A three-year federal investigation is reportedly examining whether a senior Republican House staffer secretly worked as an unregistered foreign agent for Qatar.
According to Forbes investigative reporter Thomas Brewster, federal authorities obtained two grand jury subpoenas, a 2024 search warrant and five pen-register orders targeting the staffer’s Apple data. Investigators reportedly sought location records, emails, iMessages and communications through WhatsApp and Signal dating back to 2020.
Apple’s attorneys reportedly said the underlying investigation involves at least one suspected unregistered foreign agent and the government of Qatar. The identity of the staffer — and the Republican lawmaker employing the individual — has not been revealed.
The allegations raise new concerns about Qatar’s influence operations in Washington, following previous foreign-agent cases involving former Sen. Bob Menendez and former US ambassador Richard Olson.
