joe puts former Qatari agent in as a senior advisor

[hislegacy]

Biden Hires Qatari Agent as Senior Adviser - Washington Free Beacon

Pelton’s work for Qatar is likely to raise questions about the revolving door between the Biden White House and lobbying firms that represent a host of foreign governments. Pelton is just the latest Biden administration official to have questionable ties to adversarial regimes. Biden’s Asia policy czar, Kurt Campbell, for instance, helped found a group that critics say is "heavily influenced by the CCP." The administration’s potential pick to lead NASA, former senator Bill Nelson, invested in a Chinese telecom company that is blacklisted by the Pentagon.
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discuss

 

[iluvatar5150]

Just think of what could've been: if she'd not registered as a foreign agent, she could've made it all the way to National Security Adviser.

Let that be a lesson to the kids reading this.

 

[Arcangl86]

Qatar is one of our major allies in the Middle East. I don't see why formerly lobbying for them is a bad thing, especially since she has been appointed as a member of the Domestic Policy staff.

 

[essentialsaltes]

questionable ties to adversarial regimes.​

​

Adversarial? You need to keep up with the times.

Qatar helped bail out Jared Kushner.

Then Kushner helped Qatar get off Saudi Arabia's pooplist.

Smiles all around! No questionable ties to be seen!

 

[Hank77]

Qatar is one of our major allies in the Middle East. I don't see why formerly lobbying for them is a bad thing, especially since she has been appointed as a member of the Domestic Policy staff.

The Al Udeid Air Base is a military base located west of Doha Qatar and is owned by the Qatar Emiri Air Force. It is home to the headquarters of United States Central Command (USCC) and United State Air Force Central Command (USAFCC). The Al Udeid Air Base Qatar is also a home to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing of the USAF and to the No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group RAF. When the war against Afghanistan was at its peak, there were around 4000 American soldiers who were stationed at this base. Along with the American soldiers were two dozens of KC-10A Extenders and KC-135 Stratotankers which were used for the re-fuelling of bombers and fighter jets over Afghanistan. By September of 2002, the number of American soldiers in the air base went down to approximately 2000 in number. After six months, the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar underwent expansion so that it can accommodate up to 120 aircraft and 10,000 troops.
Al Udeid Air Force Base in Doha, Qatar | Military Bases

My son-in-law's older brother retired from the Navy and I remember when he was stationed at Qatar about 4 yrs. ago.

 

[hislegacy]

President Joe Biden hired a new senior adviser on Friday who formerly lobbied on behalf of Qatar, the oil-rich Arab nation that has close ties to Iran and is a central hub for terrorism financing.

Yes, they are allies, they let us use airbases. But they never had face to face access to the President as a senior advisor.


There is a difference between having diplomatic ties with a lobbyist and having them on your payroll as senior advisors.

 

[wing2000]

President Joe Biden hired a new senior adviser on Friday who formerly lobbied on behalf of Qatar, the oil-rich Arab nation that has close ties to Iran and is a central hub for terrorism financing.

i guess things are a bit slow in the Washington Free Beacon "news" room these days if one has to spin ominous sounding stories of Qatari lobbyist.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Both Trump's and Biden's lobbying Executive Orders contain equivalent phrases:

7. If I was a registered lobbyist within the 2 years before the date of my appointment,

If I was registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, 2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., or the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq., within the 2 years before the date of my appointment,

Erin Pelton did her work for Mercury Public Affairs on behalf of Qatar in 2018, more than 2 years before her appointment. So there are no particular constraints on her AFAICT. I also think that, since she did her work for a firm, there's no particularly strong connection between her and Qatar. She was doing work for a client of her employer.

 

[iluvatar5150]

President Joe Biden hired a new senior adviser on Friday who formerly lobbied on behalf of Qatar, the oil-rich Arab nation that has close ties to Iran and is a central hub for terrorism financing.

Yes, they are allies, they let us use airbases. But they never had face to face access to the President as a senior advisor.


There is a difference between having diplomatic ties with a lobbyist and having them on your payroll as senior advisors.

I wonder if the OP has forgotten about Michael Flynn, Trump's first National Security Adviser, who was an at-the-time-unregistered lobbyist, actively working on behalf of the government of Turkey while simultaneously working on the 2016 Trump campaign. Contrary to his assertion, not only has a foreign lobbyist had face-to-face access to the President in the past, but that lobbyist has had more/higher access and also, amusingly, received a Presidential pardon.

