{"id":1403673,"date":"2022-03-28T05:15:12","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T09:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1403673"},"modified":"2022-03-28T05:15:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T09:15:21","slug":"legal-docs-tie-quincy-institutes-amir-handjani-to-spy-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legal-docs-tie-quincy-institutes-amir-handjani-to-spy-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Docs Tie Quincy Institute\u2019s Amir Handjani to Spy Operation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flegal-docs-tie-quincy-institutes-amir-handjani-to-spy-operation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1403673&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/\">National Security<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Iranian-American businessman alleged to have had role organizing probes against critics of UAE monarch<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\"><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tAmir Handjani \/ RAK Petroleum\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/alana-goodman\/\" title=\"Posts by Alana Goodman\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Alana Goodman<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/adam-kredo\/\" title=\"Posts by Adam Kredo\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Adam Kredo<\/a> \u2022 March 28, 2022 5:00 am<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A pro-Iran pundit at the Koch- and Soros-backed Quincy Institute was more involved than previously known in an international private spy operation targeting critics of a Gulf State sheikh, according to new court filings.<\/p>\n<p>In a U.K.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Exhibit-E-Third-Witness-Statement-of-Stuart-Page-Stripped-Down.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">affidavit<\/a>\u00a0filed last month, a\u00a0British\u00a0private eye said the Quincy fellow and\u00a0onetime<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>foreign agent\u00a0Amir Handjani, along with\u00a0a lawyer for Ras al Khaimah (RAK), a small United Emirates Kingdom, &#8220;instructed&#8221; him to investigate who was funding a\u00a0Jordanian businessman&#8217;s lawsuit accusing the\u00a0RAK of detaining and torturing him at a black site prison.\u00a0The private eye said he later enlisted an\u00a0Israeli hacker\u00a0to handle the case. The affidavit does not specify who was specifically targeted in the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Handjani was an adviser to Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi, the authoritarian ruler of RAK, which is implicated in several lawsuits that accuse its leadership and advisers of hiring private spies and hackers to dig up dirt on enemies. RAK is one of the seven monarchical states that make up the United Arab Emirates and its ruler is known to have deep <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com\/company\/rak-ceramics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">financial<\/a> and diplomatic ties to Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Handjani has been a vocal media advocate for the Iran nuclear deal from his perches at several prominent D.C.-based think tanks including the Truman National Security Project and, until last year, the Atlantic Council. His role as an adviser to hostile foreign leaders and as a registered foreign agent for Saudi Arabia&#8217;s public investment fund\u2014while simultaneously serving as a think tank donor and expert\u2014illustrates the seedy and complicated ways that foreign governments can influence American political discourse,<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>where his work has been featured in publications like\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2019\/05\/10\/saudi-arabia-has-big-plans-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Foreign Policy<\/a> <\/em>and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2017-10-13\/trump-aims-at-iran-hits-the-u-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Handjani has denied knowledge of the alleged hacking campaigns, but\u00a0the private investigator&#8217;s court testimony is raising questions about Handjani\u2019s role in authorizing\u00a0at least one private spy operation carried out\u00a0in 2020\u2014and has led to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2022-03-14-Petitioners-Motion-For-Leave-to-file-supplemental-materials-in-support-of-Application-for-order-to-take-discovery.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">request<\/a> that Handjani turn over records as part of a separate U.S. federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Handjani did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The British private investigator said that during a breakfast meeting at the Royal Automobile Club in early 2020, Handjani and\u00a0the Dechert\u00a0attorney Neil Gerrard gave him orders to investigate the funding of a lawsuit against RAK.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;During that breakfast, one of the topics of conversation that came up was the funding of\u00a0various proceedings involving RAK,&#8221; wrote the private investigator in the affidavit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Gerrard] then said words to the effect of \u2018we need you to find out who is funding all of this.&#8217; Neil and Amir then instructed me to do this,&#8221; continued the private investigator.<\/p>\n<p>The British private investigator\u00a0said he\u00a0hired a former Israeli intelligence operative who produced a report that was sent to Handjani through an encrypted messaging system, according to the testimony, which indicated that\u00a0the Israeli investigator routinely used SIGINT, a term that refers to the &#8220;hacking of confidential emails and the unauthorized access to other confidential electronic data.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Handjani&#8217;s involvement in authorizing this spy operation has led to a records request in a case against him. Handjani&#8217;s lawyers are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/HandjaniResponse.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fighting against<\/a>\u00a0the motion.<\/p>\n<p>An attorney for RAK&#8217;s investment fund, Dechert lawyer Andrew Levander, threatened to sue the\u00a0<em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>\u00a0for defamation over its coverage of Handjani&#8217;s role as an adviser to the authoritarian sheikh.<\/p>\n<p>Gerrard and\u00a0Dechert\u00a0have also been the subject of litigation over the alleged hacking operations. &#8220;We have no comment on the proceedings beyond that we are defending the claims\u00a0issued against the firm and its partners,&#8221;\u00a0Dechert told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The Quincy Institute did not respond to a request for comment. The Atlantic Council said Handjani left the group&#8217;s board last year.<\/p>\n<p>A representative for the Truman National Security\u00a0Project said the\u00a0think tank &#8220;does not comment on ongoing legal investigations, especially as they pertain to matters outside of our organization. We do, however, have a strict code of conduct for our members and fellows, and those who do not adhere to our policies are subject to removal from the membership.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Security Iranian-American businessman alleged to have had role organizing probes against critics of UAE monarch  Amir Handjani \/ RAK Petroleum  Alana Goodman and Adam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":371,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1403673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/371"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1403673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1403673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1403673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1403673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}