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Trump Nominee to Pentagon Post Grilled over Firm’s Alleged Ties to Saudi Assassins

HeadlineAug 07, 2020

On Capitol Hill, President Trump’s nominee for a top Pentagon post was grilled Thursday over his company’s alleged ties to the Saudi hit squad that assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Louis Bremer — a former Navy SEAL turned investment banker — sits on the board of directors of a military training company named Tier 1 Group. Last year, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius revealed the CIA warned other U.S. government agencies that Tier 1 employees may have trained some of Khashoggi’s killers. On Thursday, Senator Tim Kaine asked Bremer about the allegations.

Louis Bremer: “I do know that we train Saudi nationals as part of our engagements with the kingdom as an allied nation. We train other nations, as well. But I have no knowledge of that.”

Sen. Tim Kaine: “So, until today, you had not been aware that an allegation had been made that a company on which you sit as a director, with a small board of directors, had potentially been involved in training the Saudis who were particpants in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi?”

Louis Bremer: “Senator, I don’t have any recollection of that.”

Meanwhile, a former top Saudi intelligence official exiled in Canada said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a hit squad to Toronto to hunt him down and kill him. The 106-page complaint was filed by Saad Aljabri in U.S. civil court. It claims Prince bin Salman tried to hide his corrupt business dealings by ordering Aljabri’s assassination.

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