By Alexander Ward, Matt Berg and Eric Bazail-Eimil

Austin Russell, founder of self-driving car tech company Luminar, is putting in $10 million of his own money to ultimately control an 82 percent share of Forbes. | Kimberly White/Getty Images

With help from Joe Gould, Maggie Miller, Nahal Toosi and Gavin Bade

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FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY –– A former senior intelligence official has urged a secretive review board to block the sale of Forbes to an American billionaire over his links to the Russian and Chinese governments.

In a July memo obtained by NatSec Daily, former National Intelligence Council Chair GREGORY TREVERTON wrote to the Treasury Department, which oversees the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, that “there is a strong national security argument” to stop AUSTIN RUSSELL and the consortium he leads from owning the outlet.

Russell, founder of self-driving car tech company Luminar, is putting in $10 million of his own money to ultimately control an 82 percent share of Forbes. But Treverton, who served during the Obama administration, notes much of the funding for the $800 million-valued takeover comes from foreign partners — many of whom may not have America’s best interests in mind.

CFIUS is reviewing and investigating the sale and ahead of a decision on whether to approve, block, or impose conditions on it, per a person familiar with the process.

The India-based Sun Group is a major part of the purchasing team. Its vice chair, SHIV KHEMKA, lived in Russia for 22 years and was a former member of the Russian prime minister’s Foreign Investment Advisory Council. There’s even a picture of him seated next to Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN during a 2014 event in St. Petersburg.

MAGOMED MUSAEV, the owner of Forbes Russia, helped bring Russell into the Deal. Musaev formed the venture capital firm GVA, which has managed money for U.S.-sanctioned Russian oligarch SULEYMAN KERIMOV. Per the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Kerimov “has ties to a covert financial network believed to hold Putin’s secret wealth” and “was one of a select group of powerful oligarchs summoned by Putin to Moscow on the day Russia invaded Ukraine.” Russell’s company was “launched with the help of $20 million of Kerimov’s wealth,” the San Francisco Standard reported last year.

Luminar also has a partnership with SAIC Motor Corporation, a state-owned Chinese company and the country’s largest automaker. The SAIC deal tripled Luminar’s stock price in only four months, Treverton wrote, “adding over $4 billion in market value to a start-up company.”

The CEO of Forbes, which is currently owned by Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media Investments, boasts of earning “more Millennial, Gen Z and Gen X audiences than any other brand.” That has Treverton and others worried China and Russia could use the platform to influence the American public.

Sens. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) and MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) wrote Wednesday to Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN, who chairs CFIUS, of their concern that “foreign powers could use Forbes' wide reach to influence voters during close elections.” In April, Rep. ERIC SWALWELL’s (D-Calif.) spokesperson said the lawmaker is wary of Sun Group’s ties to the Kremlin: “He opposes any efforts by entities linked to the Chinese or Russian government attempting to acquire U.S. media companies.”

Sun Group was dropped as the lead bidder over fears of regulators blocking the deal in part due to Khemka’s involvement, per Axios. It may explain why at least $100 million of Khemka’s pledged $300 million will now go through his U.S.-born daughters, not him directly.

That, among other things, has Treverton wondering if Russell may be a figurehead.

“If it is true that a 28-year-old with no media experience will own 82 percent of the Forbes general partner or voting interests, that means the Chinese government will be able to influence Russell’s 82 percent plus Sun Group’s percent, which is 90 percent of the voting interests,” he wrote.

BILL HANKES, Forbes' spokesperson, fiercely pushed back on any insinuation that the outlet would be controlled by foreign powers. "Forbes has already been owned and controlled by a Hong Kong investment firm since 2014, and has regularly published stories critical of the Chinese government," he told NatSec Daily. "In Mr. Russell’s acquisition of Forbes, he is contractually the sole decision maker and controlling shareholder, bringing control back to the U.S., with the majority of his investors' capital from Americans. The definitive agreement for the transaction was signed in May and we are closing on schedule.”

Sun Group and Russell didn’t respond to requests for comment. A May announcement of the potential deal stated “Russell will act as a visionary for the brand and will not be involved in its day-to-day operations.” The Treasury Department declined to comment.

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AMERICANS CLOSER TO FREEDOM: Washington has secured a deal for Tehran to release five detained Americans in exchange for several imprisoned Iranians and eventual access to billions in Iranian oil revenue, several people familiar with the deal told the New York Times’ FARNAZ FASSIHI and MICHAEL SHEAR.

