MP SPEAKS | Why disparage the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) US$1.7 billion asset seizure suit if Abdul Rahman Dahlan is not prepared to categorically deny on behalf of Najib Abdul Razak and Rosmah Mansor that they have received US$732 million in cash and a US$27.3 million pink diamond pendant respectively?

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman continued his tirade against the US DOJ again yesterday, accusing the DOJ of publishing a “half-cooked report”.

He even insinuated that the United States of attempting to influence the results of the impending Malaysian election. "Is it because the election is around the corner and some desperate quarters need a leg-up?" he tweeted.

This is on top of the minister in-charge of the Economic Planning Unit berating the US DOJ the previous day, “you (DOJ) mock, you gave the impression that Rosmah and the diamond did something wrong. But in the document you submitted, you didn't include the diamond as one of the items that you want to seize. It was unnecessary to put the name there.”

The minister is saying that since the election is around the corner, the US DOJ should not have filed the updated suit last week, as it might influence the results of the election, since it implicates both the prime minister and his wife of misappropriating state funds for their own personal benefit?

Is the minister trying to tell the US that they should have waited until the election is over and the Najib administration has won a new mandate, before publishing such scandalous allegations against those who have misappropriated more than US$5.6 billion of funds from 1MDB?

Does the minister realise how ridiculous he sounds? Is he really that half-witted, or is he only pretending to be so?

In responding to Abdul Rahman's criticism, the US DOJ said that they “have to allege enough facts to show a reasonable belief that United States money laundering and other criminal laws were violated and that the subject assets were involved in or traceable to these illegal transactions.”

Surely Abdul Rahman would know that the way to fight a factual allegation is to provide factual evidence which destroys the allegations. The daily repetitive attempts by the minister and his colleagues to taint the US investigations with insinuations of political and other motives not only does not help the cause of the prime minister and his wife, they actually worsen the negative perception because the alleged facts have not been challenged...