A U.S. senator has raised suspicion of the timing of President Biden’s Justice Department investigating the PGA Tour in a potential antitrust case regarding its competition with Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas wrote an open letter to President Biden, questioning if it was a coincidence that this investigation was revealed in the same week that the president traveled to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to firm up relations — and ostensibly lower energy prices.
“I write to raise concerns about the timing of your administration’s investigation into the PGA Tour, an American company. This investigation, according to news reports, is focused on the PGA Tour’s effect on a Saudi Arabian-funded enterprise, LIV Golf. On Monday, July 11, 2022, the week you traveled to Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported that your administration had sent inquiries regarding the PGA Tour’s actions as they relate to LIV Golf,” Cornyn wrote.
“I am concerned about whether members of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, or any other member of your administration, was involved in the investigation recently being made public. I also have questions about whether your administration had any contact with the Saudi Arabian government about the investigation, either before it opened or afterwards.”
Senator Cornyn listed reasons to be suspicious of the Saudi Arabian regime.
“In writing, I want to note the extensiveness of Saudi Arabian influence on American life. This investigation into the private sector has potential implications both for our nation’s foreign policy and for transparency at home,” he continued. “Saudi Arabia has a history of surreptitious and at times malign behavior in its attempts to influence American public policy and freedom of speech in our own country.
“In 2016, the Saudi government used shell non-profits to trick several American veterans into lobbying on its behalf against the Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act (P.L. 114 – 222). In 2018, Saudi Arabian operatives murdered U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its own consulate. This was an appalling act of transnational repression. Those who ordered this crime have yet to be held accountable. Despite these actions, Saudi Arabia continues to engage easily on the world stage, knowing that it can lobby, influence, and engage in malign behavior without consequence.”
Senator Cornyn then pressed President Biden with a list of 10 questions, including whether the administration communicated with the media prior to the Journal’s story on the DOJ investigation, if the Saudi regime approached the U.S. administration with concerns about the PGA Tour (and how it has reacted to LIV Golf), whether the Saudis encouraged this investigation, whether they discussed the investigation during the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia and if lobbying efforts were made on behalf of Saudi Arabia “relating to either press coverage of the investigation or the investigation itself.”
Headed by Greg Norman, LIV Golf has paid golfers hundreds of millions of dollars to compete in their upstart golf league. The guaranteed money is far in excess of what the players make on the PGA Tour, plus there are bigger purses for individual events, and less tournaments where golfers need to compete.
Star golfers who joined LIV Golf like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and a number of other individuals have been suspended indefinitely by the PGA Tour for competing in the upstart rival.