The two sides appeared to start implementing the deal today, when the five Americans were removed from Iran’s notorious Evin Prison and placed into hotel or house arrest, according to JARED GENSER, a lawyer for detained American SIAMAK NAMAZI. The deal has been in the works for more than two years, and it could take several weeks to fully implement.

The Americans, who have dual Iranian citizenship, have been held on dubious charges, including espionage. When they are allowed to return to the U.S., the Biden administration will release Iranian nationals imprisoned for violating sanctions on Iran, people familiar with the agreement told the Times.

“The United States will also transfer nearly $6 billion of Iran’s assets in South Korea, putting the funds into an account in the central bank of Qatar,” they told the Times. “The account will be controlled by the government of Qatar and regulated so Iran can gain access to the money only to pay vendors for humanitarian purchases such as medicine and food, they said.”

The financial element of the deal drew some immediate GOP criticism: “While I welcome home wrongfully detained Americans, unfreezing $6B in #Iranian assets dangerously further incentivizes hostage taking & provides a windfall for regime aggression,” tweeted Sen. JIM RISCH of Idaho, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

$20B FOR UKRAINE: The White House is set to ask congressional leaders for roughly $20 billion in new aid for Ukraine and other international needs on Thursday, our own PAUL McLEARY, CAITLIN EMMA, CONNOR O’BRIENand LARA SELIGMAN report.

That total includes $13 billion in military aid to Ukraine, as well as billions of dollars in funding to replenish a dwindling pot of federal disaster relief, which has been used to address the ongoing hurricane season and widespread damage caused by floods and wildfires this year.

There is about $6.2 billion left in a Pentagon account to send existing equipment from U.S. stockpiles to Ukraine, and another $2.2 billion to put weapons and equipment on contract for later deliveries. That money will likely last until early fall, given current U.S. spending rates, meaning a new package will need to be in place soon to allow Ukraine to plan for operations through the winter, which is expected to continue to see heavy fighting as Ukrainian forces continue their push toward Russian-occupied Crimea.

RUSSIAN ‘REVENGE’: Russia is intensifying its attacks in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region as it tries to retake territory which it lost during Ukraine’s massive counteroffensive last fall, our own VERONIKA MELKOZEROVA reports.

“Russians are aiming to retake the Kharkiv region to take revenge for their loss there last year,” SERHII CHEREVATYI, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Armed Forces Command East, told Veronika. “But we’re ready, we know their plans, we have built a strong defense line.”

Russia has been targeted in the past day as well. It shot down 13 drones overnight near Moscow and over Crimea, our own NICOLAS CAMUT reports. The Kremlin accused Kyiv of being behind the attacks.

Ukraine also announced a “humanitarian corridor” today for cargo ships stuck in its Black Sea ports since the beginning of the war, in what will be a major test for Kyiv as Moscow attempts to block exports after pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal last month, Reuters reports.

JUNTA’S MURDER PLOT: Niger’s junta told Under Secretary of State VICTORIA NULAND that they’d kill the country’s democratically elected president if neighboring nations try to reinstate him with military force, the Associated Press’ SAM MEDNICK and CHINEDU ASADU report.

Nuland was told by junta representatives of the plot to assassinate deposed Nigerien President MOHAMED BAZOUM during a trip to the Sahel country this week, Western military officials told the AP.

Leaders of West African nations met today to discuss how to proceed after the junta refused to reinstate Bazoum over the weekend, defying the group’s deadline. They had threatened military intervention if the junta didn’t let up.

ECUADOR ASSASSINATION: Presidential candidate and anti-corruption advocate FERNANDO VILLAVICENCIO was shot and killed at a political rally on Wednesday days before Ecuador's snap election, reports El Pais’ CAROLINA MELLA.

A video circulating on social media appears to show the Los Lobos gang claiming responsibility for the assassination and alleging that Villavicencio took campaign funds from the gang and later reneged on a deal with them. But as digital outlet InfoBae reports, the veracity of the video is in question.

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PENCE IS ENERGIZED: GOP presidential candidate MIKE PENCE expanded on his plan for the U.S. to overcome China as the world’s top energy producer by 2040 in a Washington Examiner op-ed today, arguing that relying on foreign energy sources could endanger national security.

Pence blasted the Biden administration for fluctuating gas prices and pushing for environmental regulations, and he promised to ramp up energy production in the U.S. “from all sources, without new taxpayer subsidies or biased regulations” if he wins office. Europe’s energy crisis since the Ukraine war broke out is a prime example of why America needs to step things up a notch, he wrote.

“Energy is now being used as a geopolitical weapon,” the former vice president wrote. “Friendly nations around the world are desperate for American energy. While Biden is retreating, China is gaining an important energy foothold.”

