataris asked me if I could do this favor for them, in addition to helping them recruit other people, politicians, and newspaper reporters: if I could arrange for a lawsuit against Tawhidi that would allow Ilhan Omar to capitalize on and sue him for defamation of character.
Q: Their plan was to drum up information about Imam Tawhidi that is not true?
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And then turn it into a media report in one of the prominent newspapers in the US.
Q: And that turns into a possible lawsuit, which they asked if I’m willing to sponsor the legal action part?
Q: They asked you to engage in criminal activity—
A: They asked me—
Q: —knowing that information published in a newspaper was untruthful—
A: About—
Q: —and would be the basis of a fraudulent lawsuit?
A: Yes.
Q: And what did you say?
A: I said, “I don’t do that.” I said, “Unless you really have evidence against the guy, I’m not going to do that because I don’t see anything wrong with him exposing secrets that are true.”
Q: Mm-hm?
A: If she’s doing all these things he’s saying she’s doing, I won’t be able to sleep at night, knowing I sent the guy to jail based on false accusations.
Q: They said: “It will be a major favor for Ilhan Omar, and she will return the favor any way you want.” I said: “No, I don’t need her favors.”
Q: And what did you understand that to mean?
A: I have no idea. But from my discussions in Doha, Ilhan Omar is cooperating with the Qataris in providing them with information that is shared with the Iranian government. They also claim that some officials in the US are aware of this cooperation between Qatar and Ilhan Omar, especially within her party. They said, according to Ilhan, she’s got her base covered. So even if they know about her, they need her.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: To do some favors for them within the Senate, so they will look the other way. They also used her to recruit more Senators, at least for the time being. They said the best thing money can buy is American officials because they are the cheapest of the cheapest costing officials in the world. They said British officials demand millions.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: To be recruited. American politicians, some of them accept $50,000. They brought names of specific American officials that I prefer not to mention. They told me that they came to Doha, got paid, and the Qataris taped the entire conversation.
(Query by reporter)
Q: The Qatari intelligence secretly taped all their conversations with every American official who asked the Qataris for money. And they did the same thing with American reporters.
Q: So when Qatar asks somebody to do something for them, it’s recorded?
A: Everything.
Q: Audio?
A: Audio. Secret video.
A: Break away from the recruitment.
Q: So does the Government of Qatar record anybody they have asked to do a favor for them for leverage?
A: Everybody.
Q: To use against them at a later date?
A: If they decide to—
Q: If needed?
A: Disobey, yes.
Q: Okay?
A: They said they don’t use it unless they disobey them. Somehow, if need be, some officials would be indirectly hinted to: “Remember that trip you made to Doha?”
Q: Mm-hm?
A: “Somebody was taping it for some reason.”
Q: And that would be an issue because it’s illegal to work for a foreign government?
A: Yes.
Q: If you’re in the United States Government?
A: Exactly. And if they leak that—
Q: Unless you properly notify whoever needs to know?
A: Which they didn’t. Some American officials accepted money from Qatar without notifying. Payments—
Q: That would be considered a foreign contact, correct?
A: Yes. Yes. The Qataris are fully aware. They have videos and pictures of American officials in Doha asking, discussing money, and how it’s going to be filtered.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Away from the media or American government officials who are actually sincere about their jobs.
Q: The Qataris have leaked to the Iranian government sensitive information about the American military base in Al Udeid.
(Query by reporter)
Q: Al Udeid, it’s an American military base in Doha, in Qatar.
Q: They leaked it to the Iranians, and the Iranians know everything about American activity.
Q: The Qataris also brag that they need more of Sister Ilhan in the Senate because, once the “orange man” is out, and his greedy demands, as they call him—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: They refer to Trump as “the orange man.”
Q: Trump is “the orange man”?
A: Trump is “the orange man.” They refer to Jared Kushner as the “descendant of pigs and apes” because he’s Jewish.
Q: Because he’s Jewish?
A: Yes. They refer to other American Senators and Congressmen who are Christians as “Crusaders,” and—because Qatar is even more Wahabi than Saudi Arabia.
Q: And what does that mean?
A: The extremists of the extremist faction of Islam is Wahabi, which is what Osama bin Laden is, what Al-Qaeda is.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Hence why all I saw in the resort where I was staying were leaders of Taliban, Iranian officials, and Muslim Brotherhood leaders sitting in the lobby dining.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Because they all had bodyguards, and that resort is strictly for secret government guests.
Q: Not for your traditional tourists?
A: No. No. Everybody had a bodyguard. Electronic gates when you enter or exit. Everybody wants to know why you’re there.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Every floor has its own secret code to enter so nobody sees the other.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: I was a guest of the royal palace, so I got to see everybody.
Q: Of which country?
A: Several countries. What was noticeable to me was that seeing Western officials there wasn’t shocking, but seeing leaders from Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And other Egyptians I overheard talking over the breakfast buffet in the morning.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: I know they are wanted in Egypt.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: They’re all living there. Some of them have been living in the resort for the past seven months. Qatar pays for everything. The Government of Qatar pays for everything.
Q: And they’re living there to avoid accountability? Justice?
A: Or being arrested, yes.
Q: Okay. I want to go back a little to Ilhan Omar again. So she was recruited by the Government of Qatar before she was a member of the United States Government?
A: That’s what they told me.
Q: Okay. They saw her as a vulnerability, somebody who had vulnerabilities, and they agreed to fund her?
A: Yes.
Q: And they did so in numerous ways?
A: Yes.
Q: Were they aware, or was she married at the time?
A: I didn’t ask that, but they mentioned to me that—I said: Why would a woman in hijab, because I was under the impression that she’s a devout Muslim—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: I said: A woman in hijab takes bribes? They said: “Don’t be fooled by her headscarf. She’s a sex maniac, and she is very weak when it comes to money and sex. And we got both.”
Q: So they used those two factors to influence her?
A: That’s what they were referring to.
Q: Did they fund her before she first became an American official in any way?
A: Yes.
Q: And did they continue to fund her since that date?
A: Yes.
Q: And they fund her now?
A: According to the last conversation with them, yes.
Q: And who’s “them”?
A: Abdullah Al-Athbah, Mohammad Al-Masnad, the Qatari official deputy director of intelligence.
(Query by reporter)
Q: Abdullah Al-Athbah, who is in the subpoena; Mohammad Al-Masnad, who is in the subpoena; and deputy director of intelligence. He’s not in the subpoena.
Q: Are they aware that she may have married her brother?
A: Yes. They are aware of all her, as they call it, “dirty deeds.”
Q: And how do you say that in Arabic?
A: “Aemal al wasre” (ph.). They are aware of all of that, and the more, the merrier to them.
Q: Because it’s power for them?
A: Yes.
Q: And they use it against her if needed?
A: Yes, and use it as a method to protect her. No American media outlet that is getting paid by Qatar has spoken about her sexual scandals.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Because they were ordered not to. So they tell her, the Qatari officials tell Ilhan through a third party: “Don’t worry about it.”
Q: That they needed me to help them recruit new reporters. Important reporters.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: For example, they don’t care about German or French media outlets.
Q: Why is that?
A: They said they have no influence in international—
Q: Politics or influence?
A: Politics, yeah. They only focus on—
Q: The business?
A: UK and US. That’s it.
Q: United Nations and the United States?
A: That’s it.
Q: Okay.
A: So—
Q: And who did they tell you to specifically target?
A: Not target. They said some of them will approach me. They said: “We will leak to them some information that will be a good thing to publish as a report, then we will suggest to them to contact Alan Bender. When they contact you, suggest a meeting, and see—”
Q: You meet with them?
A: I meet with them.
Q: Okay.
A: To see if I could recruit them. Which is not something new.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Governments do that all the time to try to recruit reporters. Many of those reporters are actually digging information to publish, not to really publish but to use as a reason to contact the embassy of those Gulf states.
A: So they say to him: “Can we talk?” That’s how they recruited some American reporters.
Q: Okay?
A: Who got paid. I was aware of that. I have specific names that I know were recruited by Qatar. They are working in well-known media outlets and are on Qatar’s payroll. They can’t get out of it.
Q: Does that include The New York Times?
A: I’d rather not mention specific names, but I have, yes, several names that I am told we have reporters in The New York Times who work for them.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: Washington Post.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And some other media outlets. They said: “We have some people in CNN.”
Q: Who at CNN?
A: I’d rather not say because I know the name and details and…
Q: Is this an individual who has influence in the media?
A: Yes. Yes.
Q: Is it a man or a woman?
A: A woman.
Q: And Qatar funded this person to be in the position that they’re in?
A: That’s what they said to me, yes.
Q: And how much does Qatar pay journalists, if you know the going rate or how that—
A: It depends. They said some American journalists are so cheap they ask for $5,000. We give them 7.
Q: For an article or per month or?
A: For an article.
(Query by reporter)
Q: They would ask for just $5,000 to not print a report?
Q: Not to print?
A: Not to print.
Q: So not printing is also a statement?
A: Oh, yes. But if they approach a reporter to print, the price changes. It goes to triple, double.
Q: Okay?
A: But—
Q: So Qatar will approach journalists, or be approached, and put them on payroll in that way?
A: They pay both ways. If you don’t publish, we pay you.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: If you want to publish something we ask you, we’ll also pay you. Because not publishing means it has damaging information about Qatari officials.
Q: Right?
A: To them, that doesn’t—is not worth a lot of money unless it’s coming from Washington Post, New York Times, CNN.
Q: Someone, if they were to print, would have some damage?
A: Yes.
Q: On the Government of Qatar?
A: Of those media outlets. But, like, Washington Examiner, they’re not interested.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: New York Post, they’re not interested.
Q: They have specific lists of names. They claim they were advised to follow this strategy by think tanks in the US, which they pay.
Q: Are these think tanks owned by Qatar?
A: Yes. They get paid plenty. There is a payment showing on the record so they can justify why they are connecting with Qatar—
Q: Mm-hm?
A: —as a think tank.
Q: Okay.
A: And there are payments that are not disclosed to the IRS.
Q: And what are those think tanks?
A: Casino chips. Cash. Monetary gifts. Packages. Properties.
Q: That’s how Qatar pays whoever works?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. And—
A: Casino chips are untraceable, so they give you a casino chip from Monte Carlo; that’s worth $100,000.
A: Why they wanted me to participate in framing you—
Q: About their own school, about Emirati women who have previously been married to Qatari men, and their children, attending school?
A: They don’t care about that. One of the cases they’re using as leverage is the case of Princess Hend al-Qassimi. They told me: “We’re just going to use it to achieve political goals.”
Q: Is she viewed as threatening to them because of her use of social media—
A: Yes.
Q: —for her cause?
A: Yes.
Q: Is she causing damage, in their opinion—
A: In their—
Q: —as to their reputation?
A: Correct, yes.
Q: And their position in the world?
A: Correct.
Q: Ministry of Education where political prisoners are kept, and they haven’t seen the sun or daylight in years?
Q: Are these Qatari prisoners citizens?
A: Some of them—yes, Qatari citizens. Some are members of the ruling family who were opposed to the takeover.
