Federal prosecutors in New York City indicted the co-head of a Maryland-based think tank with a series of charges stemming from what they allege was his off-record defense of Chinese causes while attempting to sell weapons on behalf of a Chinese company. for a number of foreign countries.
Gal Luft, a dual Israeli and US citizen and co-director of the Institute for Global Security Analysis, was also charged with violating Iranian sanctions and making false statements to federal agents, according to the november iaccusationwhich was revealed on Monday.
Luft, 57, is a fugitive, prosecutors said. He was arrested on the charges in Cyprus in February but fled after posting bail.
In recent months, Luft has made headlines by alleging in hitherto unsubstantiated public statements promoted by House Republicans that the Biden family received payments from Chinese citizens linked to Chinese intelligence and that Hunter Biden’s son from the president, he had a mole inside the FBI.
«It’s very credible,» House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Newsmax last week.
Comer stood by that characterization in comments to reporters Tuesday, adding that he has never spoken to Luft.
Luft did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors allege that he has been involved in «multiple international criminal schemes» for several years.
“Subverted foreign agent registration laws in the United States to seek to further Chinese policies by acting through a former high-ranking US government official; acted as a broker in deals for dangerous weapons and Iranian oil; and told multiple lies about his crimes to law enforcement,» said Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The indictment alleges that he reached a $350,000-a-year settlement with the head of a non-governmental organization affiliated with a Chinese energy company in 2015 to promote Chinese causes.
Luft was later tasked with working to «recruit» and «educate» a «former high-ranking US government official.» for him to make public statements in the interest of China for a fee, the indictment says. The official became an «adviser to then-president-elect» Donald Trump in 2016, the indictment says.
The indictment, which identifies the former official only as «Individual-1,» refers to pro-China articles written by James Woolsey.
Woolsey was the CIA director from 1993 to 1995 under President Bill Clinton, joining the Trump campaign as a senior adviser before the 2016 election and spending time on Trump’s transition team, reports show. public reports.
A representative for Woolsey had no immediate comment.
Luft also «conspired with others and attempted to negotiate illicit arms transactions with, among others, certain Chinese individuals and entities» and foreign countries, including Libya, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya, prosecutors alleged.
The deals took place between 2014 and 2017, with munitions including bombs, rockets and grenade launchers, the indictment says.
Luft also allegedly worked on a scheme for China to buy Iranian oil, despite US sanctions against Iran. The indictment says he instructed a co-conspirator to identify the oil as coming from Brazil, not Iran.
Luft is also accused of making false statements to federal agents when questioned about allegations of arms trafficking and sanctions evasion in an interview in Brussels in March 2019.
He apparently gave a different version of the content of the meeting to the House Oversight Committee.
«Gal Luft, a highly credible witness to the corruption of the Biden family, provided incriminating evidence to six FBI and DOJ officials at a meeting in Brussels in March 2019. We have no reason to believe that the FBI and DOJ acted on this information». eat tweeted Friday.
“Americans deserve answers,” he wrote.
In a Newsmax interview that same day that Comer linked to in the tweet, he acknowledged that Luft was the informant who said he was missing in May. “The people at MSNBC who made fun of me when I said we had a missing informant should feel like fools right now. This is her worst nightmare,” he said.
In a statement Tuesday, Comer noted that the Chinese energy company Luft worked for had financial ties to Hunter Biden.
NBC News reported that Hudson West III, a company financed by the company and its president, paid about $4.8 million to a Hunter Biden-controlled company called Owasco PC. The payments were made in 2017 and 2018, according to a Senate Republicans report – after Biden’s father stepped down as vice president.
“Gal Luft was interviewed by the FBI and allegedly provided information about the Bidens” and the Chinese energy company, Comer said in his Tuesday statement. «The House Oversight Committee intends to obtain these records at the FBI.»
He also downplayed the relevance of the criminal allegations.
“Many of the people who are connected to the Biden family businesses have been charged with crimes or are in prison,” he alleged.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has been promoting Luft’s claims and called for him to testify before Congress, he also expressed no concern about the allegations. Asked Tuesday if the charges undermine his claims against the Bidens, Johnson said: «That may be exactly what the Justice Department is trying to do. I don’t trust the Justice Department.»
While the indictment was unsealed Monday, Luft, who prosecutors say has not returned to the US since 2017, had complained about the charges for months, suggesting he was the victim of a conspiracy.
«I was arrested in Cyprus on a politically motivated extradition request from the US. The US alleges that I am an arms dealer. It would be funny if it wasn’t tragic. I have never been an arms dealer. DOJ is trying to bury me to protect Joe, Jim and Hunter Biden,» the youwet in February. James Biden is the president’s younger brother.
Luft said in a recording published by themy NortheastYork Post last week that he met with the FBI and «volunteered to inform the US government of a possible security breach and compromising information about a man who is running for the next president,» stating that «I was now being persecuted by the same people I reported.»
He also said he skipped bail because he «didn’t believe he would get a fair trial in a New York court.»