
Senate subcommittee: PIF only negotiated with PGA to avoid discovery
The report, released Friday, outlined the subcommittee's findings from an inquiry into the June 2023 "framework agreement" for a merger between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF's golf assets, namely LIV Golf.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), chair of the PSI, was among those concerned about "the Saudi government's role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution."
But the subcommittee's investigation goes further back to before that shocking announcement, when LIV Golf was pursuing antitrust litigation against the PGA Tour for denying golfers the opportunity to play on both tours.
"The Subcommittee's inquiry revealed that the first significant back and forth about a potential agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour began with a renewed push from a representative of the PIF to broker a deal on April 14, 2023," the report said, "and that a key term of the initial Framework Agreement entered into by the PIF and the PGA Tour involved the dismissal, with prejudice, of pending litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
"On April 7, 2023, a judge in the Northern District of California had ruled in that litigation that the PIF and its Governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, were subject to discovery and depositions by lawyers for the PGA Tour. This deposition would likely have revealed details of the PIF's operations and Governor al-Rumayyan's control over its commercial investments."
Blumenthal went on to write that "U.S. defenses are inadequate to protect against increasingly sophisticated foreign influence efforts by Saudi Arabia and other malign actors and exposed loopholes within the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) that allow foreign governments to escape accountability."
The PGA Tour and the PIF have supposedly been in negotiations for some time now, though the PGA Tour has since acquired additional funding for its new for-profit endeavor, PGA Tour Enterprises, from a coalition of sports owners and investors called Strategic Sports Group.
The PGA Tour and LIV have held meetings with President Donald Trump in recent weeks, which have not produced any material progress in the talks.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
Coca-Cola Co. says it will launch version of its drink with American cane sugar
Coca-Cola Co. says it will launch a version of its drink with American cane sugar after President Donald Trump posted on social media about the potential offering. NBC News' Brian Cheung breaks down the differences between cane sugar drink and the current product made with corn 22, 2025

The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Alan Cumming hits out at Donald Trump over trans attacks
In his opening monologue while presenting the late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live, the star asked, "America, how are you doing?" to which the crowd cheered, but he added: "No really, how are you doing?". He went on to point towards recent policies by Trump, including his administration ordering federal agencies to ban transgender workers from single-sex facilities that match their gender identity by Friday and fire any employees working on 'gender ideology". The memo sent to agencies comes as part of an executive order from Trump declaring the government will recognise only male and female sexes, which 'are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.' READ MORE: Man arrested at pro-Palestine protest for holding sign breaks silence The president is due to visit Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen and Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire during his stay in Scotland this weekend, with Cumming also referred to Trump's relationship with Israel and his aggressive actions against immigrants, telling the audience he was an "immigrant from Scotland," to which the crowd cheered. He added: "Are you scared of me? I am taking an American's job right now." Later, Cumming said that "there are superheroes who walk among us and they are called trans people". 'Just like superheroes, trans people are born with something special and magical about them, and they often have to hide what's special and magical about them from other people. "Like superheroes, they grow up in a society that doesn't understand them, makes them the other, and often hits them. "Like superheroes, trans people just want the world to be a safer place and they believe we should protect each other and live our lives in peace. Like superheroes, evil billionaires want to get rid of trans people for no fucking reason whatsoever. 'And just like superheroes, trans people are not new. They've been around forever and they're not going anywhere, no matter how much this administration tries to make you fear them.' Wake up, America! He added: "There is no evidence trans people are a threat to women. There is, however, ample evidence that the president of the United States publicly brags about barging into beauty pageant dressing rooms and grabbing women by their pussies. Wake up, America!' 'Why on earth would a rapist go to the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that actually treats rapists better than trans people?' he asked. The actor went on to highlight that reports of anti-trans hate incidents have seen a clear increase over the past year. READ MORE: US military aircraft spotted over Aberdeen ahead of Donald Trump visit 'Another surprising statistic? Our sitting president is a million percent more likely to be on the Epstein list than any trans person,' Cumming said. 'So let's not pretend that we've got our eye on the ball when it comes to sexual violence, OK, America? And how dare this president make random, unfounded accusations of sexual criminality against trans people when he was literally ordered to pay $83 million to a woman who accused him of sexual assault.' He continued: 'It's the pot calling the kettle black after trying to grab its handle in the changing room of a T.J. Maxx.'


Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Crystal Palace learn deadline for decision on Europa League fate after launching appeal
Steve Parish is confident that Crystal Palace will win their Europa League appeal to CAS after being demoted to the Conference League over a multiclub ownership issue Crystal Palace have formally lodged their appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over UEFA's decision to kick them out of the Europa League. The Eagles will learn of CAS's decision before August 11 with chairman Steve Parish saying last week that the FA Cup winners are confident of a U-turn. Palace were demoted to the Conference League by UEFA after the governing body ruled that they were in breach of its multi-club ownership rules. American businessman John Textor owns a 43% stake in Palace – which he is in the process of selling to Woody Johnson – and is the majority shareholder of Lyon, who had also qualified for the Europa League. The French club are prioritised by UEFA because they qualified via league ranking rather than winning a domestic cup. Palace argued to UEFA that Textor has never had any say over operational decisions at Selhurst Park and Parish last week told the Rest is Football podcast: "We are still fighting. "There's an appeal process, so we go to Cas, and we're very hopeful. We think we've got great legal arguments. "We don't think this is the right decision by any means. We know, unequivocally, that John [Textor] didn't have decisive influence over the club. We know we proved that beyond all reasonable doubt because it's a fact." CAS said that the appeal is also against Lyon and Nottingham Forest, who are set to replace Palace in the Europa League should the court rule that UEFA's decision was correct. Parish previously said after UEFA's initial announcement on July 11: 'We are obviously devastated, most importantly for the supporters, supporters of all clubs should be devastated for it. 'This means something, you win a cup for the first time in your history and it's like winning the lottery and going to the counter and not getting the prize. 'It is a bad day for football. Most right-minded football fans will see what a terrible injustice this is for the football club and one that I hope someone can remedy because I do believe that nobody in football wants to see this, I don't think UEFA want to see it. Clubs that rightly qualify being locked out on the most ridiculous technicality that you could imagine.'