A former CIA officer who spied on Qatar鈥檚 rivals to help the tiny Arab country land this year鈥檚 World Cup is now under FBI scrutiny and newly obtained documents show he offered clandestine services that went beyond soccer to try to influence U.S. policy, an Associated Press investigation found.
The monthslong FBI probe focuses on whether Kevin Chalker鈥檚 work for Qatar broke laws related to foreign lobbying, surveillance and exporting sensitive technologies and tradecraft, said two people with knowledge of the investigation who requested anonymity because they weren鈥檛 authorized to discuss it.
Chalker鈥檚 goal, AP found, was to burnish Qatar鈥檚 image among American decision makers while undermining critics who have accused the Persian Gulf monarchy of financing terrorists and other wrongdoing. Federal investigators have focused increasing scrutiny in recent years on Qatar鈥檚 , including those alleged to involve former
AP鈥檚 reporting in the past year has detailed how Chalker and his company, Global Risk Advisors, sought to help Qatar host the 2022 World Cup by on soccer officials in rival countries. That included deploying a Facebook 鈥渉oneypot鈥� in which an attractive woman is used to lure a target, having someone pose as a photojournalist to keep tabs on one nation鈥檚 bid and, after the decision was announced in 2010, waging a failed to get a top German soccer official to soften his criticism of Qatar.
New AP reporting based on internal Global Risk Advisors records and interviews with Chalker鈥檚 associates shows much of his work in the years since has focused on seeking to strengthen Qatar鈥檚 influence in the U.S. That included attempting to set up high-level meetings between Qatari officials and top CIA leaders and pitching a sprawling covert influence operation to damage the reputations of U.S. officials perceived as Qatar鈥檚 enemies. The company even boasted in internal records of using spycraft to try and gather information on a congressman who sponsored legislation Qatar opposed.
Global Risk Advisors 鈥渉as consistently protected Qatar by attacking the attackers,鈥� the company said in one internal document.
Chalker's lawyer, Kevin Carroll, said Global Risk Advisors had never engaged in any unlawful activity and was unaware of any federal investigation.
The FBI said it could neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation. Qatar did not respond to requests for comment.
Qatar, an energy-rich sheikdom that is home to a massive U.S. military base, has spent billions in recent years to successfully fend off attempts by its neighboring rivals 鈥� Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates 鈥� to isolate the country and sour its relationship with the U.S.
Chalker began a long and lucrative relationship with Qatar after working as an undercover operations officer for the CIA in the 2000s. His work on the World Cup helped Qatar become Global Risk Advisors鈥� main client, allowing it to open offices in New York, Washington, London and Doha.
鈥淕RA is on the cusp of rapid expansion,鈥� said a 2014 memo to employees, adding that the company 鈥渉as been pursuing a number of extraordinary projects.鈥�
The company's work included a covert information campaign against Qatar鈥檚 rivals that involved helping make a 2018 film called 鈥淓nemies of Peace鈥� that was highly critical of Saudi Arabia鈥檚 crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, according to two former Chalker associates. The film鈥檚 director told the AP he was unaware an advisor on the film was working for GRA.
Global Risk Advisors and its affiliates also provided military and intelligence training for several years to Qatari officials, including members of the royal family, interviews and records show. Courses ranged from hostage rescue to how to operate undercover.
鈥淓ssentially, he wants us to conduct mini-Farm courses both for ops and for tech ops,鈥� said an internal Global Risk Advisors' document describing a Qatari official鈥檚 request for training. 鈥淭he Farm鈥� is the nickname given to the CIA鈥檚 covert training facility in Virginia.
One member of the Qatari royal family received a perfect score of 100 in a 鈥渢echnical surveillance countermeasures鈥� course despite missing much of the instruction and not showing 鈥渁 genuine desire to learn the material,鈥� according to a company document.
Federal law prohibits sharing certain tactics the U.S. government teaches its own soldiers and spies, and some former Chalker employees said they were concerned that some of the Qatari trainings crossed the line.
Chalker's attorney said Global Risk Advisors has received proper authorization from the U.S. government whenever its work has required it.
AP鈥檚 reporting was based on hundreds of pages of documents provided by former Chalker associates who requested anonymity because they feared retaliation.
Several of those sources described Chalker as a chaotic and mercurial boss whose priorities constantly shifted, with many projects ultimately going nowhere. They said Chalker prized secrecy, regularly used codenames -- his own was 鈥淗ercules鈥� -- and often kept employees in the dark about the work Global Risk Advisors did for Qatar or the research reports it produced.
鈥淣obody really knew who these were going to, why they were being produced, what the real driver was 鈥� other than they were what Kevin wants us to work on,鈥� said one former employee.
Company records and interviews show Chalker consulted with and received advice on some of his proposals from then-CIA employee Denis Mandich, who worked as an agency liaison to Silicon Valley. Those projects included a multibillion-dollar proposal in 2014 to have Global Risk Advisors invest in tech startups on Qatar鈥檚 behalf, pitched as a way to block the sale of potentially sensitive technology to its Persian Gulf rivals.
