1MDB Related.
KUALA LUMPUR: The United States (US) Department of Justice (DOJ) has revealed that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had been “prepped” before meeting with a US government official on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
The talking points on 1MDB had been prepared for Najib’s meeting with the US official, identified by the DOJ as US Government Official 1 - believed to be former US secretary of state Rex Tillerson.
Newsportal Malaysiakini reported that the DOJ said the talking points were prepared by a US businessperson identified as "Individual No 1", details of which were found in an email dated Aug 7, 2017.
The prepared talking points for Najib, identified by the DOJ as Malaysian Official 1, were as follows:
"1MDB message on all levels this is being handles (sic) by Saudia (sic) Arabia and Abu Dhabi, and Malaysia.
"Malaysian attorney-general has publically announced that no American has been harmed by any 1MDB transaction(.)
"The involvement of US prosecutors has caused unnecessary tension American (sic), and could cause a negative reaction among Malaysians(.)
"Malaysian attorney-general have (sic) publically announced no harm has been caused to any investors(.)
"Finally, I will send Malaysian attorney-general ahead of my visit to the US in September to meet (US Government Official No 2). I would like an introduction to (US Government Official 3)."
A footnote by the DOJ noted that Individual No 1 claimed his company's emails had been hacked and sent to the media, and that some emails were either tampered or fabricated.
Based on this, Individual No 1 is likely Republican fund-raiser Elliot Broidy, who in May this year filed a lawsuit claiming he was a victim of Qatari hackers.
Malaysiakini reported that the email was sent a day before Najib met with Tillerson in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 8, 2017.
US Government Official 2 is believed to be US President Donald Trump, while US Government Official 3 is believed to be then US attorney-general Jeff Sessions.
Najib had met with Trump in September 2017. However, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders then said she was not aware if the 1MDB issue was raised during the meeting.
The DOJ typically assigns numbers to individuals it does not name based on the order in which they appear in a document.
The talking points were details in a court filing by the DOJ on Nov 30, in its application to seize US$73 million linked to 1MDB businessperson Jho Low.
Individual No 1 is said to be a recipient of funds from Low, allegedly as part of efforts to influence the DOJ's 1MDB probe.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/436770/najib-prepped-meeting-us-official-1mdb