NEW YORK _ A top Republican fundraiser for Donald Trump's 2016 campaign learned last week that his email accounts had been hacked, sowing concerns that document leaks could roil another national U.S. election cycle.
Elliott Broidy, a deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, became aware of the problem when a reporter asked about some of his private messages, said his attorney, Christopher Clark. Broidy then alerted law enforcement officials, who are now investigating the breach of his private and business emails.
Some news organizations have cited Broidy's communications in articles over the past week, describing how he sought to use his political ties to advance his business interests and those of foreign leaders. More embarrassing revelations could follow. All the information will be released soon on "the dark web," according to a note accompanying emails sent to Bloomberg.
Documents released so far place Broidy in the inner circle of Republican money men. They include photos of Broidy, a Los Angeles money manager with investments in Israel, at a fundraiser for the pro-Israel Republican Jewish Coalition, standing alongside casino magnate Steve Wynn, who was until recently the RNC's fundraising chairman, and RJC President Norm Coleman, a former U.S. senator from Minnesota. Broidy and his wife also cultivated ties with Ed Royce, an Orange County, Calif., congressman who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to the emails.
The dissemination of Broidy's personal emails echoes an episode that still reverberates through national news and politics. The public disclosure of messages sent by John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, in the summer of 2016 helped spur a U.S. probe into Russian meddling in the presidential election.
In this case, Broidy has blamed the hack on agents of Qatar. Citing information from the intelligence community and law enforcement personnel, Broidy told Qatar's ambassador in Washington in a letter on March 3 that he had "discovered the identities of the U.S. citizen and foreign actors your government hired and directed in these operations." Some of the agents were paid " 'under the table' in violation of several U.S. and state laws," he wrote.
Qatar denied Broidy's claim that it had engaged in "hostile intelligence against United States citizens through registered and unregistered agents." Each side has threatened legal action against the other.
Broidy has hired two information security firms to investigate the matter. "All of these documents were obtained through the unauthorized access of Mr. Broidy's computers by someone who was looking to do him harm," said Clark, of Latham & Watkins LLP. "We're still investigating the details of exactly when and how the breach occurred."
Broidy, who owns Broidy Capital Management and a private security firm, pleaded guilty in December 2009 in a pay-to-play scheme involving New York's pension fund. He was named an RNC finance deputy chairman in April.
In the hacked materials, he is depicted as willing to use his access to Trump and his administration to benefit powerful people around the world.
He and his wife, attorney Robin Rosenzweig, engaged in contract negotiations to represent Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman identified by the U.S. Justice Department as a central figure in the theft of $4.5 billion from Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB, according to the documents.
The emails included talking points on why the U.S. should drop its 1MDB probe. One draft contract showed that Rosenzweig's firm could have made $75 million if they succeeded. It's unclear what if anything came of the proposal. The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the effort.
The New York Times reported that Broidy held a private meeting with Trump in the Oval Office urging to him to talk to the military commander of the United Arab Emirates. In the meeting, Broidy also talked up his security firm, Circinus, which has hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the U.A.E., according to the Times.
"Circinus can employ personnel worldwide to provide physical force protection to individuals, groups or facilities within austere, hostile environments,'' according to the firm's website.
In pleading guilty in 2009, Broidy admitted paying nearly $1 million in gifts to officials close to the comptroller overseeing the New York state pension fund. In exchange for the gifts, which included $300,000 he funneled to a movie produced by brothers of a ranking official, Broidy's private equity firm, Markstone Capital Partners, received $250 million in public funds to manage and $18 million in management fees, he admitted.
Markstone agreed to return the $18 million in management fees to the New York state fund. Broidy, who cooperated with state authorities, later had his plea reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Last year, Broidy and his wife gave at least $500,000 to Republican candidates and committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Among his co-deputies on the RNC's finance leadership team is Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime personal attorney. The finance group was overseen until recent weeks by Wynn, who stepped down after allegations of sexual harassment. The RNC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
