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George Higginbotham testified that he made money on the side
while working at the Justice Department by offering legal advice
to Michel, a long-time friend. His duties included facilitating
some of Michel's dealings with Jho Low, a businessman whom
prosecutors say embezzled billions of dollars from Malaysia's
sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Higginbotham is the latest witness to testify for the government
in the criminal trial against Michel, who is accused of
accepting millions of dollars to carry out three different
illegal lobbying campaigns on Low's behalf.
Other witnesses so far have included actor Leonardo DiCaprio and
former Republican National Committee official Elliott Broidy.
Higginbotham said he felt uncomfortable when Michel asked him to
pass along a message to the Chinese embassy in 2017 that the
Trump administration was working on their request to extradite
dissident Guo Wengui. But he did so anyway, telling the jury he
let his friendship with Michel cloud his judgment.
"This could get me in a lot of trouble," he told the jury he
recalled thinking, adding that his actions were "definitely
outside of official lines."
Higginbotham, who pleaded guilty in 2018 for his role in the
foreign influence campaign, testified that Justice Department
investigators later found out about his meeting and questioned
him.
A few months later, he agreed to fly to Hong Kong for a
follow-up meeting with Low, after Michel assured him he "would
never have to worry about DOJ again."
"Unfortunately, that is clearly not the case," Higginbotham
added.
Higginbotham's conduct has since been highlighted in the
Department of Defense's Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Andy Sullivan and
Stephen Coates)
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