GOP lawmaker targeted for influence op by ex-CIA officer over anti-Qatar bill: report

A Republican congressman was reportedly targeted for an influence operation by an ex-CIA official working on behalf of the government of Qatar in opposition to legislation that would have designated as a terrorist organization an Islamic political movement supported by the tiny Gulf nation.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told The Associated Press he was unaware that he was the target of a potential influence operation, revealed in an investigation by the newswire.

“The allegations that a former CIA officer is actively trying to influence an important national security bill on behalf of a foreign country are deeply disturbing,” Diaz-Balart said.

Kevin Chalker, a former CIA officer and founder of Global Risk Advisors, which is described as a management consultancy company, is reportedly under scrutiny by the FBI over whether the firm broke U.S. laws related to foreign lobbying, surveillance and exporting sensitive technologies and tradecraft, the AP reported.

The AP investigation said it obtained internal records from the company saying it was using spycraft to gather information on Diaz-Balart over legislation proposed in 2015 that would have designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

Diaz-Balart reintroduced the legislation last November with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), although both the House and Senate versions of the bill appear to be stalled.

Laura Hernandez, the communications director for Diaz-Balart, said Thursday that the Democratic majority of the House Judiciary Committee has refused to give a hearing to the legislation.

The Hill has reached out to Cruz’s office and the House Judiciary Democrats for comment.

Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia view the Muslim Brotherhood — a Sunni Islamist political movement — as an existential threat to the greater Arab world.

A Saudi-led blockade against Qatar in 2017 was in part motivated to pressure the Gulf state to sever ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar never fully capitulated, and ties between Doha and its neighboring Gulf states resumed in January 2021, in part under pressure from the Trump administration.

Qatar hosts U.S. forces at the Al Udeid Air Base, and easing the blockade was in the interest of the Trump White House and, at that time, the incoming Biden administration.

—Updated at 12:51 p.m.

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