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The deal with the former transport secretary says he “was in serious financial difficulty” when he took out the loan and used the money for home repairs.
The legal review of LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois who served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet from 2009 to 2013, appears to have emerged from a Justice Department investigation into the Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire who was the ultimate source of the loan, Gilbert Chagoury.
The Justice Department also announced Wednesday that Chagoury reached a resolution similar in 2019 to an investigation into his involvement in foreign donations to US political campaigns. Chagoury admitted that he paid $ 180,000 to people in the United States to fund donations to political candidates.
While Chagoury became the center of media attention and GOP attacks because he gave between $ 1-5 million to the Clinton Foundation and had contact with Hillary Clinton’s inner circle in the department State prosecutors all $ 180,000 claim that Chagoury has been channeled into U.S. presidential campaigns appear to have gone to Republican candidates.
Campaigns and candidates are not identified by name in documents released Tuesday, but POLITICO analysis shows individual donations match $ 100,000 in donations to a Mitt Romney presidential campaign fund in 2012, $ 10,000 in campaign 2014 from former Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), $ 30,000 to the 2014 campaign of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and $ 30,200 to the 2016 campaign of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.).
The documents do not allege that the campaigns or the candidates knew the donations came from Chagoury, who – as an alien with no legal residence in the United States – is prohibited from donating to American campaigns.
Chagoury, who lives in Paris, paid a fine of $ 1.8 million and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that kept criminal prosecution out of the way. Although he accepted the facts of the deal regarding his donations, he did not admit to breaking the law. The deal appears to have been structured to allow Chagoury to keep certain legal defenses open.
Two Chagoury associates have also entered into deferred prosecution agreements with US prosecutors. It’s unclear why the affairs were kept under wraps for so long, but one of the assistants’ agreements was not signed until earlier this month.
Published reports and internal State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks have linked Chagoury to the Hezbollah group in Lebanon – which is part of the government there but which the United States considers a terrorist organization. Chagoury has denied any wrongdoing or connection to terrorism, but at times he appears to have landed on a US no-fly list.
In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security sent Chagoury a written apology for an incident that year where he and his family were delayed as they attempted to travel by private jet from Teterboro, New Jersey to Paris.
In the fall of 2016, Chagoury sued the US government. He accused various government agencies of violating his privacy and due process rights by disclosing derogatory and false information about him to the media. In July 2017, both sides agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, with the US government saying Chagoury was never on a specific sanctions list and that certain types of personal information disclosure violated laws and US agency policies.
A press release issued by the Justice Department on Wednesday suggests that Chagoury has provided invaluable assistance to the US government, but does not give details.
“Federal prosecutors reached the deferred prosecution agreement taking into account, among other factors, Chagoury’s unique assistance to the US government, his payment of a fine, Chagoury’s acceptance of responsibility for his acts and his residence outside the United States, “the statement said.
Chagoury’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. LaHood did not respond to emails seeking comment.
The agreements with the two men contain provisions that could allow them to be prosecuted if they or their representatives publicly challenge any of the facts they agreed to in legal settlements.
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