 

[SimplyMe]

I wonder if the OP has forgotten about Michael Flynn, Trump's first National Security Adviser, who was an at-the-time-unregistered lobbyist, actively working on behalf of the government of Turkey while simultaneously working on the 2016 Trump campaign. Contrary to his assertion, not only has a foreign lobbyist had face-to-face access to the President in the past, but that lobbyist has had more/higher access and also, amusingly, received a Presidential pardon.

From what I recall was reported, Flynn was even still on Turkey's payroll while he was working as Pres. Trump's National Security Advisor.

 

[iluvatar5150]

From what I recall was reported, Flynn was even still on Turkey's payroll while he was working as Pres. Trump's National Security Advisor.

I looked into that the other day, but couldn't find that particular tidbit. All I could find was that he was on Turkey's payroll while working on the campaign. If we was working for them while actually the NSA, that would be even extra special, but probably also illegal - I suspect that if that were the case, he'd have been in jail for more than lying to the FBI.

 

[Arcangl86]

President Joe Biden hired a new senior adviser on Friday who formerly lobbied on behalf of Qatar, the oil-rich Arab nation that has close ties to Iran and is a central hub for terrorism financing.

Yes, they are allies, they let us use airbases. But they never had face to face access to the President as a senior advisor.


There is a difference between having diplomatic ties with a lobbyist and having them on your payroll as senior advisors.

She's a former lobbyist, not an active one. She's assigned to the Domestic Policy Council, so I'm not sure her connection to a foreign nation even matters, and she's a senior advisor to Ambassador Rice, not Biden. Her title is Special Assistant to the President, which means she's a political appointee, but the lowest level of political appointee.

 

[hislegacy]

She's a former lobbyist, not an active one. She's assigned to the Domestic Policy Council, so I'm not sure her connection to a foreign nation even matters,

and she's a senior advisor to Ambassador Rice, not Biden.

Her title is Special Assistant to the President, which means she's a political appointee, but the lowest level of political appointee.

Her title is what? Special Assistant to whom?

 

[rambot]

I think by this point the drama has kinda cooked onto the bottom of the pan. You'll need to REALLY REALLY scrape the bottom hard to give it some life again.

 

[Arcangl86]

Her title is what? Special Assistant to whom?

Special Assistant to the President is a title held by junior executives in the Executive Office of the President. Holding the title doesn't mean that the person has any influence with the President. Julie Mason has the title of Special Assistant to the President, and you can be sure she will never encounter the President in her official capacity as Chief of Staff to the Second Gentleman. The more important part of Pelton's title is "Senior Advisor to the Domestic Policy Advisor", which does indicate she will have some influence on Ambassador Rice, but says nothing about her relationship with the President.

 

[hislegacy]

Special Assistant to the President is a title held by junior executives in the Executive Office of the President. Holding the title doesn't mean that the person has any influence with the President. Julie Mason has the title of Special Assistant to the President, and you can be sure she will never encounter the President in her official capacity as Chief of Staff to the Second Gentleman. The more important part of Pelton's title is "Senior Advisor to the Domestic Policy Advisor", which does indicate she will have some influence on Ambassador Rice, but says nothing about her relationship with the President.

Who is Julie Mason?

The White House announced on Friday evening that Erin Pelton is set to join the administration as a special assistant to Biden and a senior adviser on domestic policy issues.

Pelton, a onetime foreign service officer and flak during the Obama administration, later advocated on behalf of foreign governments, including Qatar, according to public filings with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which mandates that Americans who are lobbying for foreign governments disclose their work.

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[Arcangl86]

Julie Mason is the Chief of Staff to the First Gentleman. She's also a Special Assistant to the President. And ok, you have an article that is categorizing Erin Pelton as a senior advisor for domestic policy issues, which is true. But she's a Senior Advisor to the Chair of the Domestic Policy Council.

 

[hislegacy]

Julie Mason is the Chief of Staff to the First Gentleman. She's also a Special Assistant to the President. And ok, you have an article that is categorizing Erin Pelton as a senior advisor for domestic policy issues, which is true. But she's a Senior Advisor to the Chair of the Domestic Policy Council.

what does Julie Mason have to do with this thread?

 

[RocksInMyHead]

what does Julie Mason have to do with this thread?

As a point of clarification on the title "Special Assistant to the President". Both Julie Mason and Erin Pelton have the title "Special Assistant to the President". Julie Mason's actual job is Chief of Staff for the Second Gentleman (Kamala Harris's husband). Erin Pelton's actual job is Senior Advisor to the Chair of the Domestic Policy Council.