Q: Sheikha Moza’s takeover?
(Query by reporter)
Q: Sheikha Moza’s takeover?
A: Sheikha Moza’s or Sheik Hamad, Tamim’s father, how he—because he removed his father.
Q: Right?
A: A lot of members of the ruling family were against that. So he imprisoned a lot of them to set an example to warn the others. He also deprived thousands of Qataris of their citizenship to punish them for siding with his father after he removed him.
Q: Members of tribes?
A: Yes.
Q: Which tribes?
A: Al Murrah. I believe it was Al Murrah.
Q: And where are those individuals?
A: They were kicked out of Qatar and forced to walk to the Saudi border. Some of them were in hospital beds. They pulled them out of the hospital and told them: “You need to leave because members of your tribe sided with the previous ruler, so we decided to punish the entire tribe. So, walk.”
Q: Were they stripped of their citizenship?
A: Yes, and their rights to healthcare, education.
Q: Were they afforded due process in the stripping of that—
A: No.
Q: And they were hosted by neighboring countries?
A: Saudi Arabia.
Q: Took in those people who had no home?
A: Correct.
Q: And no citizenship?
A: Correct.
Q: So you mentioned KH Holding is known by the Government of Qatar, based upon your discussion, to be a money laundering firm?
A: I didn’t hear of the name until they brought it up, as Khalid owns it or “runs” it, they call it.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: And “we don’t want that dirt to come out because we use companies in the US to launder money.”
Q: When you want to hire a politician and you say: We have a company in the US who needs your advisory services, it’s justifiable payment. He would make a phone call that lasts seven minutes and they—
Q: “He” being who?
A: The politician or specific official they want to recruit.
Q: Okay.
A: And they tell him: “Just be on the phone with us, just to show on the record that you spoke to us to give us advice, and $500,000 will be transferred to you.”
Q: And it is?
A: And it is. Some officials get recruited for $50,000. Others need $12 million.
Q: 12 million. Is that a journalist or—
A: No.
Q: —a person in—
A: A journalist will never get more than $1 million, but politicians, yes.
Q: Is that Qatar’s cap? That’s what they’ve paid to date, up to $1 million to journalists?
A: To journalists, yes. But to the person who owns the media outlet, they pay way more. They can invest in it through companies that exist in the United States. Hence…
Q: So shell companies. Okay. And is that what Brookfield did?
A: I was told that Brookfield was one of the companies that Qatar used to pay Jared Kushner $1.4 billion.
Q: $1.4 billion for what?
A: To pay off his debts and his real estate in the US.
Q: For 666 Fifth Avenue in New York?
A: Correct. According to them, they had to do it.
Q: They had to do it? Qatar had to pay Brookfield that amount of money?
A: Not Brookfield. Pay Kushner through Brookfield.
Q: And why did they have to—why couldn’t they pay Kushner directly?
A: Too risky.
Q: For what?
A: Media, government notifications. Everybody would notice that Qatar paid him directly, but—
Q: Violations of United States law?
A: Yes. Which they don’t think exists. They said that once the Democrats—they said: “We recruited both Republicans and Democrats, but that’s not good enough. We want to rule the White House.” So they will.
Q: The Government of Qatar would like to rule the White House?
A: Yes, through their own recruits.
Q: Through Congress?
A: Yes.
Q: Through the Senate? Through paying people off?
A: Yes.
(Query by reporter)
Q: Through the Senate?
A: Yes.
Q: Through American officials?
A: Yes.
Q: And was Qatar well aware of the deal that this money was going to go to Kushner before they paid Brookfield?
A: Qatar is the largest or one of the largest investors in Brookfield, in billions of dollars.
Q: Mm-hm?
A: They keep that as a backup in case they need to use it without stirring waves.
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A. Mm-hm?
Q. One of the ways that it became so handy is the fact that when Kushner demanded that money I them.
A. Jared Kushner approached the Government of Qatar for a bailout of 666 Fifth Avenue?
Q. Correct. That’s what they told me. They said that they didn’t want to pay him because he — apparently either Jared Kushner or his father approached the Qataris before they won the White House.
A. Well, his father’s in prison so it was probably
Q. His was —
A. His father’s a felon. It was probably Jared himself, though you do have an email system called Corrslink (sic) in federal prison that
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allows you to correspond with people outside the Bureau of Prisons?
Q. So, according to them, they were approached about this specific property.
A. This property?
Q. Yes, years before they — he said, before they took over the White House.
A. Okay?
Q. The Kushner family.
A. Okay. And is this property known for — I mean, $1.4 billion is quite a lot of money. Is this property bailout, I’ll call it, or purchase, known as a weakness to the Kushner family? Was this property
Q. Correct.
A. — failing, if you know?
Q. Miserably.
A. Okay?
Q. And I said to them: “You got Brookfield in trouble by forcing them to pay 1.4 billion, because Brookfield is also a Canadian company.”
A. Mm-hm?
Q. They said: “Well, that’s why we need you to keep the media out of this,” because nobody of Brookfield?
A. Yes. They didn’t want to do it.
Q. Did not. So they had awareness of company of Brookfield that they would ensure the purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue for $1.4 billion if it failed?
A. Correct. Because Brookfield wasn’t convinced that this is a good investment, and they — apparently the Qataris were told that this is bad. But the Qataris didn’t want to explain to Brookfield the actual political reason for this payment.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And they just told them: “Find a way
Q. They, the Government of Qatar, told Brookfield?
A. “Find a way to pay Jared Kushner without going by the book.” Because if they go by the book
Q. You can’t.
A. You can’t.
Q. There’s no ‘by the book’ for this scenario.
A. No, and the Qataris guaran–
Q. It’s illegal?
A. Yeah. Guaranteed it. And apparently an executive from Brookfield was refusing to accept that, this deal. And they said: “We just had a scandal here and this is going to be another scandal because this is people’s money.” And they said, “Well, don’t touch people’s money, touch our money. Just do it.”
And they did it. And Kushner is happy with them because, according to them, I don’t know Kushner personally, but the Qataris said Kushner told them: “Choose one of two. You pay what I tell you to pay, or I unleash my dogs.”
Q. And the dogs being who?
A. Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Q. Those are big dogs? Powerful dogs?
A. Yes.
Q. So Qatar was well aware of how this was all going to be handled by Brookfield?
A. Yes. And I asked them, I said: “Did you know
(Query by reporter)
Q. By Brookfield?
A. Yes.
Q. And who was going to be paid, which was Jared Kushner or his family?
A. Yes.
Q. Who owns, or owned, 666 Fifth Avenue?
A. Yes, and they told me that they won’t see a penny of that money because it’s a lost cause. Said: “This is the worst investment in history. And we know we’re not getting anything. We just paid it to pay off his debt. And as long as he’s in the White House, we have to do what he wants until we control the White House.” “We” as in Qatar.
Q. Okay. Then what did the Qatari Foreign Minister tell you about this deal?
A. The Foreign Minister didn’t speak to
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me but Intelligence, and Al-Masnad, Al-Athbah, they said: “It’s the worst. We threw $1.4 billion down the toilet. It’s not coming back. It’s not a good investment, it’s the worst investment. It’s a lost cause.”
Q. Mm-hm?
A. “But we have to do it.” He said: “It’s going to take us about three weeks to make it back from oil and gas, but as an investment it’s the worst.”
Q. So an investment from a financial standpoint?
A. The worst.
Q. Ridiculous. Terrible. From a political investment standpoint?
A. The best.
Q. Wonderful?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And what was your involvement with this?
A. I did not have — because it already took place before I went to Doha. It happened. But I knew the details of it, and they were asking me not to allow the media to have access to what I know.
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Q. So the media control was your involvement with this deal?
A. Well, yes. They asked me: “If you get a call from a specific individual or a reporter
Q. Mm-hm?
A. “– asking about this, just tell them ‘I have no knowledge of any illegal procedure in this deal,’ and just let it fly.
Q. And did you get calls about this?
A. I got calls, yes.
Q. What did you say?
A. I said: “No comment.”
guys — the lobbyists, they refer to them as their guys.”
Q. Okay?
A. In America.
Q. Okay?
A. And he said: “The guys suggested that this is the best way to do it. And don’t send
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money directly because you’re not sending $14. This is 1.4 billion. Someone in the U.S. Government is going to be–
Q. You can’t even send 14 cents without reporting it?
A. Exactly. So somebody is going to know and is going to ask questions. “And even though you control most of American media, someone is going to raise a red flag. that.”
So let’s not do
Q. So there are media outlets that Qatar feels they can’t control?
A. Yes.
Q. That could print something and have impact —
A. Yes.
Q. — that would have detrimental impact on the Government of Qatar?
A. Correct. Correct. But he also said: “Give us another year and we will own the field in
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A. During my meeting. In June of 2018?
Q. Yes. In Doha.
A. So we’re a year from that. We’re a year and a half from that.
Q. Yeah.
Q. It’s 2019.
A. It was just four months ago.
Q. So June 2019?
A. Yeah. During my visit. He said: “Give us a year and we will own it all.” This was four months ago, so we’re counting.
Q. We’re almost halfway.
A. Yeah.
Q. All right. Should we take a break?
(Affirmative by reporter)
MS. CASTENEDA: Yes, that would be good, to stop for now.
(Discussion off the record)
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This marks the end of Media Number 1 in the deposition of Alan Bender. Going off the record at 10:47 a.m.
Upon recessing at 10:47 a.m.
Upon resuming at 11:10 a.m.
Page 102
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Here begins Media Number 2 in the deposition of Alan Bender.
We’re back on the record at 11:11 a.m.
BY MS. CASTANEDA:
Q. Okay. Mr. Bender, I’ll just remind you that you remain under oath to tell the truth.
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. I would like to go back to Qatari government and the intelligence agency to use their official and/or affiliated media outlets to discredit, defame, character-assassinate, and tarnish the reputations of any critics of Ilhan Omar?
A. Yes.
Q. And what are those?
A. They asked me and proposed to me many different ways to tarnish the reputation of specific individuals, and the number 1 is Iman Tawhidi.
Q. Okay?
A. Because to them he’s an Australian, he’s not an American.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And if they “slaughter” him as they described it, they will be able to send a message to anybody who is considering, even just considering, criticizing Ilhan Omar for any reason: “We will do to you what we did to Tawhidi.” And that’s exactly what they wanted me to do.
Q. And why are they going after him? Is he loud? He gets the most attention? His information is truthful? All of these?
A. All of these. And the fact that he has a verified account plays a big role.
Q. Verified account on Twitter?
A. Twitter. On Twitter. Correct. And the fact that he apparently, according to the Qataris, he is also respected among a lot of people in the political circles in the US.
Q. Okay?
A. He has direct friendships with well-known politicians in the U.S. And he could influence hundreds of thousands of people with what he publishes.
And that’s why, they said: “There are some individuals we don’t care about, but this guy is affecting us. And he is affecting Ilhan Omar.
And Ilhan Omar is, although she pretends that she’s not even reading his tweets
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — she’s actually complaining about how hurtful they are. Hurtful in the sense that he exposes facts and they don’t want those facts to be discussed as subjects.
