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cbslocal October 15, 2018
Lincoln Diaz-Balart began working on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco in July 2012, with a formal contract signed in January 2013, according to records filed with the Justice Department.
Starting in July 2012, Diaz-Balart’s company, Western Hemisphere Strategies, was paid $20,000 a month by the Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP), a non-profit company created in the United States that received millions of dollars, nearly all of its funding, from the Kingdom of Morocco.
According to the agreement signed by Lincoln Diaz-Balart in 2013, he would provide “services” designed to “positively affect relations between Morocco and the United States.”
The contract between MACP and Diaz-Balart’s Western Hemisphere Strategies (WHS), also states: “Both parties understand and agree that WHS will not engage in advocacy before US representative Mario Diaz-Balart or his staff.”
Lincoln Diaz-Balart notified the Justice Department that his work representing Morocco’s interest ended in November 2017, although his last payment was made in June 2017. During the nearly five years he worked on behalf of Morocco, Diaz-Balart was paid $1.2 million.
Between Taiwan and Morocco the total paid to Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his firm since 2012 is approximately $2.5 million.
Edward Gabriel, the former US Ambassador to Morocco from 1997 to 2001, who is listed on MACP’s website as the group’s executive director, said he hired Lincoln Diaz-Balart because he is “very steeped in international affairs.”
Asked if part of the reason for hiring Lincoln was because Mario was still a member of Congress, Gabriel said: “No. My reason for hiring Lincoln was his understanding of the region. He has had a long history and knowledge of North Africa and the Southern Mediterranean.”
Gabriel said the only reason Diaz-Balart’s lobbying agreement ended in November 2017, is that Gabriel decided to cut MACP’s financial relationship with Morocco as a client.
“We basically shut down the whole lobby operation,” he said.
In April 2017, the Kingdom of Morocco normalized relations with the government of Cuba, recently exchanging ambassadors.
It is not clear if Morocco’s decision to normalize relations with Cuba affected Diaz-Balart’s decision to stop representing Morocco. Asked if it played a role, a spokeswoman for Lincoln Diaz-Balart replied: “As the public records reflect, former Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s firm’s representation of that former client ended.”
Neither the Congressional Taiwan Caucus nor the Congressional Morocco Caucus are considered controversial. The two caucuses haves both Republican and Democratic members from South Florida.
The Taiwan caucus includes Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings, Frederica Wilson and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The current chair of the Morocco caucus is Congressman Carlos Curbelo.
None of those congressional members, however, have any known family members working on behalf of either Taiwan or Morocco.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Mario Diaz-Balart serves on the subcommittee that oversees U.S. spending on foreign aid, including approving funds for both Taiwan and Morocco. Since 2012, both countries have received millions in US assistance.
Diaz-Balart also serves on the subcommittee oversee appropriations for the Department of Defense. The Defense Departments spends tens of millions every year on security issues involving Morocco.
In 2013, Diaz-Balart co-sponsored the Taiwan Policy Act, which sought to provide Taiwan with a wide range of military weapons, including advanced fighter jets, submarines, surface-to-air missiles, and cruise missiles. The measure never made it out of the House.
It is also difficult to know what actions Mario Diaz-Balart may be taking behind the scenes on behalf of his brother’s clients. A recent profile in the Miami Herald, noted how he often refuses to discuss who he meets with in the Administration or what they discuss. “That’s how I get things done,” he told the Herald.
During that 2014 video conference between Taiwan’s President Ma and officials in the United States, Mario Diaz-Balart had just one question of President Ma. He asked the President “if you have any ideas as to what more the Congress of the United States can do to further that very special relationship.”
President Ma responded by saying: “Thank you very much for your very nice, friendly comments.”
Cbslocal Miami
Lincoln Diaz-Balart began working on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco in July 2012, with a formal contract signed in January 2013, according to records filed with the Justice Department.
Starting in July 2012, Diaz-Balart’s company, Western Hemisphere Strategies, was paid $20,000 a month by the Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP), a non-profit company created in the United States that received millions of dollars, nearly all of its funding, from the Kingdom of Morocco.
According to the agreement signed by Lincoln Diaz-Balart in 2013, he would provide “services” designed to “positively affect relations between Morocco and the United States.”
The contract between MACP and Diaz-Balart’s Western Hemisphere Strategies (WHS), also states: “Both parties understand and agree that WHS will not engage in advocacy before US representative Mario Diaz-Balart or his staff.”
Lincoln Diaz-Balart notified the Justice Department that his work representing Morocco’s interest ended in November 2017, although his last payment was made in June 2017. During the nearly five years he worked on behalf of Morocco, Diaz-Balart was paid $1.2 million.
Between Taiwan and Morocco the total paid to Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his firm since 2012 is approximately $2.5 million.
Edward Gabriel, the former US Ambassador to Morocco from 1997 to 2001, who is listed on MACP’s website as the group’s executive director, said he hired Lincoln Diaz-Balart because he is “very steeped in international affairs.”
Asked if part of the reason for hiring Lincoln was because Mario was still a member of Congress, Gabriel said: “No. My reason for hiring Lincoln was his understanding of the region. He has had a long history and knowledge of North Africa and the Southern Mediterranean.”
Gabriel said the only reason Diaz-Balart’s lobbying agreement ended in November 2017, is that Gabriel decided to cut MACP’s financial relationship with Morocco as a client.
“We basically shut down the whole lobby operation,” he said.
In April 2017, the Kingdom of Morocco normalized relations with the government of Cuba, recently exchanging ambassadors.
It is not clear if Morocco’s decision to normalize relations with Cuba affected Diaz-Balart’s decision to stop representing Morocco. Asked if it played a role, a spokeswoman for Lincoln Diaz-Balart replied: “As the public records reflect, former Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s firm’s representation of that former client ended.”
Neither the Congressional Taiwan Caucus nor the Congressional Morocco Caucus are considered controversial. The two caucuses haves both Republican and Democratic members from South Florida.
The Taiwan caucus includes Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings, Frederica Wilson and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The current chair of the Morocco caucus is Congressman Carlos Curbelo.
None of those congressional members, however, have any known family members working on behalf of either Taiwan or Morocco.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Mario Diaz-Balart serves on the subcommittee that oversees U.S. spending on foreign aid, including approving funds for both Taiwan and Morocco. Since 2012, both countries have received millions in US assistance.
Diaz-Balart also serves on the subcommittee oversee appropriations for the Department of Defense. The Defense Departments spends tens of millions every year on security issues involving Morocco.
In 2013, Diaz-Balart co-sponsored the Taiwan Policy Act, which sought to provide Taiwan with a wide range of military weapons, including advanced fighter jets, submarines, surface-to-air missiles, and cruise missiles. The measure never made it out of the House.
It is also difficult to know what actions Mario Diaz-Balart may be taking behind the scenes on behalf of his brother’s clients. A recent profile in the Miami Herald, noted how he often refuses to discuss who he meets with in the Administration or what they discuss. “That’s how I get things done,” he told the Herald.
During that 2014 video conference between Taiwan’s President Ma and officials in the United States, Mario Diaz-Balart had just one question of President Ma. He asked the President “if you have any ideas as to what more the Congress of the United States can do to further that very special relationship.”
President Ma responded by saying: “Thank you very much for your very nice, friendly comments.”
Cbslocal Miami