Scott Wheeler

NY Tea Party Leader Aided Saudi Drive to Change 9/11 Justice Law

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Stephen Flanagan, founder of Long Island-based Conservative Society for Action, says he didn’t know it was a Saudi operation

By Brian P. McGlinchey

Stephen Flanagan

Stephen Flanagan, a Long Island Tea Party leader who chaired a 2010 Republican Senate campaign, used his organization’s platform to aid a Saudi-led drive to alter the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA)—but says he wasn’t told he was doing so on behalf of the kingdom accused of facilitating the 9/11 attacks.

Flanagan is the founder and executive director of Conservative Society for Action, and was the focus of a lengthy 2011 Politico profile on the Tea Party movement in New York. Continue reading →

EXCLUSIVE: Capitol Media Group Didn’t Tell Vets They Were Lobbying for Saudi Arabia

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Army vet: Scott Wheeler “never told me Saudi Arabia was behind it, nor would I have agreed to do it had I known”

Other veterans, still convinced by flawed argument used to lobby against anti-terror law, at peace with Saudi sponsorship

By Brian P. McGlinchey

Scott Wheeler with Veterans on Capitol Hill (Facebook photo)

Veterans who were brought to Washington to lobby for changes to legislation that enabled 9/11 lawsuits against the government of Saudi Arabia say they didn’t know their trip had been organized and financed by the kingdom.

The veterans are among dozens recruited by conservative political consulting firm Capitol Media Group to lobby for changes to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). Continue reading →

Saudi Arabia Paid Conservative PR Firm $90,000 to Bring Vets to DC to Lobby Against JASTA

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Firm owned by National Republican Trust PAC director Scott Wheeler months late in registering with the Department of Justice

By Brian P. McGlinchey

Saudi Arabia paid a conservative political consulting firm $90,000 to bring three groups of 25 to 35 military veterans to Washington to lobby for changes to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), according to disclosure documents recently filed with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Enacted in September 2016, JASTA cleared the way for 9/11 families and survivors to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged support of the attacks. Action in the lawsuit resumed last month. Continue reading →