Qatari royal reportedly invested $50 million in pro-Trump news channel Newsmax

Right-wing
news
outlet
Newsmax
received
an
investment
of
roughly
$50
million
from
a
Qatari
royal
between
2019
and
2020,

The
Washington
Post
reported,
citing
documents
seen
by
the
paper
and
confirmations
from
representatives
of
both
Newsmax
and
the
royal
investment
firm.

Former
Qatari
government
official
Sheikh
Sultan
bin
Jassim
Al
Thani
invested
in
Newsmax
through
Heritage
Advisors,
a
London-based
investment
fund
that
he
owned,
according
to
the
report.
At
the
time,
Qatar
was
under
an
economic
and
diplomatic
blockade
by
a
coalition
of
neighboring
Arab
states,
led
by
the
United
Arab
Emirates
and
Saudi
Arabia.
These
nations
accused
Qatar
of
supporting
terrorism,
which
Doha
stringently
denied.

According
to
the
Post’s
reporting
on
Tuesday,
Newsmax
was
looking
for
investors
to
compete
with
the
likes
of
Fox
News.
The
paper
cited
sources
employed
at
Newsmax
at
the
time
as
saying
that
they
were
urged
to
soften
news
coverage
of
Qatar
—
a
claim
that
the
outlet
rejects.

A
representative
for
the
outlet
told
CNBC
in
a
statement: “In
2019
Newsmax
received
a
minority
investment
from
a
UK-based
fund
with
a
Qatari
investor
that
also
invested
in
a
company
associated
with
the
current
Washington
Post
publisher. Newsmax’s
coverage
of
Qatar
has
always
been
balanced,
including
publishing
many
online
and
TV
reports
quite
critical
of
its
activities.”

It
added, “The
Washington
Post
ignored
the
fact
we
have
offered
extensive
negative
coverage
on
Qatar
over
many
years,”
and
included
a
long
list
of
TV
clips
and
articles
to
back
up
its
assertion.

In
a
response
to
CNBC’s
request
for
comment,
Heritage
Advisors
pointed
to
comment
from
its
law
firm
Schillings,
cited
by
the
Post
as
saying
that
Sheikh
Sultan
bought
the
stake
because
he “saw
potential
for
the
investment
to
be
profitable”
and
had
not
acted
on
behalf
of
the
Qatari
state.

The
Qatari
royal “transferred
his
stake
to
a
Cayman
Islands-based
corporate
structure,”
the
Post
reported,
adding
that
the
$50
million
investment
represented
a “significant
minority
stake.”

Newsmax
has
come
under
fire
for
what
critics
say
is
the
promotion
of
misinformation
or
outright
falsehoods,
particularly
former
President

Donald
Trump‘s
claim
of
the
2020
election
being
rigged.
That
led
the
outlet
to
be
sued
by
Dominion
Voting
Systems,

which
seeks
more
than
a
billion
dollars
in
damages
for
defamation.

Read
the

full
report
here.