WASHINGTON — Tom Barrack, an equity investor and a close ally of President Donald Trump, sought Saudi government funding in a bid to buy ailing U.S. nuclear reactor builder Westinghouse, according to a House report.
It reveals new details of an effort to transfer sensitive nuclear technology to the oil-rich kingdom.
The Wall Street Journal has reported previously on the plan to build and operate dozens of nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East. Barrack and a group of former top military officers used extensive contacts within Trump’s inner circle to advance an initiative potentially worth tens of billions of dollars, according to documents obtained by House investigators.
The new report by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, based on 60,000 newly obtained documents, says that Barrack and the group of ex-military officers, whose company was known as IP3, solicited Saudi funds even as they lobbied for and obtained Trump administration support for their strategy. The House report doesn’t accuse the consortium of breaking any laws. The report says the nuclear plan’s backers and top Trump administration officials commingled private business interests and U.S. national security policy. Barrack was seeking a top White House job dealing with Mideast policy even as he lobbied for the Saudi nuclear plan, the report said.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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