Who is Abbe Lowell? Hunter Biden's lawyer accused of 'brazen coverup' and conspiracy in alleged Qatar hacking scandal
WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney Abbe Lowell, renowned for his high-profile clients, including Hunter Biden, is now facing serious allegations of involvement in a "far-reaching conspiracy" and "brazen coverup."
Court documents filed on Friday, September 22, accuse Lowell of secretly working for the Middle East nation of Qatar in a scheme aimed at concealing communications related to an alleged computer hacking plot, as per Daily Mail.
Abbe Lowell's legal background
Abbe Lowell, who works at firm Winston & Strawn, has had a prominent legal career, having played a significant role in Bill Clinton's impeachment defense in 1998 and representing figures like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Currently, he is the defense attorney for President Joe Biden's son Hunter, who faces federal prosecution for various charges, including tax and gun crimes and potential federal charges related to his business dealings with China, Ukrainian oligarchs, Qatar, and other foreign entities.
However, Lowell's own alleged involvements with foreign nations are now under scrutiny, as revealed in recent court documents.
A lawsuit filed by Elliott Broidy, a former top GOP fundraiser and a close confidant of Donald Trump, sued the government of Qatar in 2018 over alleged hacking and smear campaigns against him during 2017 and 2018. Despite Qatar's consistent denials, Broidy continued to pursue his claims.
"At Qatar's behest, defendants, together with other parties, illegally used hacked materials to smear [Broidy]," stated Broidy's lawyers in their August 25 filing.
They added, "At the behest of this enormously wealthy foreign country which was paying the fees of all of those parties' attorneys' fees—the lawyers for defendants and nonparties and Qatar itself went to extraordinary lengths to help Qatar cover up that egregious misconduct."
Did Abbe Lowell attempt to secure diplomatic immunity in the 2018 case involving Qatar?
In 2018, Abbe Lowell was representing a businessman reportedly working in the US for Qatar, and he allegedly drafted documents that included false statements by a witness, which were aimed at securing diplomatic immunity for his client.
Furthermore, the lawsuit accuses him of offering over $1.5 million to the witness, American political consultant Joey Allaham, to defy a court order and hide documents related to the hacking plot.
Lowell's involvement in Broidy's legal battle deepened due to the ex-GOP fundraiser's accusation that the lawyer's client, Jamal Benomar, was one of the key figures behind the alleged hacking scheme targeting his emails.
Recent emails brought to light by Broidy's legal team suggest that Lowell was also "representing Qatar itself, not just Benomar."
These emails, submitted as evidence, detail "Abbe Lowell's extensive efforts on behalf of Qatar to arrange agreements [...] even while Lowell's nominal client, Benomar, had not yet been sued or subpoenaed," as per Daily Mail.
What does Elliott Broidy's legal filings state?
Elliott Broidy, a former Republican National Committee finance chair who has persistently pursued legal actions against Qatar and its agents since the initial allegations emerged, apparently revealed a series of email exchanges in June 2018 between Abbe Lowell and Joey Allaham's attorneys.
In the conversations, they seemed to propose what could be interpreted as questionable agreements. At one point, Lowell is said to have suggested a settlement and monetary compensation for Allaham.
"Let me see if there is a pursuit we can do as a common interest. I think there is a settlement of a good idea to be had with us," supposedly wrote Lowell to Allaham's attorneys on June 6.
On the other hand, Allaham's lawyer Craig Engle wrote, "OH MY FREAKING GOD – LOOK AT THIS," to his colleague Matthew Nolan. "I would not trust Abbe further than I could throw him," responded the latter, adding, "He has not been shooting straight with us on this," according to Daily Mail.
Allaham evidently agreed to Lowell's proposal, and approximately a month later, on July 9, 2018, Engle communicated that the defense attorney had informed him that the agreement, which included an unspecified monetary payment, was "sitting in Qatar waiting for approval."
However, negotiations continued until December 2018, during which Lowell introduced a surprising last-minute addition to the agreement, as indicated in Broidy's legal documents.
Elliott Broidy's accusation against Qatar and Abbe Lowell's questionable agreements
According to Elliott Broidy's legal filings, the maneuver was purportedly part of a legal tactic aimed at allowing Jamal Benomar to maintain his diplomatic immunity.
It was supposedly part of a broader strategy employed by Qatari consultants to evade the disclosure of their communications as part of the legal discovery process. Broidy alleges that these same consultants were involved in Qatar's hacking and defamation campaign, although the consultants themselves dispute these claims.
The allegations culminated in a 305-page filing by Broidy on Friday, asserting that Lowell's actions constitute a "brazen cover-up" and conspiracy involving US lawyers violating court rules and orders, as well as falsifying verified discovery responses.
They claim the emails and contracts "evidence what appears to be an egregiously improper and longstanding effort by Qatar and its agents, including the defendants and nonparty subpoena recipients, and their respective counsel." said the GOP money man's lawyer, as per Daily Mail.
"—to frustrate discovery in this and other actions brought by plaintiffs arising from Qatar's hack-and-smear campaign," added the attorney.
This case marks another instance of Lowell becoming embroiled in allegations of questionable dealings with foreign nations. Earlier this year, the Justice Department initiated an examination of his affiliations with individuals suspected of being Chinese spies.