Q. Can you give an example of a fact that he exposed?
A. He’s repeatedly mentioned the fact that Qatar works — Ilhan Omar works for Qatar.
Q. Okay.
A. And he backed it up with examples of activities. He also several times referred with strong argument to the fact that Ilhan Omar is not acting as a true Muslim that she claims to be.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And that she picks and chooses the topics that she wants to present to the American public based on the interest of Qatar. And that’s embarrassing her. So they want — she asked, according to them, she asked them to “silence” him.
Q. Does that mean kill?
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A. The physical punishment, as they call it, has not been raised, although jokingly Abdullah Al-Athbah said: “We wish if he was not living in the US or western country so we can get one of the fanatics to say killing him will be the path of God.”
Q. And have someone else do it on their behalf?
A. Yes. That’s what he referred to as doing that. But given the fact that Tawhidi lives and travels to western capitals, they don’t do that.
Q. Okay. And why doesn’t Ilhan Omar herself speak out against him?
A. She’s too afraid to stir even more trouble; if she denies it and then somebody somewhere will have evidence to present, she will look like a liar under oath on the record. So she was advised by the Qataris, just ignore him.
Q. Ignore him and the Qataris will handle it?
A. Yes. They will take care of it.
Q. And you mentioned that Qatar bragged about the article that was recently published in the Washington Post?
A. One of the — yes. Correct.
(Query by reporter)
Q. One of the recent articles in the Washington Post?
A. Yes.
Q. What did they say?
A. “He fell for it.”
Q. “He” being?
A. Tawhidi.
Q. Okay.
A. He was approached under the pretenses that they want to write about his influence in social media.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Turned out it was a trap. They just they are saying things that are not true; and that Tawhidi, although he’s talking about Ilhan Omar’s illegal activities or immoral behaviour —
Q. Mm-hm?
A. He hasn’t been able to present evidence. Which is not actual reason why they contacted him, because they contacted him under the pretenses that: “We would like to write a report about you.” Yet they wanted to know more about American officials in contact with him, and they asked him specifically: “Can you give us the names of the officials who are co-operating with you,” or…
Q. So it was a fishing intelligence expedition?
A. Yes. That was it. And hence why the report was published in a very negative way about the parties involved, including Rudy Giuliani. Because they asked Princess Hend about him and she complained to them that they should be focussed on her humanitarian crisis.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Not whether or not she spoke to American officials. But she also fell for it. And she provided them with copies of his text messages, which they promised her they’re not going to publish. Yet the first thing they did is publish them. And they refer to him as a man who used the humanitarian cause to make money.
(Query by reporter)
To make money with the Government of Qatar.
Q. And you’re referring to Rudy Giuliani?
A. To Rudy Giuliani.
Q. And does Rudy Giuliani work with the Government of Qatar?
A. I don’t know if he works with them or for them, but he was their consultant, he was a lobbyist for them, and he also, according to the Qataris, had made a trip to Doha to facilitate a few millions of dollars deal, contract, with a cyber security company in the US.
Q. Okay.
A. Who is owned by, I don’t know, a friend of Rudy Giuliani. The Qataris gave me the impression that they recorded this conversation and they granted him, I think it was, 8 or 10 or 12 million dollars. And Rudy Giuliani was actually promoting Qataris’ interest in the US up until he was appointed President’s first lawyer.
Q. Okay. So this is prior to his appointment with the Trump administration?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Do you know who else the Government of Qatar is targeting through media influence?
A. They target — they want to target and they are targeting anybody who will criticize specific individuals in the US and public image — public individuals, be it politicians or activists, who are on Qatari’s payroll.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Including Linda Sarsour.
(Query by reporter)
Including Linda Sarsour, the activist. And according to the Qataris, they told me that she is next in line. She will be appointed Senator.
Q. She has been selected by the Government of Qatar to infiltrate the United States Government on behalf of the Government of Qatar?
A. As a Senator. Yes.
Q. Okay. And they are going to fund her and support her in the same way that they did Ilhan Omar?
A. Correct. They call it “appointing” her.
Q. Appointing. And is she the next “jewel in the Crown”?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And is Linda aware of that?
A. According to them, she is fully aware.
Q. And she’s a willing participant and —
A. Yes. And when they call her Sister Linda, then she’s Muslim Brotherhood cover, which is funded completely by Qatar.
Q. And what are her weaknesses that they are going to use for leverage?
A. They did not want to discuss that but they said: “It’s already covered and done.”
selection by the Government of Qatar is any different than how they had previously picked Ilhan Omar?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Are you aware of any other influence by the Government of Qatar in the intelligence community here in the United — well, in the United States? We’re in Canada right now.
A. In the United States, according to them, that there is a form of co-operation and they exchange information.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And sometimes information passed on to Qatar to be checked.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. If it’s accurate or not, the Qataris will pass it to the Iranian intelligence. Just like they pass intelligence they gathered through Ilhan Omar. She’s sitting on the more sensitive committee.
Q. Do you know which one that is?
A. No. They said a “sensitive” committee.
Q. So she sits on a committee where she has access to classified information?
A. And she passes it on to the Qataris. The Qataris will share it with Iran and Hezbollah.
Q. And what is Hezbollah?
A. Hezbollah is an organization that is fighting in Lebanon against Israel and against the US. And they are listed as terrorist organization by the US government.
(Query by reporter)
Against Israel. And they are responsible for the attacks on the Marines’ barracks back in the eighties. And they are listed as a terrorist organization by the Government of the United States. But Qatar made a deal with them for $800-plus million cash.
Q. And was that deal partially effectuated through the fake kidnapping of the Qatari Royal Family that was hunting by the border with Iraq?
A. Correct.
Q. And do you know about their payout and how they didn’t want to pay directly a terrorist organization?
A. Correct. The Qataris admitted to me that they made two big mistakes. One mistake is in the Syrian battlefield against Hezbollah and Iran. The second mistake is being part of the Yemen war. And when they were under siege, they were kicked out of the war in Yemen. They didn’t withdraw, they were forced by the Saudi government to leave.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. So, according to the Qatari officials, they were asked to compensate and apologize financially. So Hezbollah suggested, according to the Qataris, to orchestrate this kidnapping thing.
Q. The hunting party?
A. The hunting party, their visas, their information, their locations, were actually provided by the Government of Qatar
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — to the — to Hezbollah, to conduct a fake kidnapping.
Q. And were the people that were kidnapped aware of this plan?
A. No. They were not aware. And they wanted it to be complete — they wanted them to be oblivious to what’s happening, otherwise it’s going to be a big problem within the Royal Family of
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A. And they made a deal. The Qataris were convinced that it is striking several birds with one stone.
First, to the Royal Family members, they will look like the people were saved by Tamim and he paid hundreds of millions of dollars to save them.
Q. 300 million?
A. So they will never turn against him.
A. $850 million in cash, transported by private jets from Doha to Iraq on a daily basis. Whatever the plane can carry. That’s $850 million in cash.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Which is, basically covers one and a half years’ supply of Hezbollah’ needs.
With the Iranians, they made a similar deal but they didn’t have to stage a kidnapping.
They just sent airplanes with cash, and they paid. The Iranians are the only space left for the Qataris to breathe through. So the Iranians
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wanted the Qataris to apologize financially for their battlefield involvement in Syria against the Iranian troops for the past five years.
Hence, why Qatar is paying now whatever Iran is asking them in addition to the intelligence gathering. The Iranians know that Qatar controls Ilhan Omar and they want access to American intelligence or military secrets.
Q. So Iran asked, through the Government of Qatar, what the United States is up to?
A. Correct.
Q. And specific intelligence?
A. Yes.
Q. And Ilhan Omar provides that to the Government of Qatar?
A. And leaves it up to them to share it with whomever they see fit.
Q. Does, to your knowledge, Ilhan Omar know that the information she’s sharing with Qatar hurts the United States Government?
A. I think they know that she knows the fact that she is just sharing information with a foreign country is hurtful to the United States’ interest.
Q. So the act of handing any information in any form —
A. Correct.
Q. — is harmful?
A. Correct. And she is aware of that. And they are aware that she is aware of that. So, as far as she’s concerned, nobody’s coming after her.
Q. And did she — you mention that she pledged allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood before she even ran for office?
A. She pledged allegiance to Erdogan.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. According to the Qataris. In their conversations with me, they repeat and refer to their “Sister Ilhan.”
Q. Mm-hm?
A. That she is loyal. And Erdogan also has the loyalty of the Somali people. Somalia is known to be a Turkish-controlled influence.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And she’s from there. Her family’s there. Her scandals of her family and hers, and her history, is in Somalia. Hence why Qatar appointed. The new director of intelligence in Somalia is a Somali guy who worked at Al Jazeera.
Q. Mm-hm. Do you know his name?
A. I forgot his name. It was discussed. He’s all over the news. He’s a reporter who was appointed head of intelligence, which means any secrets about Ilhan Omar or her family will not leave Somalia without Qatar’s consent.
Q. And was that intentional on behalf of Qatar to appoint him?
A. Correct. Yes.
Q. And is that in support of Ilhan Omar’s reach for whatever she
A. Correct.
Q. — may do next?
A. Correct.
(Query by reporter)
Q. “Ilhan Omar’s reach for whatever she may do next?”
Does Ilhan Omar try to conceal any of her dealings with the Government of Qatar?
A. According to the Qataris, yes. It’s not in her best interest to show any direct co-operation with the Government of Qatar. But they also admitted that some American officials are fully aware of her co-operation with Qatar.
Q. And you mention that that was — some
A. Correct, according to what they told me.
Q. Is there any indication that the United States Government has sanctioned her activities and her involvement with the Government of Qatar? And when I say “sanction,” I mean Agreed upon?
A. Oh. Officially, no. Off the record, they turned the other… They turned a blind eye. They don’t dig too deep into it. Because Qatar’s money is spreading fast and big.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. In the American body. So to them, when an American official who is not taking money from Qatar finds out that Ilhan is taking money, or others, he will contact Qatar and say: “What about me?”
Q. And add to the payroll?
A. And add to the payroll.
Q. Are there any Americans that have that are in office that have spoken out against Qatar, knowing what they know about Ilhan Omar?
A. According to the conversations with the Qataris, yes.
A. Nothing. They sometimes approach them and they give them what they want; or sometimes those officials who know about Qatar’s co-operation with Qatar — Ilhan and Qatar’s co-operation, they actually bring it up to make themself look innocent if —
Q. To deflect anything that comes their way?
A. Correct.
Q. How does Qatar pay Ilhan Omar?
A. Several methods. Cash, but always through a third party, and her family in Somalia.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And contracts with relatives. Qatar turned the soccer World Cup projects into a cash cow, to justify paying politician through their relatives. They tell them: “Open any fake company.”
Q. Mm-hm?
A. “Pretend you’re into the business of transporting goods, and we will give you $10 million for a contract that’s worth
Q. A dollar?
A. Yes. “And then you will find a way to send so-and-so’s share to them, or just keep it with you for them, safekeeping.”
