Former Biden aide set up meeting between Qatari royal and US senator convicted of corruption
Sen. Robert Menendez was found guilty of accepting bribes from a New Jersey businessman and wielding political influence to benefit Qatar and Egypt.
A former aide to President Joe Biden and the leader of a group raising money to help his re-election campaign helped to organize a meeting between Sen. Robert Menendez and a member of the Qatari royal family, fostering a relationship that attracted the attention of federal prosecutors.
Mark Doyle is currently the chairman of Unite the Country, a super PAC that has raised millions of dollars to support Biden’s 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns. He served as deputy director of White House personnel under President Bill Clinton, and worked for Biden during the 2008 presidential campaign, becoming the then-senator’s “body man,” assigned to be with Biden constantly.
On Tuesday, Menendez was found guilty on federal corruption charges, including bribery, extortion and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. He now faces the prospect of a lengthy term in prison and will be sentenced on Oct. 29.
Among other charges, Menendez was convicted of using his powerful position to benefit Qatar in exchange for cash and gold bars. To make its case, the government submitted as evidence a Jan. 31, 2021, email Doyle sent to a Menendez staffer about an upcoming meeting between Menendez and Sheikh Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family who heads a London-based investment fund, and Qatari official Ali Al Thawadi. Doyle included biographical details about Sultan and Al Thawadi in the email, and wrote that he and Vladimir Petrovic, a lobbyist for Qatar, would accompany the Qataris to the meeting.
Doyle previously worked as a lobbyist for Serbia in 2009 and 2010, when Petrovic served as Serbia’s ambassador to Washington. Doyle is not registered as a lobbyist for Qatar. In a statement to ICIJ, he wrote: “I set up one meeting for my friend, was not paid, have no association with anyone since and all was shared with the appropriate law enforcement.”
The relationship between Menendez and Sultan was a key aspect of the government’s case against the New Jersey Democrat for corruption related to Qatar. Prosecutors alleged that Menendez used his influential position to push resolutions favorable to Qatar to help a New Jersey-based real estate developer, Fred Daibes, secure a multimillion-dollar investment from the Qatari’s investment fund. They presented Signal messages sent in June 2021 in which Menendez provided Daibes’ contact information to the Qatari royal and subsequently encouraged Sultan to conclude a business deal with the real estate developer, according to court records obtained by ICIJ. In return, prosecutors alleged, Daibes provided Menendez with cash and gold bars. Daibes, who was tried alongside Menendez, was found guilty of paying bribes to the senator. Neither Sultan nor the Qatari government are accused of wrongdoing.
ICIJ and the Washington Post revealed in March that Sultan invested roughly $50 million in the pro-Trump network Newsmax.
Doyle launched Unite the Country with other former Biden aides in 2019. The super PAC raised nearly $50 million in the 2020 election cycle to support Biden’s candidacy. It has so far raised only $4.3 million to support the president’s current re-election bid, according to the campaign finance nonprofit Open Secrets.
Doyle and Petrovic both made campaign donations to Menendez around the time of the 2021 meeting. Doyle donated $2,900 to Menendez, the maximum allowed by an individual, roughly six weeks after the meeting, according to Open Secrets. Between 2018 and 2022, Petrovic also made five donations to the senator’s campaign and one to his political action committee, contributing a total of $9,700.
Petrovic did not respond to questions sent to him by ICIJ.
Doyle worked in 2010 to help President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, secure investments in Serbia, according to leaked emails published by Fox News. Doyle, then a lobbyist for Serbia, discussed with Hunter Biden a potential visit to the capital of Belgrade to meet “high net worth individuals.” Doyle wrote that Petrovic, Serbia’s ambassador in Washington at the time, “wants to start putting together a full day for you with [Serbian President Boris] Tadic and potential investors.”
Hunter Biden backed out of plans to travel to Serbia in May 2010, and it is unclear if the meetings ever took place.
Doyle remained close to the Biden family in the years that followed. In a 2015 interview, he said that he also got to know President Biden’s eldest son, Beau Biden, during his successful campaign for Delaware attorney general. The trio became so close, Doyle said, that “Hunter and Beau and I referred to ourselves as half-brothers.”
Despite the current anxiety swirling in some Democratic circles about Biden’s candidacy, Doyle remains a staunch supporter of the president. He said in a July 6 interview that it’s “hard to make a case that this guy hasn’t done more for the U.S. economy at the Main Street level than any president since FDR.”
Update July 16, 2024: This story was updated to reflect that Sen. Robert Menendez was found guilty on all counts in a federal corruption trial.