Qatar’s Deputy Ambassador to the U.S. Got Caught Lying — Then Hid

After my piece on Qatar’s FARA activity went viral, Deputy Ambassador Hamad Al-Muftah said their agents are all “registered and transparent.” When I exposed this as a lie, he simply stopped responding

On October 2nd, I published an article detailing Qatar’s vast foreign influence network in the U.S., including its army of foreign agents operating at the regime’s behest. The piece ruffled some feathers, such as Qatar’s Deputy Ambassador to the U.S., Hamad Al-Mufta, who lashed out against it. When Former Spokesman for the State of Israel Eylon Levy’s post about the article went viral, Al-Mufta responded:

“All fara [Foreign Agents Registration Act] registered and very transparent And more to come to fight the disinformation and elevate the Qatari USA relationships as this relationships is the the one that creat peace and economic prosperity in the USA. [sic]”

It sounds nice, but it’s a blatant lie. Qatar’s foreign influence activity is not “all registered and transparent.” In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered AJ+, a Washington-based subsidiary of Al Jazeera, to register as a foreign agent under FARA. Trump’s DOJ laid out in black and white how AJ+ is controlled from top to bottom by the Qatari government. Five years later, and AJ+ has simply refused to register — in complete violation of American law.

Screenshot from the Sept. 2020 DOJ letter ordering AJ+ to register under FARA

So I asked Al-Mufta directly: What about AJ+? Why hasn’t it complied with the DOJ order? He refused to answer. I asked again. Silence. I tweeted at him a third time. Nothing. The deputy ambassador of Qatar — confronted with hard facts — simply vanished.

That’s the pattern, you see. Doha’s officials lie in public, and when called out, they retreat.

And here’s a revealing coda. After I exposed Al-Mufta’s dishonesty, an anonymous user on X pointed out that the only account he personally pays to subscribe to is none other than Jackson Hinkle — arguably the biggest professional liar on the platform. Which means Qatar’s deputy ambassador is literally funding Hinkle, at least in the form of that subscription.

So the next time you see Qatari diplomats brag about their “transparency,” remember this: they bankroll propagandists, they ignore U.S. law, and when exposed, they hide.