Q. So through family members is how Qatar launders money?
A. As one of the methods, yeah.
Q. With Ilhan Omar?
A. They said that, yes.
Q. Okay. What about property?
A. They have arranged for properties in specific capitals outside the US.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. As future investments, which are going to translate into a gift of ownership switch.
Q. Okay?
A. And then you can sell it. And you sold a legitimate property.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. There is no law against that. But if you traced source —
Q. Right?
A. — you will see that Qatar was the initial purchaser.
Q. Do you know which country they route their money through to launder?
A. They prefer the UK, sometimes France. And of course European countries, they are poor and need. They launder through that because no government official will object to money or an area that they decided to stay away from for a while because of the leaks.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. That happened. Whenever there’s a leak that full of scandal, they take a pause.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. But they go back.
Q. So they’re pausing with Panama right now?
A. Pausing. Yes.
Q. What about Cyprus?
A. They have investments in Cyprus but they didn’t discuss Cyprus as a hub towards US officials. I think they use different countries. I think Cyprus, Malta
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — are directed towards more European officials.
Q. Okay. Has the Government of Qatar specifically asked Ilhan Omar to state on the record during government proceedings in the United States anything specific?
A. Yes, they told me they would ask her to ask specific questions, especially if she’s presiding on a committee.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Oversight committee or an investigation, they would ask her to ask questions.
Q. And do you know if she did that?
A. According to them, she did. She never said no. She doesn’t say no.
Q. And she provides the answers to them?
A. Of course.
Q. What about in legal proceedings?
A. As in?
Q. If an ISIS member was being sentenced, do you know if she provided information to a federal judge for them to consider compassion upon this person?
A. The Qataris say she will do anything they ask her to do, especial when it comes to one of the brothers or the sisters. Which means any extremist, any religious member of the organization, that are fanatics that are important to Qatar.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And it happens in the US, she will provide any service Qatar wants. According to the Qataris, she had never said no, ever, to them.
Q. Have the Qataris ever missed a payment to her friends or family?
A. No. They always pay.
Q. How do they pay her family in terms of — so you said money laundering through real estate held abroad. What about actual cash?
A. Inside the US, through a third party.
Q. So there’s actual cash. Make a money wire?
A. No.
Q. Hard cash, like in holding in my hand?
A. Money — money bag, yes.
Q. Okay?
A. And that will be very easy, he said. According to them, you can walk into a casino, give them a hundred thousand dollars worth of chips, they give you cash, and nobody will ask you any question. You just drive straight to whatever you want and you give them the money.
Q. So they present to a casino with chips, already purchased somehow, to cash out and then provide that cash to whoever they feel like?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. How does Qatar communicate with Ilhan Omar?
A. Through a third party, paid or pre-paid phones.
Q. Okay?
A. And personal messengers. Sometimes they would actually — a person will get on a plane.
Q. Face to face?
A. And fly, take a message, come back. It could be a friend of Ilhan Omar, could be working for her, could be an aide, an assistant.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Could be a journalist on Qatar’s payroll and pretend that he needs to meet and ask questions.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Information will be passed.
Q. Okay. Can you confirm if the Council on American and Islamic Relations is funded by the Government of Qatar?
A. According to what they said, anything that is related directly or indirectly to Islamic foundations or Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar is in control.
Q. Control?
A. In control.
Q. Not just involved but in control?
A. They don’t accept involvement.
Q. They don’t accept involvement?
A. No. They want control.
Q. Complete?
A. You want our money, we control it. We give you as much money as you want, but you give us everything we want.
Q. Did that ideology contribute to the division in the Gulf with other countries?
A. No.
Q. Them wanting to be in control?
A. Correct.
Q. Of extremist views and money?
A. Their winning cards are extremists. Qatar views them as assets, and the best assets, because you can control 10,000 fighters on the battlefield in Syria through one fanatic who’s their —
Q. Leader?
A. Imam.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Qatar only recruits that guy. Those guys get $300, $400 dollars a month. He gets $100- to $200,000 a month. They tell him to tell them that God spoke to him and said, do this and don’t do that. And it’s done.
Q. And does “God” translate to?
A. Al-Masnad.
Q. Okay. All right. I’d like to talk about Linda Sarsour. Are she and Ilhan Omar, to the best of your knowledge, friends, or do they know each other?
A. Very well, according to the Qataris. I asked the same question and I asked them: “What is the relationship?” They said they’re very close. They’re allies, and they are friends for a long time, and Sister Ilhan listens to Sister Linda.
Q. Did Ilhan recruit Linda or was she recruited independently?
A. I think Linda was part of the recruitment of Ilhan.
Q. So the other way around?
A. Yes. And now Linda wants the favour back by getting the support in political — American political politics.
Q. There was a recent tweet by Ilhan Omar stating that Linda Sarsour was going to back or support Bernie Sanders?
A. Correct.
Q. Did you see that tweet.
A. Yes.
Q. And then she stated: “I need to see if this fits with my constituents’ plan for them voting for me and standing in office.” Does she not focally support Bernie Sanders, which would vocally support Ilhan Omar because Qatar did not pay her?
A. Linda? Are we talking about Linda Sarsour?
Q. Linda, mm-hm?
A. She is supporting Bernie Sanders.
Q. Right. But she’d stated that she was not going to publicly support anybody without consultation of her constituents. So she didn’t one thousand percent support Ilhan Omar statement. Is there a reason behind that?
A. Yes. They control them, and they — sorry. Yes, they control them and they also turn them against each other if need be. They don’t want —
Q. Ilhan against Linda?
A. Yes. And others. The Qataris they said: “The only thing we inherited from the Brits that is useful is their policy of divide and rule. As long as they keep everybody divided.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. By each other, they control all parties.
Q. So they work independently of each other and then, when requested, jointly?
A. They join. Yes.
Q. Okay. So you mentioned in your meeting that — in Doha that the case of which I represent the plaintiffs, why we’re here today, was also discussed?
A. That was the first time it was brought to my attention.
Q. Have you seen a copy of the complaint for this case?
A. No.
Q. Okay.
A. Oh. This is what was published in the media, I think.
Q. Well, that’s the Complaint. It’s, yes, it’s public information.
A. Yeah.
Q. And it was published by — it was sent to the ambassador in D.C.
A. Yes.
Q. And it’s public. So it was pulled by, I’m sure, journalists and —
A. Yes.
Q. — and anybody with any interest.
THE REPORTER: Journalist?
A. Plural.
Q. Anybody who —
A. In the media.
Q. — cares to understand or know about legal proceedings in the United States.
A. Yes, I believe this was actually printed in Arabic too, in the media.
Q. I think it was.
A. Yeah.
Q. I’m going to go through a couple of paragraphs with you.
A. Yeah.
Q. So our case was discussed. Let’s go, can you look at paragraph 28. I should probably mark this as an exhibit, I suppose.
THE REPORTER: That’s right.
EXHIBIT 4 marked for identification: Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial
THE WITNESS: What page?
BY MS. CASTANEDA:
Q. Paragraph 28, please.
A. Okay.
Q. So this
A. “During the period”?
Q. Mm-hm. That’s right. So: “During the period of his employment with Defendants, Pittard worked approximately 80 hours per week when Defendant was located in the United States. When Defendant was in Qatar and travelling, Pittard’s work hours varied from 60 to 70 hours per week, he was not permitted any time off and was on call 24/7 to immediately respond to Defendant’s needs and requests.”
And the defendants in this case that I’m mentioning are Sheik Khalid bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Geo Strategic Defense Solutions, and KH Holding. During the meeting that you had, was Matthew Pittard and his employment with Sheik Khalid discussed?
A. Not the details of the employment, but I asked questions.
Q. Okay.
A. When your name came up and the case. And I said: “So is everything they’re saying or claiming in this case, which I haven’t read yet, true?” They said: “Yes. Everything is true. But we don’t want it to turn into a legal case. And we need this to go away.”
Q. So at that point in time when you met, which was in June?
A. Yes.
Q. This case had not yet been filed?
A. Yet they knew all about it.
Q. But they knew it was going to happen?
A. Yes. And they said: “We were listening to them.” They specifically said: “We are listening to everything they say, and sometimes we listen to the sound of the toilet being flushed.”
Q. Talking about?
A. Your clients.
Q. My clients?
A. And probably you. They did mention that they listened to what you have to say, and who you talk to, and…
Q. And when you spoke with them, was their idea with regards to this set of facts to cover it up?
A. Yes. Absolutely. Not in concern to this case. They are worried about the crimes he committed.
Q. The Defendant?
A. Yes.
Q. Sheik Khalid?
A. Sheik Khalid, that hasn’t been published or known or made — nobody was aware, is made aware of. He has committed crimes, they said, and…
Q. So paragraph 27 of this — or excuse me, 29 of this complaint states that: “During his employment, Pittard was solicited by Defendant Khalid for the murder of two individuals. In approximately late September of 2017 and November of 2017, in Los Angeles, California, Defendant Khalid asked Pittard to murder a male and a female who Defendant Khalid viewed as threats to his social reputation and personal security. Pittard refused to execute these unlawful requests.”
So these two individuals, to the best of our knowledge, the best of plaintiff’s knowledge, have not been killed and are still alive. Do you have any knowledge about the people that he was asked to kill?
A. They didn’t mention names but they said what they are saying in the lawsuit is 100 percent correct. But they did mention that he killed other people.
Q. So Sheik Khalid has murdered other individuals?
A. Yes. According to the Qataris, and they don’t want that to come out.
Q. And does Sheik Khalid hold any official government capacity in the Government of Qatar?
A. No, he’s a front for a company to launder money.
(Query by reporter)
He’s a front running a company to launder money, but he is not holding a government official position.
Q. So, to the best of your knowledge, in your dealings with the Government of Qatar, Sheik Khalid would never be in a position in any sort of military capacity to lawfully order the murder of anybody else?
A. He, he did order the murder of other people.
Q. But was he — was it in an official government capacity?
A. No. For his own —
Q. Did he ever serve in the military in the Government of Qatar?
A. Not that I know of. They didn’t mention that. He is not a government official.
Q. So, he has never served in — for example. He has never served in a military position in a time of war when there might be the potential that his order to kill somebody may be lawful?
A. No. All his killings are illegal, unlawful, civilians, while he’s running a company.
Q. So he killed people according to Qatar?
A. According to the Qataris, yes.
Q. People
A. And he buried them in the desert.
Q. Do you know how he killed them?
A. No. They didn’t mention that. They just said: “We’re don’t — we are not worried about those guys, we’re worried about the ones he killed.”
Q. So were they concerned that if this lawsuit went public, that it would bring up anything he’s done, including people he actually did murder?
A. They said, “Yes, fadhayeh.” “Fadhayeh” means scandals will come up.
Q. Okay?
(Query by reporter)
A. Fadhayeh. F-a-d-h-a-y-e-h.
(Query by reporter)
American citizen’s will on at least two occasions in one of Defendant Khalid’s personal residences. At Defendant Khalid’s request, the American citizen was arrested and jailed at the Onaiza Police Station in Doha, Qatar. Pittard and the United States Embassy came to the aide [sic] of the American citizen and helped the American citizen reach a point of safety, and eventually safely depart from the country of Qatar.”