It鈥檚 unclear from company documents if that project moved forward and Mandich later left the agency and joined Global Risk Advisors to become one of Chalker鈥檚 top lieutenants. Mandich's attorneys did not respond to questions about his work for GRA.
Global Risk Advisors also created a detailed security plan in 2014 to install a surveillance system in Qatar that could track mobile phones in the country 鈥渨ith extreme accuracy鈥� and allow analysts to 鈥渋solate individual conversations and listen in real-time,鈥� according to internal company records that include a draft contract.
That plan, dubbed Project Berlin, also suggested creating a World Cup 2022 mobile phone app that could record users鈥� location and movements. Chalker indicated in internal company documents that Qatar gave preliminary approval to Project Berlin but it鈥檚 unknown whether it was ever implemented.
Chalker鈥檚 efforts at boosting Qatar鈥檚 ties with the U.S. included an effort to set up a face-to-face meeting between top officials at the CIA and Qatar鈥檚 prime minister. One Qatari official told Chalker that such a meeting help would provide a 鈥済olden stamp of approval鈥� for Chalker鈥檚 various projects, company records show.
But those records show Chalker鈥檚 initial efforts to broker such a meeting failed despite his boasting of having unparalleled access to the highest levels of the Qatari government.
The CIA declined to comment.
Other company records showed Global Risk Advisors pushed to have oversight and control of Qatar鈥檚 U.S. lobbying efforts, saying it could manage those efforts more productively.
A March 2017 proposal called 鈥淧roject ENDGAME鈥� said Qatar鈥檚 enemies were seeking to inject the country into proxy fights involving its 鈥渁llies鈥� such as the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group backed by Qatar.
In response to that threat, the company boasted in internal records that it had 鈥渄eveloped an approach to a close contact of the congressman鈥� who sponsored legislation that year to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. 鈥淒eveloped an approach鈥� is intelligence jargon for seeking to recruit a potential asset.
That congressman, Florida Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, said he was unaware of such efforts and that he鈥檚 continued to sponsor similar legislation in the years since.
鈥淭he allegations that a former CIA officer is actively trying to influence an important national security bill on behalf of a foreign country are deeply disturbing,鈥� Diaz-Balart told AP.
The 鈥淧roject ENDGAME鈥� proposal also warned that President Donald Trump was 鈥渦npredictable鈥� and his inner circle was being co-opted by the UAE鈥檚 well-connected ambassador in Washington, Yousef Al-Otaiba.
The proposal suggested Qatar obtain 鈥渢otal information awareness鈥� into Otaiba and his U.S. allies and then spread damaging information through friendly media outlets.
鈥淣ow is the time to once again seize the initiative to dominate the information battlefield,鈥� the proposal said.
In April 2017, Chalker and a Qatari government official signed a letter of intent that said Global Risk Advisors would provide Qatar with 鈥渆nhanced tracking and monitoring, intelligence collection, predictive intelligence, information operations鈥� and other spy services for $60 million over three years. Other records show a Gibraltar-based company owned by Chalker began receiving seven- and eight-figure payments from Qatar shortly afterward.
Anonymous hackers began leaking selectively curated copies of Otaiba鈥檚 emails in June 2017. Those emails included potentially embarrassing messages showing Otaiba鈥檚 close relationships with top U.S. officials and significant influence at some think tanks.
There鈥檚 no direct evidence linking Global Risk Advisors to the release of Otaiba鈥檚 emails. Chalker has categorically denied playing any role in a hack-and-leak operation, and no former Chalker associates who spoke with the AP said they saw the company engage in such activities.
The hackers鈥� targets in the Otaiba leaks included a former Defense secretary, former high-ranking diplomats and intelligence officials, and two think tanks that had been critical of Qatar and were specifically named in the 鈥淧roject Endgame鈥� pitch document.
After going dormant for several months, the hackers released a new round of Otaiba emails in 2018 focused on Tom Barrack, a close Trump adviser who is for allegedly working illegally for the UAE and whose hacked-and-leaked emails form part of the Justice Department鈥檚 case.
Former Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy Chalker and Global Risk Advisors in an ongoing lawsuit of overseeing the Otaiba hack and leak on Qatar鈥檚 behalf as well as a similar operation targeting Broidy that began in early 2018. Chalker鈥檚 lawyers have called the lawsuit 鈥渂aseless.鈥�
Chalker associates say he has shifted his focus away from Global Risk Advisors in recent years to a quantum computing cybersecurity company he formed with Mandich called Qrpyt, which has signed a technology with the Department of Energy鈥檚 Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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Suderman reported from Richmond, Virginia. Investigative reporter James LaPorta in Wilmington, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
Contact AP鈥檚 global investigative team at [email protected].
Alan Suderman, The Associated Press
