This started with a headline that caught my attention. It was ‘Top US consultancies face scrutiny over role in Saudi Arabia’s sports push’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/06/consultancies-saudi-arabia-sports-us-senate-disclosure-subpoena) there I immediately saw that it was written by everyones favourite Saudi basher Stephanie Kirchgaessner. Before I go out and draw first blood (always fun) I wanted to see if she had learned her lesson from the previous few times I slapped her silly online. So I decided to have a closer look. Here we are given “Major US consultancies who have advised Saudi Arabia on its global sports spending spree – including its proposed takeover of golf’s PGA Tour – are coming under fire in Washington for possible violations of federal disclosure laws.” That got my attention, but there are a few sides that need clarification. You see what exactly are the ‘federal disclosure laws’? It comes with the added “the senator has also strongly suggested that the consultancies could be violating federal disclosure rules – known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara) – by not formally declaring to US authorities that they are acting as agents of the Saudi government.” And now we have a problem. You see, when we consider that the “The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was enacted in 1938. FARA requires certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities” This is not politics, this is a bloody sport organisation and Kirchgaessner should know better than to be the willing tool of Richard Blumenthal. As such, The FARA Unit of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) in the National Security Division (NSD). This implies that Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the NSD should be part of this and he is not mentioned, not once. So what is this about?
Well, we get an idea in the article with “The Saudi public investment fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund chaired by the crown prince and de facto Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, and is worth an estimated $776bn, is at the heart of Blumenthal’s inquiry” and my question becomes. ‘Why is the investment fund of a sovereign nation the interest of Blumenthal?’ Anyone? You see what does a democratic United States senator from Connecticut got to do with this? We never see that explanation. Don’t get me wrong, this man has done plenty of good for America and for his constituents. I merely wonder what is going on. Part of this is seen in the Financial Times (at https://www.ft.com/content/7009a1a9-8e07-4113-a47d-ee4724d3d427) when we are given “You say you are between a rock and a hard place but you have chosen sides; you have chosen the Saudi side, not the American side” with the added “US PGA Golf Tour” is a global sports organisation, PGA stands for Professional Golfers’ Association of America. Yes, the term America is in there. But the side we do not see is “Overall, the PGA Tour reported $1.9 billion in revenue in 2022, up from $1.59 billion the previous year, thanks to new multibillion-dollar TV deals. Expenses rose as well, with the organisation reporting $1.87 billion in costs, up from $1.55 billion in 2021.” So this is about $300,000,000 in debatable profits. And in all this we see certain people in the dock for explanations. Yet at what moment in time did Richard Blumenthal and Stephanie Kirchgaessner look at its board of directors? This includes Ed Herlihy (lawyer), Jimmy Dunne, Mark Flaherty, Joe Gorder and Mary Meeker? When were questions asked of them? McKinsey is a consultancy firm, gold is a sport, it is not any kind of bloody intelligence with foreign agents. That shallow ice allows me to slap Kirchgaessner yet again. And all this is out in the open, she merely reported like a meek little sheep making the Guardian a bigger joke. I saw the wreck unfold in under 10 minutes.
So when we get to “The PIF has routinely objected to being subjected to US laws and has rebuffed repeated requests by the Senate committee to hand over documents subpoenaed by the panel. To get around the issue, Blumenthal looked to gather information from the US consultancies that have advised Saudi Arabia for answers.” It is the ‘to get around the issue’ that matters. Blumenthal wasn’t ready, wasn’t prepared and was out of his depth in this case. The first question in a senatorial interrogation would be ‘How does FARA apply to golf?’ Then I would go towards issues like outsourcing. America outsources to China for well over $23,130,000,000 billion all so that they end up with an average workforce spend of $29.10. Yes, that is America. But no one steps in on that step of greed, not even towards China, so the PGA is outsourcing itself to Saudi Arabia for the opposite reason, not to get the cost down, but to get profits up and it seems that McKinsey and Company investigated and reported on this for their client. All settings that are out in the open and the joking duet called Kirchgaessner/Blumenthal missed this?
So when we get back to “Major US consultancies who have advised Saudi Arabia on its global sports spending spree – including its proposed takeover of golf’s PGA Tour – are coming under fire in Washington for possible violations of federal disclosure laws.” Why aren’t we seeing the board of directors of the PGA tours in the limelight? And when it comes to the US consultancies, if they are advising, there is the question will others follow that advise and if so is the acting party not up for optional consequences if laws are BROKEN? Were laws broken? Not as far as I can tell and we can point at ‘to get around the issue’ implies that Richard Blumenthal wants something else. Perhaps dip his …. In the PIF (Public Investment Fund) and slurp up whatever he can. Oh and a thought just occurred. What do you think happens when Saudi Arabia retracts all fundings from America? Did you work that out? When Saudi Arabia sells all the US treasury bonds they have, will the heartbeat of America be measured in Weeks, or seconds? If Saudi Arabia offloads $107,000,000,000 in bonds the US economy will face a harsh reality that it needs money overnight and when others leave America to get by it is all over. Perhaps the ultimate nightmare for Wall Street that desperately requires some kind of soft landing at present. And it could have been averted, just like the losses that the US defense providers face to the extend of many billions (up to 50 of them close to immediate). How much losses can America survive? If there was a clear case of national security I would be fine with this all, but the Guardian gives us no information other than a Saudi hater who is out of her depth and no clear information on the entire McKinsey setting. Too much alleged emotions and no relevant information.
So this was one more slap just for the fun of it. Enjoy the midweek.
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 