In your meeting, did they talk about the American citizen that was held against his will?
A. No. They just emphasized on the fact that everything in the lawsuit is correct. But they never denied anything. I even suggested to them, I said: “Why don’t you just issue a statement?”
Q. Mm-hm?
A. “Doctor up a report that you always do…
Q. Mm-hm?
A. … and say none of this is true?” They said: “Well, we say you need to be star witness. You can say you were in Doha, and you brought this up,” that I brought it up, or it was mentioned after my trip.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And that Qatari officials have told me that it’s not true; and that the lawyer is drumming up attention. That’s…
Q. Did they state anything about submitting an answer to the lawsuit and denying the challenges or the case in general?
A. No. They said: “We’re not interested in even acknowledging a woman. We don’t deal with women and we’re not going to be defeated by women. And this lawsuit is not going to go anywhere, and we’re going to make it disappear.”
Q. So in your opinion, if I was a male representing these clients, they would have responded in some way?
A. Just to deny it, yes. But they said not to a woman.
Q. Okay?
A. In their opinion, responding to you and this case will incite other women to think that they can stand up to the government of Qatar. Hence why they are abusing Princess Hend al-Qassimi. Same thing.
Q. Even though the Government of Qatar is run by Sheikha Maza?
A. Correct.
Q. Who happens to be a woman?
A. But that’s different. She’s a god. You’re not.
Q. Have to work on that.
A. Yeah. That’s what they say.
Q. So if I were to read you any, any paragraph of this complaint, in your opinion, and based upon your discussions, the Government of Qatar has no denials to these claims?
A. They did not deny anything. And if there was something to deny, they would have highlighted that to say: “See, they’re adding lies to the truth.”
I gave them — they could have told me this.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. They did not deny anything. So nothing here is not true.
Q. So they didn’t say: “Rebecca Castaneda, counsel for plaintiffs or counsel for anybody involved in negotiations regarding Matthew hyphenated, and then w-a-h. Mado-wah is when you want to refer to a chair or a non-human item, in a way of mado-wah. Like, they don’t want to give the respect to mention your name. Like, they refer that — they use that to refer to their enemies.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Opponents. They don’t want to give them the dignity of mentioning the name so they say, “so-called.”
Q. Okay. Going to direct your attention to the last page of that complaint.
A. Mm-hm.
Q. Do you see the name in bold? It says “attorney”?
A. Yeah.
Q. Do you recognize that? It says: “Attorney Aryeh Kaplan”?
A. They brought that up in a conversation on the phone after I returned from Qatar.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. As somebody who advised them.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. But they did not, like, elaborate. They just say: “We were advised, and he said that’s it O”
Q. Okay?
A. But that name came up. They said the first name and then the second name.
Q. Okay. Did they mention that they’d already settled with the American that was held against his will?
A. No.
Q. They didn’t say that?
A. They didn’t say that.
Q. Did they state if anybody had negotiated on that American’s behalf or made attempts to do so?
A. Sorry, repeat that question again?
Q. The American that was held against his will?
A. Mm-hm.
Q. Did they relay to you, during your meeting or at any time, that they had gotten received contact by that family or an attorney regarding settlement for that person?
A. No. They never said to me about say anything about a lawyer or a family member. They just, in the con– in my conversations. Like, on the phone, they referred to a businessman who came and pretended to be trying to make a deal on your behalf, or on your clients’. They also referred to your clients as being approached indirectly, without your knowledge, by somebody who might be helpful to the Qataris.
Q. So this is after the suit was filed?
A. After.
Q. Okay. I was referring to before —
A. No, before —
Q. — or during your meeting?
A. No, before, they didn’t say anything of that, no.
Q. Okay. So going to what you just stated, you said that the Qataris have stated someone has approached them on my — stating that they’re on my behalf?
A. Correct.
Q. To negotiate a settlement on behalf of the clients?
A. On behalf of you.
Q. On behalf of myself?
A. Yes.
Q. For reasons unknown?
A. No, they said the businessman has claimed that he’s trying to settle this matter now that it’s not going to go anywhere, but Rebecca wants some money for her own pocket and bills, and that Rebecca is planning on doing — I mean, conducting the deposition not to carry on with the case, she just wants to sell it to the government of the UAE and get cash so they can use the information in the deposition against Qatar.
Q. And the deposition they’re speaking of is the one that’s occurring
A. Today.
A. Now that the case has gone.
Q. Okay?
A. First they used to say: “It’s going to go away. We’re not going to attend.” I sent them the subpoenas and I said: “Are you going to take this seriously?” They said: “We don’t take anything seriously in the U.S. We have money. And the sign on their dollar says ‘In God We Trust.’ God is dollar. We have their God so we don’t need to worry about it. We’re not going to show up. We’re not even going to respond to her. And it’s going to go away.” And they said that I’m wasting my time being here.
Q. So their refusal to respond to subpoenas or comply with them is, in their mind, as far as you know, kills the case?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Do you know about the LaFerrari incident in Los Angeles involving Sheik Khalid?
A. Where he was speeding in a neighbourhood?
Q. Yes.
A. Oh, I think I saw that, yes, in social media and newspapers. Yes.
Q. Do you recall if — given all the information that you know, do you recall his claim of diplomatic immunity?
A. I think I read about it. And he thought he had diplomatic immunity.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. But he didn’t.
Q. Has that incident or anything surrounding that particular set of facts come up with your discussions with Qatar?
A. When we talked about his behaviour, they just said “hadm khabul” (ph.) — “al majnun.” “Majnun.” “Majnun.” Means crazy. Lunatic.
Q. They described Sheik Khalid as a lunatic?
A. Yes.
Q. And they described him as crazy?
A. Yes.
Q. Does he create problems for the Royal Family of Qatar?
A. Apparently, yes. With all the killings and the beatings, and currently, apparently he tortures people working for him in a camel farm or something like that. He would bury them halfway or just to the neck to punish them. He has Indian workers who had —
(Query by reporter)
Indian workers in Qatar who were punished severely for spilling milk or something, I don’t know. Like, it didn’t sound like it’s worth the punishment but he punished them severely, hung them upside down or buried them in the sand at noon.
Q. With their heads sticking out?
A. With their heads sticking out, or burying them alive as he threatens to do. So they refer to him as majnun. Crazy.
Q. That’s his nickname?
A. Well, not nickname but that’s what they refer to him now because of the mess he’s creating, so they say: He’s a lunatic. We know he’s a lunatic. We just don’t want to stand in court and say that.
Q. The Government of Qatar doesn’t want to stand in court and say that?
A. Correct. Correct. And they instructed the ambassador to ignore your subpoena for the same reasons.
Q. Which ambassador?
A. The ambassador of Qatar in Washington.
Q. What’s his name?
A. Sheik Meshal Al Thani. He’s in the subpoena.
Q. Is he aware of this lawsuit? The ambassador?
A. The ambassador?
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Absolutely, yes. And he told me —
Q. How do you know that?
A. They told me that. They instructed him to do what he did.
Q. Which was what?
A. Which was bringing a lawyer, I guess it’s Dean Dilley.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And tell him to do what he has done.
Q. So, essentially, reject the subpoena or?
A. To reject the subpoenas and don’t worry about it.
Q. Okay. Did — so, in your discussions with Qatari government officials regarding this lawsuit, their response is that there’s going to be no response?
A. Yes. They took comfort in the fact that when I said: “Well, aren’t you worried about being, like, arrested?” He said: “What are you talking about? Mohammad Al-Masnad was in the US just a week ago. This was when the Emir of Qatar came and met with Trump.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And that was after your subpoenas were issued and rejected. Mohammad Al-Masnad was in the U.S. He said: “Did you see anywhere there daring to touch him?” He said: “We run the show in America, don’t waste your time. Don’t go.”
Q. Were they concerned about Customs? Entering or exiting the country and people having awareness of them entering or exiting the country?
A. Nothing. Nothing. He said: “What’s the worst-case scenario? Change the first letter of the last name.”
Q. For what, a passport?
A. The passport. He said: “We can get a passport in five minutes, diplomatic passport.” He said: “Have you ever heard of a diplomat being arrested at an airport?”
Q. I’m assuming the answer to that question is no, right?
A. No. Exactly.
Q. Does Sheik Khalid know about the lawsuit?
A. Yes.
Q. Where is he now?
A. He is in Doha, in one of the safe houses of the palace.
Q. Is he being held against his will?
A. No. He is just asked to just stay there until this blows over, and that’s it. He said: “Don’t worry, we’ll send you back to the US. You can drive your cars and have fun. Just give us some time.”
Q. That’s the Government of Qatar telling Sheik Khalid?
A. Yes.
Q. “Don’t worry about this lawsuit?”
A. Yeah.
Q. “We will send you back to the United States?”
A. He doesn’t like to stay in Doha.
Q. Why is that?
A. Doesn’t like the heat. Too hot.
Q. It is hot.
A. Yes.
Q. It is hot there.
A. Yes.
Q. And did Sheik Khalid tell them about this lawsuit before it was filed, “they” being — “them” being the Government of Qatar?
A. That part I don’t know, but they knew about it before he even filed it. They knew exactly who’s talking to who about what and when it’s going to happen. ‘Cause…
Q. Do you know if he heads negotiations of his attorney that he hired to negotiate with us.
A. No, I didn’t discuss that.
Q. Okay.
A. Their main focus when they brought your case up are two things: Bury the case and the scandals attached to it.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Frame Rebecca.
Q. And frame me?
A. Yes.
Q. And frame me how?
are charging $300 an hour and your payments are coming from the UAE.
Q. And you stated that they had tapped or listened in to conversations with my clients and myself?
A. That’s what they tell me.
Q. Okay.
A. That they hear and listen to everything. Probably they just want to convince me that this is a fact, what they’re saying.
Q. And would they do that in a way to encourage you to take on this cause to derail the lawsuit or bury it?
A. To — you mean to go after you?
Q. Yes. The lawsuit. Bury the lawsuit
A. Yes.
Q. Frame me?
A. They don’t think I should be here.
Q. And they think — okay. And you said that they were trying to frame me?
A. Yes.
Q. Why not try, if you know, to frame the clients or go after the two male defendants of this case?
A. They don’t care about them. They don’t even mention their names.
Q. Why do they care so much about the counsel for the plaintiffs, that being me?
A. Because you’re their legal weapon. Those guys don’t have a legal weapon. And I said: “So you frame this lady and then what? Another lawyer will step in.” They said: “No. Nobody will take it. Once you hit the first one, you set an example.”
Q. Is the Government of Qatar trying to set a tone similar to Tawhidi, that anybody who sues the Government of Qatar or a Royal family member will be met with repercussions?
A. 100 percent.
Q. Outside the judicial system?
A. Correct. That’s exactly what they want to do.
Q. Does that include hiring private investigators, if you know, to follow me or my clients?
A. They didn’t admit to me but that’s what they do to intimidate or to send a message and see if that will force you to back down.
