Chief of staff to UK's new PM interviewed by the FBI over alleged Puerto Rico election bribe plot, says Sunday Times report

Liz Truss speaks after being announced as Britain's next Prime Minister in London on September 5, 2022.
Liz Truss speaks after being announced as Britain's next Prime Minister in London on September 5.Hannah McKay/Reuters
  • Liz Truss's chief of staff has been interviewed by the FBI about a plot to influence an American election, The Sunday Times reports.

  • Mark Fullbrook has been made a formal subject of a DoJ and FBI investigation into an alleged bribery plot in Puerto Rico.

  • Fullbrook was in charge of Truss's recent leadership campaign.

The chief of staff to UK Prime Minister Liz Truss — who has only been in office for a matter of weeks — has been interviewed by the FBI about an alleged plot to influence an American election, The Sunday Times reports. 

Mark Fullbrook has been made a formal subject of a DoJ and FBI investigation in April into an alleged conspiracy to influence a gubernatorial election in Puerto Rico.

According to the investigation by The Sunday Times, Fullbrook's company was subpoenaed and forced to hand over hundreds of sensitive emails and has since signed an agreement with the FBI and is cooperating as a witness.

Number 10 Chief of Staff Mark Fullbrook leaving after a meeting with the new Prime Minister Liz Truss at Downing Street, London.
Number 10 Chief of Staff Mark Fullbrook leaving after a meeting with Liz Truss at Downing Street in London.Dominic Lipinski/PA/Getty Images

The FBI and DoJ investigation focuses on an alleged bribe plot involving Julio Herrera Velutini, an international banker and Conservative party donor, and Mark Rossini, a former FBI special agent.

According to the DoJ, London-based Velutini and Rossini promised Puerto Rico's then-governor, Wanda Vázquez Garced, $300,000 for her re-election campaign in 2020 on the condition that she sacked the head of the island's financial regulator, the OCIF, and replaced them with someone of Veluntini's choosing.

According to prosecutors, Fullbrook traveled to Puerto Rico in his role as as chief global projects officer of the CT Group to tell Vázquez Garced how he could help her to win the election, provided her with a campaign strategy and polling, and brokered secret payments between Velutini.

The CT Group was founded by Sir Lynton Crosby and the lobbying company is known for its close ties to center-right parties around the world. It supported Vázquez Garced in her unsuccessful re-election bid, The Sunday Times reports.

Former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced
Former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced.Getty Images

Fullbrook was in charge of Truss's recent leadership campaign and was appointed manager of Johnson's successful leadership campaign in 2019, on loan from CT, according to the newspaper.

U. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico has said: "The criminal actions of the defendants in this case strike a blow to the heart of our democracy and further erode the confidence of our citizens in their institutions of governance."

"Equally steadfast is our resolve to prosecute those who seek to use their wealth and power to enrich themselves at the expense of honest government," he added.

Downing Street declined Insider's request for comment during the period of national mourning for the Queen.

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