(Reuters) – The U.S. Senate has issued a subpoena to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) U.S. subsidiary over its planned partnership with the PGA Tour, it said on Wednesday.
The subpoena calls for the release of documents related to PIF’s framework agreement with the PGA Tour and other investments throughout the United States, the U.S. Senate said in a news release.
The announcement came ahead of Wednesday’s hearing by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), which is expected to focus on PIF’s investments and efforts to gain influence in the United States.
“The Saudi’s Public Investment Fund cannot have it both ways – if it wants to engage with the United States commercially, it must be subject to United States law and oversight,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, chair of the PSI, said.
“That oversight includes this Subcommittee’s inquiry.”
According to the news release, a review of PIF’s public filings show its public U.S. holdings have increased to more than $35 billion compared with approximately $2.5 billion in 2018.
Earlier this year Blumenthal had requested Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, and Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of the PIF which backs LIV, to testify before a U.S. Senate panel in July but both declined, citing scheduling conflicts.
At that hearing, Blumenthal tore into what he called the “repressive” Saudi regime and called the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with the country an attempt by Saudi Arabia’s government to “buy influence” in U.S. sports.
The PGA Tour’s surprise agreement with the PIF has raised concerns in Washington from lawmakers who are mistrustful of the kingdom and critical of its human rights record. They have vowed to scrutinize the deal.
Critics accuse LIV Golf of being a “sportswashing” vehicle for Saudi Arabia to improve its image as it faces persistent criticism of its human rights record, including the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as its record on women’s rights and gay rights.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by David Holmes)