Q. The Government of Qatar?
A. The Government of Qatar. They do that all the time. They didn’t deny to me doing that. But they did in different cases. Sometimes they follow people who are on their payroll to see who they speak to.
Q. Mm-hm. Do you know if they direct their legal counsel to do the same, to engage in a smear campaign or to engage in activities to threaten other — opposing counsel?
A. They didn’t say that to me.
Q. Okay. Do you know how they typically respond to legal allegations or cases filed against them?
A. They usually respond immediately through their media attache. And that’s one of the things they said to me, they said: “If we thought this is a serious person–” referring to you — “we would have issued a statement. But we are not even giving her the time of the day. We are completely ignoring it. And there’s nothing she can do.”
Q. When you say they’re completely ignoring, you mean in the legal system?
A. In the legal system, yes.
Q. Has, to your knowledge, Qatar attempted to engage journalists to wage a smear campaign against myself or my clients?
A. They will, is what they said.
Q. They will?
A. Yes, but they need me to confirm it. They actually detailed it. A call will come to me from a prominent reporter asking me if Rebecca has contacted you after the subpoena and if she admitted to you that she will take personal cash and wash it away, and whether she admitted to you that she is in contact with Abu Dhabi, and that she’s friends with them and that they are helping her. And all you have to say is yes, and they will publish as a reliable source, confirmed.
Q. You being the reliable source?
A. Me being the reliable…
Q. And which country is Abu Dhabi in?
A. United Arab Emirates.
Q. UAE?
A. UAE. The capital of the UAE.
Q. When you talked about hiring journalists to engage in writing or not writing, so failure to publish anything, are those journalists ever specifically told by the Government of Qatar what to write?
A. Correct, yes.
Q. So they are specifically directed to write something in a manner including certain facts?
A. Yes.
Q. And, to your knowledge, do those journalists misstate the truth and know that they’re misstating the truth?
A. Sometimes. Yes. Some journalists, yes. Some journalists. Other journalists will say to them: “I don’t want to know whether it’s true or not. Just tell me your information.”
Q. What you’re saying?
A. Yes.
Q. So journalists will tell a government what — ask: “Tell me what to say.”
A. Yes.
Q. “Tell me what to write.”
A. Yes. Some. Some journalists, yes. Others say: “I need facts.”
Q. So that’s usually what journalists do, right, is write about
A. Maybe one, one
(Query by reporter)
Q. So that’s usually what journalists do, is to write about facts, about the truth?
A. Unfortunately that’s what I thought too, until I went to Doha.
Q. And how are the journalists paid?
A. Some journalists will be invited to a convention in Doha, a media convention.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And they get paid cash, yes.
Q. And you said that you first met government officials of Qatar in regards to the head of the media centre that’s in Doha, correct? There’s a media —
A. Abdullah Al-Athbah is the head of the media centre.
Q. Now, wasn’t that recently closed?
A. Oh no. That’s a freedom of the press centre —
Q. Okay?
A. — that was closed because they don’t need freedom of the press anymore, they own it all.
Q. So they’ve closed that because —
A. They’ve closed it, they don’t need it any…
Q. Operating expenses, no longer needed. Okay.
A. We own them, so why leave a…
Q. Yet they’ll hold a media conference in the country where they just closed this?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And I assume that they’re given gifts? Cash?
A. Cash, gifts, Rolexes, diamond necklaces to their wives or girlfriends.
Q. Mm-hm? Or both?
A. Or both. If it’s cash, they keep it under a specific amount so they won’t raise a red flag if that person got caught.
Q. Meaning it’s under $10,000
A. Yes.
Q. So that they can enter the United States?
A. And without declaring it.
Q. Do you know if the Government of Qatar’s Custom rules allow for the transfer and transportation of more than $10,000 in currency or any monetary instruments?
A. I don’t yes, I don’t think they have any restriction. You can…
Q. So Qatar’s concern is not with its own Customs and somebody leaving, it’s entering the United States and somebody having more than $10,000 coming from the country of Qatar?
A. Correct.
Q. In cash?
A. Correct.
Q. Or monetary instruments?
A. Or monetary instruments.
Q. Okay?
A. They even advise them: “When we give you a diamond watch, make sure you either wear it, or your wife or your girlfriend, because you’re wearing it, you’re using it, so you don’t really have to declare it.”
Q. Mm-hm. So that advice was provided by somebody who apparently is familiar with US regulations regarding gifts from foreign governments?
A. Absolutely. They are fully aware of all the loopholes of the US rules and laws.
Q. Do you know how much journalists are paid? You mentioned that they can go as high as a million and sometimes it’s just 5,000?
A. Yes.
Q. Is there a reoccurring salary structure of journalists who write frequently for the Government of Qatar, or don’t write anything?
A. Yes. Correct. That’s true. They have journalists on their payroll on monthly basis. Whether they write or they don’t write, they get paid, because that’s what the journalists have requested. Because some journalists will go through a whole year without writing a report.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. But they can also be dangerous by publishing one report that contains dirty secrets.
Q. Valid truth about the Government of Qatar?
A. Exactly. So to keep them at bay we keep them on our payroll whether they write or not. They did mention the name of Karen Attiah, a reporter of the Washington Post, as an example. And they said she went from living in a basement to…
Q. Not living in a basement?
A. To Gucci and all the fancy names in her purses. Cartier’s.
Q. Luxury items?
A. First-class tickets to London to attend the Jamal Khashoggi-related propaganda.
Q. Which would obviously be in support of the Government of Qatar’s initiative because that case, obviously, severely harmed the public image of the Government of Saudi Arabia?
A. Exactly.
Q. — Government of Saudi Arabia?
A. And that’s why they bring it up again and again and again. And this time they raised the stakes by bring really big names, like the guy who owns Amazon, who owns the Washington Post.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. He flew all the way to Istanbul. And he kissed the portrait of Jamal Khashoggi like he’s a relative. So —
Q. Does he know about the dealings of the Government of Qatar with the United States?
A. I don’t have evidence he knows, but I doubt it very much that he wouldn’t know; I mean, he owns the Washington Post. He should know.
Q. So he knows? Would it be fair to assume he knows?
A. I would assume, yes. And he also accused the Government of Saudi Arabia of hacking his phone. I don’t think a man in his position should even bother make an accusation like that unless there is political gain behind it.
Q. Mm-hm? Are the payments you mentioned that different things involving the Government of Qatar recorded? Are the payments or any sort of remuneration made to journalists, news reporters, recorded?
A. Everything.
Q. So every payment Qatar has ever made has been recorded?
A. And they have a ledger.
Q. Who maintains that ledger?
A. Mohammad Al-Masnad and his wife. They want to know everybody is being paid: When, how much, why. No journalists will be paid a dollar without his permission. That’s what he says.
Q. Because you need a return on your investment?
A. Yes.
Q. And in talking about ledgers, does Sheik Khalid maintain a ledger of his money laundering activities on behalf of the Government of Qatar?
A. Yes.
Q. Did he state that he had that whenever this case arose?
A. These are the instructions to anybody who runs a money laundering front for the Government of Qatar. They have to keep records and track of everybody and hand it back to, through diplomatic courier, so Qatari embassies will work as messengers. Nobody searches diplomatic…
Q. Pouches. So Sheik Khalid is a money laundering front for the Government of Qatar?
A. Is one of. Yes.
(Query by reporter)
Sorry.
Q. So Sheik Khalid is a money laundering front for the Government of Qatar. And I said a money laundering front, one of them?
business dealings and conversations with the Government of Qatar, that if Qatar were to throw Sheik Khalid under the bus and say: “Yes, we know you’re crazy, you are crazy,” do you think he would use that ledger of money laundering activities against the Government of Qatar?
A. That’s what they were afraid of. That’s why they asked him to fly back to Doha and stay there.
Q. Where was he — are you talking about when this lawsuit was filed?
Q. Do you know where he travels? Is it outside the United States or?
A. You mean, currently?
Q. At all? At any point in time?
A. No, they didn’t bring his name up again. That’s it. I think he’s under the protection of Qatari intelligence in a palace, and that’s it.
Q. In your dealings with him, does that seem to you like they must be concerned, then, about what he’s doing and where he might go?
A. Yes. They can’t leave him allowed to be loose because somebody can kidnap him, if he is in another capital, and then force him to spill the beans.
Q. And when you say “they,” do you mean the United States or another country?
A. Could be. It could be US intelligence, or companies, or even his own financial opponents. Could be anybody.
Q. So private citizens?
A. Could be. They don’t want to take the risk of anything like that happening, so you bring him to Doha.
Q. Where he has everything except freedom?
A. Yes. If needs be to travel, they will issue him a diplomatic passport with a completely different name because there is no Interpol arrest warrant against him. He can travel. But he has to be accompanied by a member of the Qatari intelligence to go to Europe, maybe skiing, a destination that he likes. But it has to be a different name.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Which they can issue in, like, two minutes. Diplomatic passport, so nobody’s going to stop him. You don’t have a warrant against him. So he can enjoy life.
Q. So they’re not concerned well, they’re concerned about him potentially entering the United States?
A. Yes.
Q. But not so much travelling —
A. Yes.
Q. — outside?
A. He wouldn’t come to the US until it’s blown away, which is what they promised him.
Q. You talk about controlling the press. Is that a bigger effort that Qatar is trying to push in creating a positive public image of the country?
A. Yes. They reached a conclusion that think tanks have advised them —
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — that they shouldn’t worry too much about the opinion, or general opinion, of the people of Qatar because they will be herded like cattle.
Q. Well, aren’t they all held in political prisons and kicked out of the country anyway?
A. Exactly. So they don’t care about what the people of Qatar would think because they have no ability to think or do anything that will influence the government.
Q. The think tanks in the US have advised them to focus more on buying and recruiting journalists because American public is just naive people who read the headlines.
A. Yes. And the US.
Q. Was Qatar’s attempt — well, their successful bid of the soccer cup one of the many items that they’re trying to push to make a very positive public image of the country?
A. Yes, and that’s why they paid over $400 million worth of bribes, cash, to FIFA officials, which resulted in huge investigations and FBI arrests, and they all got $400 million worth of cash to make this happen.
Q. To
A. To beat the US, because US was this close to winning World Cup, and Qatar beat them.
Q. Was it intentional to defeat the United States bid for the soccer cup?
A. Yes, it felt like David and Goliath, as they call it. Except David this time wasn’t using a stick or a sword, he was using cash.
Q. Okay. Does the Government of Qatar own Al Jazeera?
A. Yes.
Q. And is that another way that they control their public image?
A. Internally and externally. Hence why some of the big names in Al Jazeera have diplomatic licence plates on their cars.
Q. Does it strike so you as odd for a media company, having worked in media and with media individuals as long as you have?
A. Very odd. Very odd.
Q. Does that signal to you impropriety?
A. Yes. If it was in a civilized country, I would be shocked that this is happening, but in Qatar it’s not shocking because I know that they do these things. And I went there, and I saw it, and we went through the gate, and… It’s fortified like a military barrack.
Q. Is that odd to you as well, that a news broadcast company that talks about soccer cups and the weather has that type of security?
