Major Clinton Foundation donor denied US visa over Hezbollah ties

A Nigerian billionaire philanthropist and major Clinton Foundation donor was denied entry to the U.S. last year due to suspected ties to Hezbollah, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Gilbert Chagoury, 70, developed a friendship with former president Clinton and his wife in the 1990s. It was at that time that he began to donate to the Clinton's philanthropic foundation.

In 1996, Chagoury donated $460,000 to a voter registration group with ties to Clinton, and was later invited to a White House dinner. He was in attendance at Bill Clinton's 60th birthday fundraiser in 2006 and Clinton aide Doug Band even invited him to his wedding. He has donated anywhere between $1 million to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation.

During the 1990s, Chagoury tried to influence U.S. policy to deal more favorably with the Nigerian regime of Gen. Sani Abacha. Chagoury was until recently a close ally of the former dictator, who seized control of Nigeria in 1993.

When Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton became secretary of state in 2009, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, ensured Chagoury would have access to senior diplomats. It was then that the State Department began to look into the possibility of building an American consulate on land owned by Chagoury's family in the Nigerian capital of Lagos. The land is still under consideration for the site.

At the same time, officials in other branches of the State Department were assessing claims Chagoury, who is the son of Lebanese parents and was educated in Lebanon, had unsavory ties in the country.

In 2010, Chagoury was removed from his private plane in Teterboro, New Jersey and questioned for hours because his name was on the U.S.'s watch list for suspected ties to terrorism.

Although he was later removed from the no-fly list, Chagoury is still categorized as a "selectee," meaning he is under increased scrutiny.

One of the reasons Chagoury was on the no-fly list are his connections to Michel Aoun, a Lebanese Christian politician and former Lebanese Army commander who previously served as Lebanon's prime minister. Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement party signed a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah in 2006. The two have been allies in the Lebanese government ever since.

In a 2007 cable published by WikiLeaks, a Lebanese minister told then-Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman that Chagoury was "known to have funded" Aoun. The minister asked Feltman to "deliver to Chagoury a strong message about the possibility of financial sanctions and travel bans against those who undermine Lebanon’s legitimate institutions."

The ambassador did not relay the message.

When Clinton became secretary of state in 2009, Band pushed the State Department to allow Chagoury further access.

"We need Gilbert Chagoury to speak to the substance guy re Lebanon. As you know, he's key guy there and to us and is loved in Lebanon. Very imp[ortant]," Band wrote in an email to his contacts at the department. No such meeting ultimately took place.

Chagoury again came under scrutiny when Clinton left her position as secretary of state.

A 2013 FBI intelligence report stated that Chagoury had sent Aoun funds, which Aoun then transferred to Hezbollah. Agency memos show it was then that the FBI put Chagoury in its database of travelers with suspected ties to terrorism.

In the summer of 2015, Chougary applied for a tourist visa, but the State Department denied his application on terrorism-related grounds, which include the funding of terrorism.

Chagoury vehemently denies any ties to Hezbollah.

Mark Corallo, a friend of Chagoury told the Times that "any allegation that Mr. Chagoury is involved in any way with providing material support to any terrorist organization, of any stripe, is false, outrageous and defamatory." He said Chougary "has been a friend and supporter of America all his life."

Corallo said Chagoury was a "peace-loving man" who was only under scrutiny because of relationship with the Clintons.

The Clinton Foundation announced earlier this month that it would cease to accept donations from foreigners should Clinton become president.

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