Congress Just Subpoenaed Saudi’s Public Investment Fund Over LIV / PGA Tour Deal

After representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) declined to appear before U.S. senators on at least two occasions, a Congressional committee is now forcing the issue.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced that a subpoena was issued to the PIF’s U.S.-based subsidiary, USSA International.

“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,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “That oversight includes this subcommittee’s inquiry.”

HAPPENING NOW: My Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations examines Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s investments & influence efforts in the US & the implications for the PGA Tour – LIV deal. https://t.co/3I7eDtmBIV

— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) September 13, 2023

Blumenthal is the chairman of the Senate permanent investigations subcommittee that has been investigating the PIF since the “framework agreement” was reached between the LIV Golf backers and the PGA Tour. 

The subpoena calls “for documents related to PIF’s takeover of American golf and other investments throughout the United States.”

After declining a request to testify in July due to scheduling conflicts, the PIF hired a Washington area law firm and stated that, as a sovereign nation, it should not have to testify.

But Blumenthal argued that by doing business within the U.S., the PIF should be treated like any other business. 

Cover Image via Twitter