An NGO leader has questioned US President Donald Trump's meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in light of the American Justice Department's (DOJ) global kleptocracy crackdown, in which 1MDB is implicated.
“The timing of Najib’s White House visit seems especially questionable, considering that it will come just a month after the Justice Department announced that it was proceeding with a criminal probe into the matter even while suspending a series of civil lawsuits it had previously filed.
“The Justice Department describes the 1MDB investigation as the 'largest single action ever brought' under the Kleptocracy Recovery Initiative, created in 2010 to tackle high-level corruption around the world,” wrote C4 founder Cynthia Gabriel in an article in Washington Post today.
She called the visit next week a “terrible move” on the part of the US, and “a gigantic gift for Najib, who is suffering from a profound crisis of credibility at home as he prepares for a general election that is likely to come later this year”.
“Malaysians were flabbergasted to hear that the US president had singled out the prime minister for this privilege,” said Gabriel.
“Najib is a lucky man. Despite his (alleged) involvement in the 1MDB scandal, the White House is demonstrating by its actions that it couldn’t care less about containing corruption around the world – even when another part of his own government has left little doubt of the magnitude of the scandal facing Malaysian leaders,” she added.
Najib's visit has not only been criticised by opposition leaders, but also in an article by The Wall Street Journal, which was the first international media organisation to break the news of the infamous RM2.6 billion that had landed in Najib's private bank account, funds now claimed to be legitimate as a purported donation from wealthy Arabs.
Motives questioned
Gabriel questioned Trump's motives, speculating if he was concerned with China's growing intimacy with the Najib administration at the expense of American interests, including their North Korea stand.
She also targetted the president himself, who has been plagued with controversies.
“So why would the White House deem it appropriate to invite a leader who is potentially implicated in one of the largest corruption cases the Justice Department has ever launched?
“Part of the answer appears to involve Trump’s own stance on the rule of law.
“Since assuming office this year, Trump has openly defied long-established norms on conflict of interest that his predecessors of both parties observed.
“He has refused to divest himself of his international real estate holdings and licensing companies, and he has appointed members of his family – who have their own myriad conflicts of interest – to important posts in his administration.
“Malaysian journalists are now wondering whether Najib will use the visit to press Trump to drop the 1MDB probe,” speculated Gabriel, adding the visit would help spruce up his reputation at home.
