A retired Marine Corps general who once led U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and later publicly backed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is facing scrutiny over allegations that he illegally lobbied government officials on behalf of the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.
The FBI seized the electronic data of retired Gen. John R. Allen, who now leads the Brookings Institution after authorities said he made false statements and withheld “incriminating” documents about his lobbying efforts, The Associated Press reported.
Court filings obtained by the AP indicate the seizure of Mr. Allen’s data is part of an expanding investigation of illegal lobbying that resulted in a guilty plea last week from Richard G. Olson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.
The court filings obtained by the AP indicate that Mr. Allen worked behind the scenes to help Qatar influence U.S. policy during a 2017 diplomatic crisis that erupted between the monarchy and its neighbors.
Mr. Allen is accused of misrepresenting his role in the lobbying campaign to U.S. officials and failing to disclose that he was pursuing multimillion-dollar business deals with Qatar at the same time, the AP reported.
“There is substantial evidence that these [Foreign Agents Registration Act] violations were willful,” FBI agent Babak Adib wrote in a search warrant application, according to the AP.