A. Yes. And it raised a question. So I asked the guys, Abdullah Al-Athbah: “What is the gate, barbed wires and all that?” He said
Q. Barbed wire?
A. Yes. And he said: “Well, you have to worry about what’s under it.”
Q. And what is under it?
A. I think I was informed that they have the — they run all the fake media and social activities from something under the Al Jazeera building. But yes, you can’t enter without permission and prior clearance and all that. And he says: “Well, we always say, well, we don’t want Al Jazeera famous anchors to be harmed so we want to be extra cautious.” But it has other purposes. It’s owned by the Government of Qatar 100 percent.
Q. They concern — they’re concerned about the safety of journalists at Al Jazeera while located in Qatar?
A. And that’s why I didn’t buy it. And he knows I didn’t buy it, so we just laughed off.
Q. Would you agree that the flow of information and the control of it is vital to the country of Qatar’s success in diplomacy, in business, in society?
A. Yes. And that’s one of their new polices. They also look back to a week after the siege started. They had their ambassador sitting in a conference room which she invited every media outlet in the US. Nobody showed up. At that time Qatar hasn’t recruited anybody. So they went to the think tanks: What are we supposed to do? They said: “Don’t worry about the American public, just recruit media outlets and tell them to write headlines that make you look good. American politicians will come after you sound good or look good in the media.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. To justify making deals with you. And that’s what they did. The room was empty. Not one single reporter showed up to a press conference by the ambassador “Lulwah al-Khatr” (ph.)
Q. You’re talking about the video?
A. Yes, where she’s talking to empty chairs.
Q. Of a woman with an empty room?
A. Correct. So…
(Query by reporter)
Lulwah al-Khatr (ph.). She was talking to an empty room, empty chairs. And that was just after the siege, where Trump went public and said Qatar’s sponsoring terrorism.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Then he came back a year later and $180 billion later to say: “The Emir of Qatar is a good man. We love him.”
Q. The Emir of a Qatar might be a good man, but he’s not the one running the country?
A. No. But —
Q. His mother is?
A. His mother, Mohammad Al-Masnad, but he agrees with everything. He never objects to any of these policies.
Q. Is he in a position to do that?
A. Yes. He’s in the room. I mean, when they decide these things, he has an opinion. But he never said it’s not a bad idea — that’s bad. Let’s not do this. Even the fact that they’re torturing Princess Hend, he’s aware of it.
Q. Princess who?
A. Hend a-Qassimi, in the case of her son trying to leave.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Because she is an Emirati citizen, a daughter of one of the Emirati rulers, he’s fully aware that she’s suffering, her son is suffering. And he’s the one who issues orders saying: “Don’t help her. Leave her.”
A. Orders saying: “Don’t help.” Because he can make one decision today and her entire ordeal will be solved.
Q. And you’re talking about the princess who is no longer married under Emirati law to an Al Thani who is the brother, or half brother, of the Emir.
A. Yes.
Q. And Qatar is refusing to acknowledge the divorce?
A. Yes.
Q. Or give her son, who is also the son of an Al Thani family member?
A. Yes.
Q. Any rights?
A. Yes. And he was deprived from education too. The Emir of Qatar is aware, the Government of Qatar is aware, that this little kid who is — all he talks about now, because he’s psychologically destroyed, is about suicide at the age of what, 13.
Q. And what is the reason for the deprivation of his basic rights?
A. His mother is an Emirati. They want to punish the UAE through her.
Q. So the Government of Qatar wants to punish the Government of UAE and they’re using a minor child as a pawn to do so?
A. Yes.
Q. And do they have any awareness that that child, the minor child, is also a Qatari Royal Family member?
A. Yes. And they read his medical file and they know that he is talking about committing suicide because he hasn’t been allowed to go to school to play with kids his age and be treated like a normal human being.
Q. Do they have any intention of ever providing the minor child with rights, basic healthcare, education?
A. Not voluntarily, no, but by pressure, political pressure, yes.
Q. Would that be done through the media?
A. The social media might help make it happen, but individual influence, individual influence, direct contact.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Plays a role in that. Yes.
Q. So, just based upon your personal experience with this, is the United Arab Emirates going to have to take action regarding the minor child, in order for him to have any sort of basic rights?
A. It would help a lot if they do, but they are not taking any action. It would help, yes, if they turn it into an international …
Q. Issue?
A. Yes. And the fact that they didn’t want her to go to Doha during the siege.
Q. And she did it anyway.
A. She did it to follow her son, yes. So she got trapped.
Q. And now Qatar is holding her son?
A. Hostage.
Q. Okay?
A. I personally don’t know them, no.
Q. Okay?
A. And their names weren’t brought up in conversations.
Q. What about Ramez Tohme?
A. Heard of the name, but I don’t know him. I don’t know of him. I never met him. I — the Qataris didn’t discuss his name with me.
Q. Okay. What about someone known as Doctor “Tom Tom” or “Tohme Tohme”?
A. I heard of the name, yes. It came up in a conversation with Abdullah Al-Athbah. I asked him: “What is this guy?”
Q. What did he say?
A. He said: “One of ours.”
Q. Did he elaborate on the connection?
A. No. He didn’t want to.
Q. He didn’t want to?
A. Yeah. When he says: “Khal annak” that means let’s leave it alone. Forget about it.
Q. So you asked a question that made somebody answer…
A. Leave it alone.
Q. Let’s leave it alone?
A. Yes.
Q. I can catch their phrases.
A. And I know what’s underneath; that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So I know. I know when not to elaborate. Maybe he is being monitored. Maybe ’cause it’s a phone call. Maybe because somebody sitting next to him that will be held as a witness. Maybe he just doesn’t want to touch that file. So I know not to ask again.
Q. So he indicated to you that he knew that name?
A. It sounded, yeah. He didn’t say I don’t know who it is, but he said: “Khal annak.”
Q. And he was not inclined to talk about it?
A. And you don’t know the name Joseph Jourieh?
Q. No.
Q. Okay. So what is Qatar’s next step?
A. With regards to?
Q. Everything?
A. They have a lot of next steps. But their main goal is to control the White House; and bring in more Sisters in the Senate; and control more reporters; recruit more politicians. That’s their next step.
Q. What’s the Qatar Foundation?
A. I think it’s one of their charity funds related matters. I never dealt with them. It comes up in conversations but they use it to justify funds also. I think you — they — it came also with regards to some payments they made here in Canada, because they made payments to entities in Canada to recruit people. Not as much as they do in the US.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. But in Canada they did that. So I know more about Qatar Investment Authority.
Q. And what is that?
A. The
Q. Authority that has…
A. Cash cow.
Q. Money to invest?
A. $624 billion surplus of cash to be used any which way needed. And now Mohammad Al-Masnad is the guy in charge.
Q. He’s busy, huh?
A. Counting money and spending it.
Q. The Qatar Foundation is, do you know if that’s, where that’s headquartered or?
A. No.
Q. You said that you know they use it for public activities. Is it used as a money laundering front?
A. It came up as a source of providing funds to specific individuals.
Q. Individuals?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay.
A. It came up.
Q. Individuals in need?
A. No. Individuals pretend to be in need as per the request of the Qataris to justify the payment to them.
Q. Okay. So that would — you would agree that —
A. I would call it money laundering.
Q. — that’s called money laundering?
A. Yes.
Q. Correct?
A. And the Qatar Investment Authority, do I have that name right?
Q. Yes.
Q. Is that a publicly traded company?
A. Correct, yes.
Q. And is that registered here — well, we’re in Toronto. Is that registered anywhere in the United States or Canada as a business that can properly trade, buy, conduct business transactions?
A. I don’t know if it’s registered. I’m assuming, because they do a lot of business in the US.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And also in Canada. And Europe. They are the source of investments for Qatar worldwide.
Q. And when you say “investments,” you’re talking about the flush of cash into a business?
A. Yes, and acquiring properties, companies.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Buildings, banks. Everything.
Q. So if Qatar wanted to acquire people, do they do that through the Investment Authority or is that done through the Qatar Foundation?
A. I would lean more — actually, both. It depends on who are they recruiting.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. If it’s charity-related matters.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. They give it…
A. Who they are trying to pay. If it’s an entity or individual covered with humanitarian/religious related matters, they go to the Foundation. Qatar Investment Authority will be business, briberies, and ownerships. They do own a lot of properties.
Q. Lawfully?
A. Lawful. Yes, lawfully.
Q. They do conduct lawful business activities?
A. Yes. They do. And Brookfield is one of the companies. Brookfield is $42 billion worth of assets. And the Qatari Investment Authority is in partnership with them.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. So it’s the big bag they use to basically do everything in the world.
Q. Do you know if the Government of Qatar has any Americans on payroll at the embassy, US embassy, in Doha?
A. They brought that up as recruiting not only American embassy but, they said, we have a lot of people working in embassies in Doha on our payroll.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Which is apparently very common.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. In many countries. The US tries to recruit people working in embassies in Washington. Other countries do the same. But the Qataris use different methods. Temptations; sexual weaknesses. They target people who are gay, working at the embassy.
Q. Is being a homosexual in the country of Qatar illegal?
A. Illegal, yes.
Q. Do you know what the punishment is?
A. Yes. It could be jail or — if you are lucky, jail, if not, then life sentence for being gay or lesbian or even doing something sexual to show that. So they look for weaknesses in local employees working at embassies in Doha.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And then they approach them the same way they approach…
Q. All the other investments they make in people?
A. And reporters, yeah. They see the weaknesses. Does he need money? She needs money. Does she have a secret relationship with somebody who lives in Qatar? So we videotape her.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Catch her.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. And say: “We’ll make this go away, don’t worry about it. Like it never happened. Let’s just be friends.” And that’s it.
Q. Do you know if the Department of State or any employees on Qatar’s payroll are engaged in official government work that ignores FOIA requests or requests for information for this lawsuit?
A. Can you give an example.
Q. So if a FOIA request was made, or information for documentation, regarding the activities that occurred in Doha last summer?
A. Mm-hm.
Q. Which are the basis of this case?
A. Mm-hm.
Q. Do you know if anybody on Qatar payroll is willfully ignoring that information request?
A. If they are on Qatar’s payroll, they will ignore it because Qatar will ask that, and that’s why they are so confident that this case is going nowhere. They can’t have access — I said: “Are you telling me now even federal judges are on your payroll?” He said: “Bigger than that.”
Q. Federal judges are on the payroll?
A. I asked. And I said: “Are you telling me federal judges are on your payroll?” He said: “No, bigger than that.”
Q. So they said no?
A. Yes. He said —
Q. There’s no federal judges on payroll?
A. He says: “No, bigger than that.” “Bigger than that,” I don’t know what that means. He said: “But it will be helpful if Rebecca can bring us this judge to recruit. Maybe this is an opportunity to recruit this judge.”
Q. They want me to do that?
A. No. They want to do it by you bring up the name of a judge.
Q. Ah.
A. Who they can approach.
Q. So Qatar’s goal, if they were to have one related to this case besides just ignoring it, would be to recruit the federal judge?
