Trump backer Elliot Broidy accused of orchestrating covert campaign against Qatar

A top GOP donor and Donald Trump ally was paid millions of dollars by the United Arab Emirates to engineer a smear campaign against rival Persian Gulf state Qatar, according to an explosive lawsuit.

Elliott Broidy — a former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee who pleaded guilty last year to charges that he illegally lobbied the US on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests — now stands accused of illegally lobbying federal officials to take “anti-Qatari” positions and of “orchestrating a disinformation campaign” against the country, according to the suit filed by a Qatari luxury travel company. In 2018, Broidy stepped down as deputy finance chair of the RNC after reports that he agreed to pay $1.6 million as part of a confidentiality agreement to a former Playboy model whom he allegedly impregnated. That payment was arranged in 2017 by Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen.