Trump's EPA Nominee Tied to Qatari Corruption Case: What You Need to Know

Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, received consulting payments from a Qatari investor involved in the felony corruption case against former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Zeldin’s financial disclosure records showed.

Connection to Heritage Advisors

Zeldin was paid at least $5,000 since January 2023 for his work with Heritage Advisors, a London-based venture capital fund run by Qatari royal family member Sheikh Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani, according to documents filed with the Senate’s environment panel. The ethics filing does not describe what type of work Zeldin did for Heritage Advisors or precisely how much he was paid.

Potential Implications

Zeldin, a Republican lawyer and former House member from New York, runs a crisis management and public relations firm. The newest disclosure raises potential questions that could complicate his effort to join Trump’s Cabinet, where he would help lead the new administration’s efforts to promote fossil fuels and roll back the EPA’s Biden-era pollution regulations.

Zeldin faces a Thursday confirmation vote in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Qatar’s Involvement

Heritage Advisors was not accused of wrongdoing at the trial that led to Menendez’s 2024 conviction for taking bribes to benefit the government of Qatar, among other accusations. Federal prosecutors said Menendez, once a leader of the Foreign Relations Committee, praised Qatar to help a developer friend who was bribing him and was trying to do a major deal with Heritage Advisors.

Transparency Concerns

Zeldin, in contrast, has publicly criticized the Qatari government’s efforts to influence U.S. policy. Still, an ethics expert said the financial arrangements between the firm and Zeldin raised questions about any influence the Qatari government might have over the EPA nominee — and the Senate should resolve them before approving him for a high-ranking federal role.

“Given the role that Heritage Advisors played in the Menendez matter, the American people deserve greater transparency about the nature of Mr. Zeldin’s relationship with that entity,” Norman Eisen, a former Obama administration ethics adviser who served as Democratic counsel for the 2019 House impeachment of Trump and is now chair of the center-left Brookings Institution’s Anti-Corruption, Democracy, and Security project, wrote in an email.

Senate Scrutiny

Prosecutors at Menendez’s trial said the Democratic senator had spoken kindly of Qatar to help real estate developer Fred Daibes — who was convicted last year of bribing Menendez among other charges — secure Heritage Advisors as an investor after a China-based backer pulled out of the project, a series of waterfront high rises across the river from Manhattan.

In answers to questions submitted to the Environment and Public Works Committee that were obtained by POLITICO, Zeldin said his consulting work for Heritage Advisors spanned April 2023 through December 2023. Zeldin did not describe the nature of his work.

Full Disclosure

But the former congressman said his services for Heritage Advisors did not require registering as a foreign government agent. In his written responses, Zeldin said he did not contact a U.S. government agency, Congress or U.S.-incorporated news network, social media platform or other information provider on behalf of Heritage Advisors or Al Thani.

Public Response

Daniel Gall, a spokesperson for Zeldin, did not answer questions about Zeldin’s relationship or work with Heritage Advisors or Al Thani. Gall shared a statement on Friday from Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the then-Trump transition. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“All nominees and appointees will comply with the ethical obligations of their respective agencies,” Hughes said.

Ethical Scrutiny

Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota Law School professor who was an ethics lawyer in former President George W. Bush’s White House and ran for a U.S. House seat as a Democrat, said Zeldin’s link to Heritage Advisors should generate some scrutiny from the Senate, but he did not anticipate it would derail his confirmation when weighed against the ethical and legal charges that Trump has also faced and overcome.

“The bar is not what it used to be,” Painter wrote in an email.

Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee did not directly address Zeldin’s connection with Heritage Advisors but said he has complied with all necessary requirements.

About Heritage Advisors

Heritage Advisors describes itself as Al Thani’s independent firm. He is a member of the royal family who previously managed the family’s business interests, according to his company biography.

Investment Details

Another principal at Heritage Advisors is Ali Al Thawadi, who also advises Qatar on investments, according to court records from the Menendez case. A federal judge denied Menendez a new trial on Wednesday. He faces sentencing on Jan. 29 — prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison term, while Menendez’s attorneys want between 21 and 27 months.

Environmental Concerns

Neither Heritage Advisors nor Al Thani responded to requests for comment.

Heritage Advisors has invested in a New Jersey project initially led by Daibes. That property, which came up repeatedly during the Menendez trial, is located on the Quanta Superfund site along the Hudson River in Edgewater, New Jersey. A New Jersey state department discovered that fumes from the soil there posed short-term health risks despite Trump administration claims it was safe, according to reporting by the news site NorthJersey.com.

Environmental Regulation

Zeldin, if confirmed as EPA administrator, would oversee the nation’s Superfund program, which remediates polluted sites and can require the offenders to pay for the cleanup.

Criticism of Qatar

Zeldin has long been critical of Qatari government influence. He accused Qatar and other nations in a Feb. 1, 2023, opinion piece of influencing U.S. government officials through funding think tanks, arguing that the strategy intentionally circumvents laws requiring lobbyists acting on behalf of governments to register as foreign agents.

“Think tanks wield an outsized influence with legislators, who often adopt their positions wholesale, presenting foreign governments a chance to covertly shape U.S. policy,” Zeldin wrote in that Newsweek piece. “But what happens when the ‘experts’ filling these roles are effectively paid agents of foreign governments like China, Russia, Iran, and Qatar?”