Report: Liz Truss' Top Adviser Questioned by FBI Over Alleged Election Bribery Plot in Puerto Rico

The politician was allegedly a part of a plot to undermine Puerto Rico's democracy, a US territory in the Caribbean. The accused conspirators "struck a blow to the heart of our democracy," according to prosecutors, and "eroded the confidence of our citizens in their institutions of governance."

FBI investigators questioned British Prime Minister Liz Truss' chief of staff over an alleged illegal scheme to pay a US politician and sway an election, the Times reported on Saturday.

According to the newspaper, the chief of staff of Downing Street, Mark Fullbrook, is the prime minister's principal adviser and plays a key role in determining the direction of the government. He directed the Truss leadership campaign and has given advice to former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, among other international leaders.

Fullbrook was reportedly interviewed as a witness by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI. The investigation allegedly involves a London-based businessman accused of bribing a US politician. Agents from the federal government set up an interview with the 60-year-old adviser by getting in touch with their counterparts in the UK's National Crime Agency and Scotland Yard.

Fullbrook, who is said to be married to former Tory MP Lorraine Fullbrook, has retained a leading white collar US legal firm and has been cooperating as a witness with the FBI while strongly denying any misconduct.

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promoted Fullbrook's wife to the House of Lords in 2019.

The then-governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vazquez Garced is the subject of charges that Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, of London, and the owner of the Puerto Rican bank Bancredito, bribed her.

Fullbrook reportedly refuted the accusation that Herrera Velutini and former FBI agent Mark Rossini offered the former governor a $300,000 bribe through Crosby's company to aid in her unsuccessful reelection campaign in 2020. In the UK, meanwhile, the Electoral Commission's records supposedly revealed that between December 2019 and June 2022, a firm created by Herrera donated £650,604 (over $750,000) to the Conservative Party.

According to the report, federal prosecutors said that Herrera bribed Vazquez in order to fire her financial watchdog who was looking into his bank. The Tory party donor wished to appoint a replacement for the prominent figure. Additionally, according to the prosecution, Herrera and Rossini tried to pay off Vazquez's replacement, identified in court documents as "Public Official A."

However, Fullbrook's purported assistance was ineffective. Eventually, Vasquez lost the election, and the FBI initiated an investigation that resulted in accusations, guilty admissions, and convictions, according to the report.

Fullbrook became the official "subject" of an FBI investigation in April this year. At the prestigious American law firm White & Case, he assembled a criminal defense team. Since then, he has reportedly cooperated as a witness and signed a "proffer deal" that allows him to provide FBI evidence that will not be used against him in legal processes.

More to the story, the sources of the publication reportedly said that people in inner circles are puzzled by how Truss could enlist his chief of staff in a criminal plan being looked into by Britain's closest ally - the US. The Biden administration has made stopping foreign meddling in US politics a priority.

Nevertheless, Fullbrook has claimed he is "confident" the banker acted legally, and that he was ignorant of the banker's purportedly corrupt objectives, per the report.

According to the US Department of Justice, Vazquez, Herrera, and Rossini are each facing charges of conspiracy, federal program bribery, and honest services wire fraud, which, if proven true, could result in a 20-year sentence in a federal prison.

The Australian-British lobbying firm CT Group, founded by Sir Lynton Crosbie, where Fullbrook worked as the company's chief global project officer, was reportedly used to pay the Puerto Ricans. Fullbrook reportedly sent hundreds of emails to prosecutors about his work in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.

Noteworthy, Pedro Pierluisi, the current governor of Puerto Rico, is not involved in ongoing investigation.