{"id":1555353,"date":"2022-07-14T19:49:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T23:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1555353"},"modified":"2022-07-14T19:49:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T23:49:17","slug":"texas-senator-raises-concerns-over-dojs-pga-tour-probe-ahead-of-saudi-arabia-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-senator-raises-concerns-over-dojs-pga-tour-probe-ahead-of-saudi-arabia-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Senator Raises Concerns Over DOJ\u2019s PGA Tour Probe Ahead Of Saudi Arabia Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Ftexas-senator-raises-concerns-over-dojs-pga-tour-probe-ahead-of-saudi-arabia-meeting%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=1555353&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--><p>Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is raising concerns about the Biden administration\u2019s decision to investigate the PGA Tour ahead of the president\u2019s meeting with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, news broke of the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the PGA for anti-competitive practices related to LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed newcomer and alternative professional golfing circuit. Cornyn wrote a letter Thursday questioning the timing of the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI write to raise concerns about the timing of your administration\u2019s investigation into the PGA Tour, an American company. This investigation, according to news reports, is focused on the PGA Tour\u2019s effect on a Saudi Arabian-funded enterprise, LIV Golf. On Monday, July 11, 2022, the week you traveled to Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported that your administration had sent inquiries regarding the PGA Tour\u2019s actions as they relate to LIV Golf,\u201d Cornyn wrote, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/14\/sen-cornyn-presses-biden-on-dojs-pga-probe-coming-week-of-saudi-trip\/\">New York Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am concerned about whether members of the Department of Justice\u2019s Antitrust Division, or any other member of your administration, was involved in the investigation recently being made public. I also have questions about whether your administration had any contact with the Saudi Arabian government about the investigation, either before it opened or afterwards,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>The PGA Tour confirmed to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/pga-tour-antitrust-liv-department-of-justice-investigation-11657557177\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a> Monday that the DOJ was investigating the golfing organization. Attorneys at the department\u2019s antitrust division have contacted players\u2019 agents about information regarding the circuit\u2019s bylaws, as well as any restrictions the PGA has placed on players participating in competing tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>The PGA Tour has taken action against a handful of golfers who have elected to play in the LIV, such as Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Patrick Reed. The PGA and its allies in the industry have attempted to cut the LIV off from top-tier golf talent.<\/p>\n<p>Biden is scheduled to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later this week about oil production. Saudi Arabia is the de facto head of the international oil cartel, OPEC. Russia\u2019s restriction of fuel from Europe and the Biden administration\u2019s anti-fossil fuel policies have driven up the price of oil and frustration with Biden\u2019s energy agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Biden campaigned on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/14\/world\/middleeast\/biden-saudi-arabia-mbs.html\">isolating<\/a> Saudi Arabia over its history of human rights abuses, at one point calling it a \u201cpariah\u201d state. Now, Biden is traveling to Saudi Arabia in the hopes of placating the Saudi ruler and convincing him to lead OPEC into increasing oil production to bring down the global price of crude.<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn wrote that he is suspicious of Saudi Arabia\u2019s influence on the United States and the appearance of the Biden DOJ to go after the PGA so soon before Biden\u2019s meeting with the crown prince.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn writing, I want to note the extensiveness of Saudi Arabian influence on American life. This investigation into the private sector has potential implications both for our nation\u2019s foreign policy and for transparency at home,\u201d Cornyn wrote, according to the Post. \u201cSaudi Arabia has a history of surreptitious and at times malign behavior in its attempts to influence American public policy and freedom of speech in our own country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2016, the Saudi government used shell non-profits to trick several American veterans into lobbying on its behalf against the Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act (P.L. 114 \u2013 222). In 2018, Saudi Arabian operatives murdered U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its own consulate. This was an appalling act of transnational repression. Those who ordered this crime have yet to be held accountable. Despite these actions, Saudi Arabia continues to engage easily on the world stage, knowing that it can lobby, influence, and engage in malign behavior without consequence,\u201d Cornyn said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is raising concerns about the Biden administration\u2019s decision to investigate the PGA Tour ahead of the president\u2019s meeting with Saudi Arabia. Earlier this week, news broke of the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the PGA for anti-competitive practices related to LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed newcomer and alternative professional golfing circuit. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":1555395,"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-1555353","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\/1555353","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\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1555353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1555395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1555353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1555353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1555353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}