Ed Newberry: Stop working for Saudi Arabia's dictator

Every year, dictators and foreign governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars to manipulate American politics and bend U.S. foreign policy towards their interests. As America's largest arms customer, Saudi Arabia's monarchy spends vast sums in the U.S. every year to promote the idea that their dictatorship should be a U.S. ally.

Meanwhile, the Saudi dictatorship does everything in its power to block freedom and reform at home. Saudi Arabia's rulers jail and kill peaceful critics, torture women's rights activists, bomb civilians in Yemen, and intervene against democracy across the Middle East. Saudi Arabia's current dictator, Mohammed bin Salman, is no exception.

Ed Newberry of the U.S. lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs is one of many unethical lobbyists who have worked as registered foreign agents for Saudi Arabia's dictatorship. But he and his firm are the only ones who still represent the very Saudi office that was directly involved with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Newberry's bloody contract began with a payment of $1.2 million via Saud Al-Qahtani, the head of the Saudi Center at the time. Al-Qahtani has been sanctioned by the US government for his role in murdering Khashoggi. His Saudi monarchy center was also named in a recent US intelligence report on Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi's murder in Turkey by Saudi agents, which stated: "The 15-member Saudi team that arrived in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 included officials who worked for, or were associated with, the Saudi Center for Studies and Media Affairs (CSMARC) at the Royal Court."

Help take our country’s politics back from the brutal dictators who want to bend our fragile democracy to their will. Demand that Ed Newberry and Squire Patton Boggs stop working for Saudi Arabia's dictatorship. Urge Ed Newberry and Squire Patton Boggs to cancel their contracts with Saudi Arabia's dictatorship and the so-called Saudi Center for Studies and Media Affairs at the Saudi Royal Court (CSMARC).

SOURCES:

1) "Edward J. Newberry, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs,” https://www.squirepattonboggs.com/en/professionals/n/newberry-edward-j

2) “Top Lobbying Firm Is Still on the Payroll of Saudi Center Implicated in Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder,” Mother Jones, March 3, 2021, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/top-lobbying-firm-is-still-on-the-payroll-of-saudi-center-implicated-in-jamal-khashoggis-murder/

3) “Amendment to Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended,” received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit, U.S. Department of Justice, March 1, 2021, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/2165-Amendment-20210301-140.pdf

4) “Short Form Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended,” received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit, U.S. Department of Justice, September 20, 2016, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/2165-Short-Form-20160920-634.pdf.

5) “Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi,” Office Of The Director Of National Intelligence, February 11, 2021, https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Assessment-Saudi-Gov-Role-in-JK-Death-20210226v2.pdf

6) Saud Al-Qahtani: Saud al-Qahtani Helped Kill Khashoggi, Tortured Prominent Activist https://dawnmena.org/saudi-arabia-saud-al-qahtani-helped-kill-khashoggi-tortured-prominent-activist/