HITTING YOUR INBOX AUGUST 14—CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes.

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM: Gen. PAUL NAKASONE, head of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, intends to stay on leading the agencies in the short term amid Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE’s (R-Ala.) hold on military nominees, our own MAGGIE MILLER reports (for Pros!).

He’ll stay in the post “until my successor has been confirmed by the Senate, and that’s my focus right now,” Nakasone said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies today. “Once I determine the future, I’ll make sure and come back and tell you about it.”

The decision means the dual-hat led agencies will have a Senate-confirmed leader as the federal government grapples with a spate of new cyberattacks on its networks, and as other branches of the military go without top officials. Nakasone was meant to step down last year, but stayed on an extra year in a reported agreement with the White House and the Pentagon.

GENERATE SOLUTIONS: The Pentagon announced the formation of a generative AI task force today, which will be led by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office.

Task Force Lima, per a Defense Department statement, “will assess, synchronize, and employ generative AI capabilities across the DOD, ensuring the department remains at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies while safeguarding national security.”

KEEP IT TO YOURSELF: There’s still no direct line for pilots and others to report mysterious objects to the Pentagon’s office to investigate UFO sightings more than a year after it was launched, our own Lara and JOE GOULD report.

Some witnesses say they’re getting frustrated and feel forced to turn to Capitol Hill or outside groups to tell their stories. Others say it discourages them from attempting to flag such incidents at all because they’re worried about recrimination if they report to the FAA or military supervisors.

The reporting issues highlight the tensions over gathering data on UFOs. Pilots wary they won’t be taken seriously hold back from saying anything. That means information that might identify objects as benign, as foreign surveillance tools or — yes, maybe even something extraterrestrial — simply isn’t in the system and may not be for quite a while.

MILITARY TO HAWAII: President JOE BIDEN ordered troops to Hawaii Wednesday evening to help fight the wildfire that has torn through Maui in the past day, killing dozens of people.

Alongside the Hawaiian National Guard, the Coast Guard and Navy are supporting response and rescue efforts while the Army is using Black Hawk helicopters to fight the fires, according to a White House statement.

WHAT’S UP, DOCS?: House Foreign Affairs Chair MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas) is demanding more Afghanistan documents Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN hasn’t turned over, accusing him of flouting the committee’s subpoena.

Per our own JOE GOULD, State has turned over 16 documents, but not those detailing the options State considered for a diplomatic presence after the withdrawal and the Diplomatic Security Bureau’s assessments for then-incoming Secretary Blinken. McCaul wants those by Aug. 16 and for legislative affairs chief NAZ DURAKOGLU and acting legal adviser RICHARD VISEK to appear for transcribed interviews by Aug. 21.

McCaul’s July 18 subpoena, which gave State a July 25 deadline, to produce documents related to its Afghanistan after-action report came after months of warnings and alleged foot-dragging by the State Department. The report details how State didn’t plan well enough for the military withdrawal and failed to foresee the ensuing chaos.

“The department’s anemic subpoena response suggests that it is either deliberately obstructing the committee’s oversight, or that its document retention, location and production procedures are astoundingly deficient. Neither is acceptable,” McCaul said in an Aug. 9 letter to Blinken.

POLISH TROOPS ON THE MOVE: Poland’s planning to deploy some 10,000 troops to the Belarusian border amid rising tensions due to the Wagner Group’s presence in Belarus, CNN’s ANTONIA MORTENSEN reports.

About 4,000 soldiers will support the border guard, while the remaining 6,000 will remain in reserve, Polish Defense Minister MARIUSZ BLASZCZAK said during a radio interview today. He blamed Belarus for recent provocations, adding that “everything that is happening in Belarus is coordinated with the actions of Russia.”

— JOSH RUBIN is now the director for Indo-Pacific affairs at the National Security Council. He was most recently senior adviser to Deputy Secretary of State WENDY SHERMAN until she retired last month.

— North Korean leader KIM JONG UN removed top general PAK SU IL, who had only been in the position for seven months, and replaced him with former defense minister RI YONG GIL, Reuters’ HYUNSU YIM reports.

— KELLY BORN, Project Syndicate: Will generative AI make or break democracy?

— MARC THIESSEN, The Washington Post: Poland’s president says America and Poland must stop Russian imperialism

— ARTEM CHEKH, The New York Times: I spent five days in a trench waiting for death. It was pure hell.

— The Atlantic Council, 2:30 p.m.:U.S.-Romania energy and climate cooperation: Advancing shared objectives.

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who has long associated with shady characters.

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, to whom everyone wants to be linked.

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