A. To them, yes. If that’s what needs to be done, they will do it. But they need to approach it very cautiously and very carefully. They said: “We need to make sure that they don’t get in trouble.”
Q. Do you know if they have attempted to pay off the judge in this case?
A. And here we are, in Toronto, Canada?
A. Yes.
Q. Conducting a deposition?
A. Yeah. So it didn’t make any sense to me.
Q. Okay. Do you know if there are any Qatari government officials or people on payroll at Central Command in Tampa, Florida?
A. Specific locations will not be discussed, but they have hinted that they have military guys who are on their payroll; they have…
A. And they said: “We have our guys there. We would know about it if it comes from the Ministry.”
Q. Okay. The White House?
A. Jared Kushner.
Q. What about his wife?
A. He said: “We paid her but the Saudis beat us to that so they decided Jared Kushner will take from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, she takes from Saudi Arabia.”
Q. What about any other members of Congress other than the ones we’ve discussed?
A. They didn’t want to mention names. They just nodded yes. And I said: “Are there ones other than Ilhan?” They nodded yes.
Q. So you asked these specific questions I’m asking you right now?
A. Well, this specific question I wanted to know because they wanted me to be the backup. And I said: “What if her colleagues in Congress turn against her? They said: “No, they won’t. We got their weaknesses covered.”
Q. Okay. House of Representatives?
A. Yes.
Q. FBI?
A. No.
Q. DEA?
A. They didn’t mention these things.
Q. HSI, which is also known as Homeland Security Investigations?
A. They didn’t mention that.
Q. United States Coast Guard?
A. No.
Q. Good.
A. So you’re safe. And your friends.
Q. United States Army?
A. They said soldiers in Qatar. So soldiers stationed in Doha.
Q. Okay.
A. And Al Udeid.
Q. United States Air Force?
A. No.
Q. United States Marine Corps?
A. No.
Q. So United States Army stands out to you in your discussions because of the phrase “soldier”?
A. “Soldiers,” yes. So, you know, “soldiers” in Arabic, “jnood.”
Q. Mm-hm?
A. J-n-o — well, “j,” “n,” double “o,” “d.” So “jnood” could be, could be marines, could be army, could be special forces.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. But nothing airborne, nothing navy. “Jnood” is just that.
Q. And that was my next question: Is the United States Navy?
A. No.
Q. No?
A. That will be “bahria.” Bahria, no.
Q. So there’s no confusion, there’s nobody in the maritime world that is on Qatar’s payroll?
A. No.
Q. That you know of, that you’ve discussed?
A. That, yeah, they didn’t even bring it up.
Q. Okay. What about ATF?
A. They didn’t bring that up.
Q. Okay.
A. No.
Q. Okay. And the questions I asked you just now, and frankly all of the questions, this is information that you believe they would have shared with you truthfully?
A. It depends on the topic. Like, if I’m asking them based on a thing they asked me to do —
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — or they want me to do —
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — they have to answer truthfully, because they know that I have my ways to find out if they lie to me.
Q. Mm-hm. And that’s why they hired you in the first place, right?
A. Yes. Well, one of the things. Aside from my looks, you mean.
Q. And your language abilities?
A. Yes. Yes. I have my ways to find out the truth. If they lie to me, then they’ll be in a lot of trouble.
Q. Does the Al Thani family have family members that fear each other?
A. What do you mean exactly?
Q. Are there Al Thanis that fear other Al Thanis?
A. Yes. Oh yes. Even the Al Thanis are fearing non-Al Thani, which is Al-Masnad. They’re all afraid of him.
A. Non-Al Thani, yes. Mohammad Al-Masnad is the most feared man in the entire establishment of Qatar. I knew about it. Until I met him, I know that it’s a fact. He can remove a minister who is a member of Al Thani within an hour from his position. So, yes, they’re afraid of him.
A. And there’s a power struggle in, within, al Thani. But the ones who are opposed to what the other team is doing, which is already in charge, including Al-Masnad.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. They’re too afraid to make it too obvious.
Q. Because of prior, past history of the country?
A. Yes.
Q. And the political prison?
A. Yes. And the possibility of losing your head.
Q. And what about the lack of resources? The flow of money? Does it stop if you speak up?
A. Yes, Mohammad Al-Masnad controls the money now. He controls Qatar Investment Authority, that’s 600 million —
A. Mohammad Al-Masnad controls it and that’s controlling $600 billion plus. You can’t do business without that. Or a military coup.
A. They want to recruit everybody, including our Prime Minister. They said if that’s possible, let’s do that.
Q. Your country’s Prime Minister?
A. Yes. They know my relationship with the prime minister. I said, not in a million years.
Q. So what is their next step for this case, ignore it?
A. Completely. And it’s not going to go anywhere. That’s what they keep saying. I said: “Who told you that?” They said: “The lawyer. We have it in writing. It’s gone. It’s done.”
Q. Which lawyer?
A. I think they’re referring to Dean.
Q. So the only lawyer that Qatar has somewhat engaged in this entire legal proceeding?
A. Officially, yes.
Q. Yeah. The one that, I believe it’s Exhibit 3?
A. 3. Correct. They assume, or they claim, that they have assurance in writing that this case is gone, is done. And this whole deposition is just for you to provide the Emiratis with invaluable information that they couldn’t have access to unless it comes from someone who sat face to face with Mohammad Al-Masnad.
Q. Why do you think they believe it’s the Emiratis?
A. I have no idea.
Q. Aren’t there many countries in the Middle East?
A. Or at least Saudi Arabia. They insisted it’s Emirati. I don’t know why.
Q. I don’t either.
A. Even the report they are hoping they can convince me to back up is going to say that you work for the Emiratis, not the Saudis.
Q. But if they have phone records and are listening to my conversations, wouldn’t they know exactly who I was working for if it wasn’t for the basis of
A. Absolutely.
Q. — having —
A. But do they care about what the truth is? They don’t care.
Q. Apparently not, if it’s not to their benefit.
A. About the truth, or what the truth is, they have been doctoring up so many reports they
Q. It has a lot of impact?
A. Yes. And that’s why they aimed for those three outlets.
Q. Do you have anything else you would like to share?
A. I have a tonne of things in my head, but I don’t know what it is that you need to know. I’ll answer it.
Q. Is there anything —
A. I know too much, I think.
Q. — I haven’t asked you about Sheik Khalid that you believe you should have already provided to me based upon the questions I asked?
A. No. I think, regarding Khalid Al Thani, is basically it. Him being in Doha, him being promised that he will go back to the US driving his fancy cars.
Q. Does he like cars?
A. He?
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Yeah.
Q. Does he spend a lot of time and money and effort in race cars or?
A. That’s what I understood. Like, I don’t know the guy. I never met him or talked to him. But it sounds like me that he’s fanatic about fancy cars.
Q. So would he be devastated if somebody took those fancy cars from him?
A. No, he will replace them. They are
Q. More fancy cars?
A. Yes. He’s not in jail. He’s probably going to vacation in Europe for this summer. He’s not going anywhere. They’re not going to hurt him or kill him. He’s as crazy as the next member of the ruling family there, so it’s not a new thing. It’s just that there’s a lawsuit. That’s it.
Q. Mm-hm?
A. Other members of the ruling family have killed a lot of people. There are bodies of Indian workers who work in palaces have been shipped India, some of them with broken bones completely, neck. No questions asked because they got killed in the palace, so they killed him.
Q. What about Americans though?
A. They didn’t.
Q. What about in America?
A. Well, that’s what they said in general. We’re worried about the bodies he buried. They didn’t say only in Doha. So the way they said it, it sounded like there are other countries, like outside Qatar
Q. Mm-hm?
A. — he killed people, or had them killed —
Q. Okay. All right. You have the right — I’m not going to say it “to remain silent” so don’t get nervous. You have the right to read the final transcript and make any changes that you have. You would need to sign your name to those changes. And I could object to those changes based upon your reasons for the changes. Would you like to review that final transcript or do you waive your reading to the final transcript that will be provided?
A. I will wait until the final transcript provided.
Q. Okay. So you would like to review it?
Q. Yes?
A. To just review it or to obtain a copy? I would like to obtain a copy.
Q. So you will absolutely have a copy.
A. Yeah.
Q. Absolutely.
A. Yes.
Q. What I’m asking you right now is, would you like the opportunity to review the final transcript and provide any edits such as: You stated something and you realized it should have been something different; you wish you had answered differently? You may do so and provide those edits, and you would have to provide the reason why. I could potentially challenge your reasons why.
A. Mm-hm.
Q. So you have the right to that before it’s finalized and sealed and done. Or you can waive that and you can say whatever you’ve stated here, right now, today, as recorded, is your final version.
A. If it is matching exactly what has been recorded and there are no spelling mistakes or right of obtaining a copy of this whole thing.
Q. Yes. You will have a copy?
A. Everything I said here is 100 percent solid as well as matches what I said on the video.
Q. Okay. All right. That concludes my questions. Thank you.
A. You’re welcome.
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This marks the end of Media 2 and today’s proceedings in the deposition of Alan Bender. We’re going off the record at 12:45 p.m.
REPORTER’S CERTIFICATE
I, KARIN A. JENKNER, RPR, CRR, CSR (ONT.), Certified Shorthand Reporter, certify:
That the foregoing proceedings were taken before me at the time and place therein set forth, at which time the deponent was put under oath by the videographer;
That the testimony of the deponent and all objections made at the time of the examination were recorded stenographically by me and were thereafter transcribed;
That the foregoing is a true and correct transcript of my shorthand notes so taken.
I further certify that I am not a relative or employee of any attorney or of any of the parties, nor financially interested in the action.
I declare that the foregoing is true and correct.
Dated this 23 day of October, 2019
Karin A. Jenkner, CRR, RPR, CSR (Ontario)
(My Commissioner of Oaths expires July 19, 2022)
INSTRUCTIONS TO WITNESS
Read your deposition over carefully. It is your right to read your deposition and make changes in form or substance. You should assign a reason on the errata sheet in the appropriate column for any change made.
After making any changes in form or substance, and which have been noted on the following errata sheet, along with the reason for any change, sign your name on the errata sheet and date it.
Then sign your deposition at the end of your testimony in the space provided. You are signing it subject to the changes you have made in the errata sheet, which will be attached to the deposition before filing. You must sign it in front of a witness. The witness need not be a notary public. Any competent adult may witness your signature.
Return the original errata sheet to the examining attorney (attorney questioning) promptly. Court rules require filing within 30 days after you receive the deposition.
ERRATA SHEET
CASE: Pittard et al. v. H. E. Sheik Khalid bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani et al.
DATE OF DEPOSITION: October 23, 2019
NAME OF WITNESS: ALAN BENDER
| PAGE | LINE | FROM | TO |
ALAN BENDER
SIGNATURE PAGE
OF
ALAN BENDER
I, THE UNDERSIGNED, declare:
That I have read the foregoing transcript, and I have made any and all corrections, additions or deletions that I was desirous of making;
That the foregoing is a true and correct transcript of my testimony contained therein.
SIGNATURE:
WITNESSED BY:
DATE:
Writing by Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal 