March 3, 2013
'Malaysian Government financed allegation debate upon Opposition'
by John R Mallot@http://www.malaysiakini.com
COMMENT The suspicions were regularly there. But thanks to a disclosure form filed upon Jan 24 with a US Department of Justice by Joshua Trevino, a regressive American domestic expert as well as blogger, we right away know which a Malaysian supervision was at a behind of a most recent bid to allegation a domestic antithesis as well as a leadership.
The campaign, which involved payments of scarcely US$ 400,000 to Trevino as well as over US$ 130,000 to ten right-wing American bloggers, was conducted upon interest of APCO as well as after FBC Media.
In his official filing, Trevino (right) wrote which APCO as well as FBC Media perceived their funding from "the supervision of Malaysia, a ruling party, or interests closely aligned with either."
We know from APCO's filings with a Justice Department which a funding came from a government. Other sources, quite a investigative work of Sarawak Report, indicate a same for FBC Media. The Malaysian supervision paid for both of them.
It is not unusual for unfamiliar governments to use lobbyists as well as open relations firms to promote a certain picture overseas.But there have been three things which were really different about this effort.
First, a work which APCO, FBC Media, as well as Trevino did require which a governmen! t's palm should not be revealed.
The funding for blog postings as well as articles in a United States as well as for BBC programs in England was never identified as entrance from a Malaysian government.
The financing as well as authorship of Trevino's websites, Malaysia Matters and Malaysia Watcher, were hidden. Welcome to 007 land.
Second, a bid was not only to promote a picture of a supervision as well as a prime minister. The dark part of a bid targeted a antithesis as well as a leaders, as well as in particular Anwar Ibrahim (left).
Stated an additional way, supervision supports were used secretly to allegation a duly-elected as well as official personality of a Opposition.
Third, Trevino wrote which a "explicit intent" of a debate was to "affect domestic open perspective inside of Malaysia proper.
"While there was expected to be a small outcome upon US open perspective given a articles appeared in US outlets, he pronounced which "was neither by design nor intent."
That explains because blog postings in obscure American websites were immediately "discovered" as well as trumpeted behind to Malaysia inside of 24 hours, via Bernama, RTM, as well as a ruling coalition's newspapers.
The posts in America were combined to try as well as change open views in Malaysia. Indeed, according to a single member in a bid who spoke to me, a talking points as well as credentials report papers were first prepared in Malaysia as well as afterwards sent upon to a "independent writers" by APCO as well as after FBC.
"I do not know a lot about Malaysia," a chairman told me. "But even we could see which a small of what they were promulgation to us was laughable, so we threw it in a trash."
The Trevino-Apco-FBC event is usually a ultimate section in a contemptible bid which 
dates behind over a decade.Twelve years ago, a notorious super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff (right) as well as others were hired to lead a multi-million dollar bid to change US open perspective about Malaysia.
The US Senate held hearings upon a matter, as well as Mahathir himself after certified which a bid existed. Others upon top of Abramoff as well as his fellow lobbyists were involved.
Ed Feulner, a conduct of a Heritage Foundation, a major US consider tank, accepted poignant payments from Malaysian corporations to Belle Haven, his private consulting firm in Hong Kong.
The Malaysian companies could claim them as commercial operation expenses. But according to US Senate records, Belle Haven in spin transferred US$ 1.3 million over five years to US firms which lobbied upon interest of Malaysia.
The Malaysian Embassy in Washington, afterwards headed by Dato Ghazzali Sheikh Khalid, finished illegal payments through American banks upon some-more than a single occasion to a fraudulent consider tank located in a Delaware beach residence upon a Atlantic Ocean.
After that, a income was "laundered" as well as transferred to Abramoff for a lobbying effort, with Ghazzali's full knowledge.
Found guilty
Where have been a participants in which earlier bid today? Abramoff was convicted as well as outlayed 43 months in jail; twenty-one of his associates possibly pled guilty or were found guilty.
