So their investigators often rely on things that get introduced into the public record by some other means - like, say, a court filing that forthrightly asserts that an owner has sovereign immunity. But when we spoke this week, he noted a particular irony to the case: The Justice Department’s FARA unit, he says, doesn’t actually have subpoena power. Even though the judge didn’t buy the argument, it’s the sort of thing that could prick up the ears of some federal FARA prosecutor.Īccording to Matthew Sanderson, a leading Washington FARA attorney, the law requiring registration for agents of foreign governments is a tricky one, with significant exceptions for ordinary commercial businesses that happen to be government-owned. But that was before LIV’s lawyers started saying in court that PIF was an essential part of the Saudi government and hence protected by sovereign immunity. At the time, LIV’s spokesperson pooh-poohed the idea. Last summer, Roy, a Texas Republican, called for the Justice Department to investigate the golf league for potential violations of FARA, suggesting that even the golfers themselves were effectively part of a foreign influence operation due to PIF’s ownership. Worse still, from a reputation point of view, is that some of the arguments LIV’s team made in their unsuccessful effort to keep PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan from being dragged into the case could soon reignite another unflattering line of criticism of LIV: That the golf league is a foreign influence campaign whose stateside employees could therefore be subject to the U.S. No matter who winds up winning, it hasn’t generated the sort of headlines that reset a national image. The Justice Department was investigating antitrust allegations against PGA, too.īut by fall, LIV had joined the suit, the PGA had countersued, and news accounts treated it as a story about national sovereignty and foreign power. At first, it seemed like a potential David-and-Goliath tale pitting an energetic startup against a staid incumbent. The antitrust case was filed last summer by 11 golfers who complained that the dominant PGA was trying to punish them for having the temerity to do business with a better-paying competitor. It’s not exactly the result you’re going for if you’re spending billions of dollars to rebrand your kingdom.Ĭonsider the lawsuit that kicked off much of the legal-political warfare. Sign up for the newsletter.Īnd, in most of these matters, the storylines have played out in ways that give problematic aspects of Saudi Arabia’s public image more attention, not less. Want to read more stories like this? POLITICO Weekend delivers gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun every Friday. But whatever the legal merits, the news reports about the decision - a controversial foreign government claiming immunity against the Americans its company had tried to sue - fit what’s become a familiar pattern: With an assist from armies of Washington lobbyists, communications pros, lawyers and strategists, a golf story that began with splashy hires of top sports talent has evolved into a minefield of hot-button, distinctly non-athletic Beltway issues, from antitrust, foreign influence-peddling and human rights to 9/11, national sovereignty and Donald Trump. “It is the moving force behind the founding, funding, oversight, and operation of LIV.” “It is plain that PIF is not a mere investor in LIV,” Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen wrote, using the Saudi fund’s familiar abbreviation. The ruling could wind up pulling back the curtain on how decision-making works at the secretive state fund, whose governor holds ministerial rank in the MBS-dominated government. The latest set of unhappy headlines landed late last month, when a federal judge ruled that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would have to answer questions and produce evidence as part of the discovery process in a legal battle between LIV and the rival PGA golf tour. But as LIV begins its sophomore season - and as the battle royale of political, legal and public relations scrums involving the upstart league also enter their second year - an unlikely counterargument is emerging: It’s hard to call something sportswashing if nearly every LIV news cycle seems to dirty up the kingdom’s reputation.
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