“Contrary to recent media reports and a registration statement, neither the Prime Minister’s Office or the government of Malaysia has instructed, appointed or contracted in any form with the Godfrey Group Ltd, The 45 Group or Healy Baumgardner-Nardone,” it said in a statement issued by Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, press secretary to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The government was responding to a report in The Daily Beast which claimed 45 Group received a cheque for US$250,000 (RM1.07 million) on May 9 from a Malaysian company called Godfrey Group Ltd.
The report noted that there were two issues that the Malaysian government needed resolving in the US: the charge that it engaged in unfair trade practices and Najib being linked to the 1MDB scandal.
The 45 Group is headed by Healy Baumgardner-Nardone, who used to work for the election campaign of President Donald Trump. Although she quit the campaign towards the end, she reportedly maintains close ties to Trump’s inner circle.
Quoting documents filed with the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) National Security Division, the report said Baumgardner-Nardone would provide “government relations and public relations services in support of the government of Malaysia and strengthening the US-Malaysian relationship”.
It said the cheque came from Godfrey Group Ltd and that public information on this company was sparse, adding that it was not immediately clear what exactly the company did or who was involved in it.
Malaysia was one of more than a dozen nations targeted by a March executive order that directed the Department of Commerce to crack down on trade “cheaters”.
Najib meanwhile has been mired in controversy over a major corruption scandal involving 1MDB. His stepson is reportedly one of the defendants in a DoJ lawsuit seeking to recover assets allegedly pilfered from the fund.
Report: Putrajaya hires US firm for RM1.07 million to lobby Washington