Although a Washington Post pronounced which Feulner's actions jeopardised a Heritage Foundation's tax-free statu! s,
Ambassador Ghazzali (above) was "promoted" to Tan Sri as well as is right away comparison advisor to Bowers Group Asia, a consulting firm headed by Ernest Bowers, who additionally heads a CSIS Southeast Middle East program, a programme which is at large seen in Washington as a processed forum for Malaysian supervision speakers.
What will occur to those involved in a ultimate Trevino-APCO-FBC effort? For Trevino as well as his associates, there competence be a small embarrassment, as well as their commercial operation interests competence suffer. But regressive circles in America have a habit of taking care of each other.
Legal movement is unlikely. Although Trevino belatedly reported his Malaysia connection to a Justice Department, his work upon interest of Malaysia as well as which of his associates was not directed at lobbying a US supervision per se.
It exists in a grey area of a law; they were not paid without delay by any unfamiliar government. They were contractors as well as "worker bees" paid by others.
APCO lost a contract with Malaysia prolonged ago. But in a misfortune tradition of Washington DC lobbyists, it no doubt will go upon to work for whoever pays it. As for FBC Media, it is right away in what a British kindly call "administration" bankruptcy.
One pass player in this effort, according to Sarawak Report, still sits next to 
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (right). He is a British subject, Paul Stadlen. First he worked for Apco in Malaysia, as well as afterwards reportedly for FBC Media.
Today he works without delay in Najib's bureau as an "international affairs advisor."
A few years ago, we wrote a 2-part essay for Malaysiakini about a Abramoff affair. (Read Part 1 here as well as Part 2 here.)
One of a points we finished was which people who run countries with a controlled press appear to consider which a rest of a world acts a same way. They consider they have a capability to change what alternative people review as well as think.
And when they realize which those countries do not work a same way, they afterwards hold what a lobbyists as well as PR firms in those countries discuss it them only compensate me millions, as well as we can have things occur for you. It seems to have sense.
After all, in Malaysia as well as a small alternative countries, if we compensate millions, people will do what we want. But we wrote in Malaysiakini that in a democracy like America, any a single can write as well as get articles published.
We have entrance to supervision officials as well as can speak at open events. We do not have to compensate for that, as well as no a single has to compensate us to do it.
So years ago, Abramoff as well as others finished as well as squandered millions. But no a single had to compensate me a penny. (For a record, in a 15 years given we left Malaysia, no a single has paid me a ringgit for anything we have pronounced or done.)
In a end, all of a income outlayed upon Abramoff as well as a others was wasted. He went to jail as well as a surreptitious bid was exposed, to Malaysia's embarrassment.
Suspect right from a start
What abo! ut this time? At slightest in a Abramoff days, a supervision hid a palm successfully, at slightest for a few years. This time around, it was not so. From a beginning, there was something really suspicious.
For all a income they took from a Malaysian taxpayers, APCO as well as FBC Media should have been a lot smarter.
Millions of dollars should have bought some-more "brain power" than what we have seen from APCO as well as FBC as well as Stadlen. The approach they went about this threw off so many clues from a start:
- Why did all these people all right wing, regressive bloggers, with no knowledge of Malaysia as well as no story of essay about unfamiliar affairs suddenly begin essay about Malaysia?
- Why did they all sing a common tune? Why was there so small variation in what they had to say?
- Why did their articles as well as postings appear usually upon right-wing, regressive newspapers as well as websites?
- And because were all of their articles as well as blogs related to each other?
From a really beginning, it was transparent which "something was up." Everyone suspected a government's palm as well as right away Joshua Trevino has confirmed it.
And once again, millions of a taxpayers' income have been squandered upon a failed effort. Trevino says a idea was to change Malaysian opinion, not American.
Clearly, which has failed. Because millions of dollars later, notwithstanding all a bid as well as all a smears, there is a genuine possibility which Anwar as well as a Opposition competence come to power.
If we have schooled anything from this, it is which a Malaysian supervision should stop wasting a taxpayers' income upon schemes pitched to it by unfamiliar PR firms. And to learn which in a end, it is what we do as a! supervi sion which has a greatest change upon world perspective as well as Malaysian domestic opinion.
JOHN R MALOTT was a US Ambassador to Malaysia, 1995-1998, as well as continues to follow developments in which nation closely.
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