Our next shady lobbyists investigative feature: How Qatar seized the lobbying initiative away from its blockaders: No one can deny that Qatar has remained very functional throughout the continuing blockade enforced by the GCC and Egypt. It now appears to have seized the diplomatic initiative with the US away from the GCC, thanks to a lobbying strategy targeting associates of US President Donald Trump that is being spearheaded by New York restaurateur Joey Allaham and a guy named Nick Muzin, a former deputy chief of staff to Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

The strategy: Basically, the campaign would rely on what the pickup artist industry would call love bombing. The lobbyists would entice a list of “Trump influencers” — people associated with the president politically or otherwise — and people he follows. They would be invited by the Emir to come visit Doha and wow and dazzle them. Among those targeted: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Zionist Organization of America director Morton Klein, and lawyer (and Israel booster) Alan Dershowitz. The campaign goes so far as to run advertisements on shows Trump watches, according to an investigative piece by Julie Bykowicz of the Wall Street Journal. The campaign is widely considered to be unconventional for breaking with traditional channels of lobbying — and tailor-made for an unconventional president who “has changed the rules of the game in the influence industry.”

Not to mention the spending:” Qatar spent USD 16.3 mn on lobbying in 2017 in the US, up from USD 4.2 mn in 2016. Qatar was reportedly directly employing 23 lobbying firms as of June 2018.

The strategy appears to have been successful with the Trump administration changing its tone on Qatar drastically. “Mr. Trump reversed his stance and in April welcomed its emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, into the White House, patting him on the knee and calling Qatar ‘a valued partner and longtime friend.’ A congressional bill to label Qatar a terrorist-supporting nation due to its alleged ties to Hamas stalled,” writes Bykowicz. Dershowitz even praised the country in a newspaper column as “quickly becoming the Israel of the Gulf states, surrounded by enemies, subject to boycotts and unrealistic demands, and struggling for its survival.”

Further reading: You can also read this thrilling AP piece on how the shadiest lobbyist ever helped engineer the Qatar blockade, which we picked up in May.