Tensions boiled over in October, after the Saudi-born Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at the order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, according to an assessment by the C.I.A. Before the C.I.A.’s conclusion became public — but while the crown prince was widely suspected of ordering the killing — the center had pursued plans for a joint panel on “the U.S.-Saudi relationship in light of recent events,” and had invited the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, the crown prince’s brother, according to an internal email to executives.
But the Saudi ambassador fled the country and the plan dissolved. Internal criticism of the Emirati donations leaked into the news media, prompting an in-house investigation that led to the firing of two staff members. One of them, Ken Gude, a longtime executive, is working with a lawyer on a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
In November 2015, after Ms. Tanden invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to a question-and-answer session at the center, a dozen staff members stood during an all-staff meeting and read a statement of protest. “Our goal is to promote humanity and shut down oppression and genocide and terrorism. Bringing in another head of state with a record of oppression would further push our mission away,” it read in part.
In an email Ms. Tanden sent on the day of the Netanyahu visit, stolen and released by WikiLeaks, she told the think tank’s founder, John D. Podesta that the “far left hates me” for hosting Mr. Netanyahu, but the invitation “may have sealed the deal with a new board member.” Ms. Tanden was wooing Mr. Lavine, a pro-Israel philanthropist.
The next month, Ms. Tanden wrote a jubilant email to Mr. Podesta, telling him Mr. Lavine was joining the board. “So Netanyahu was worth it,” she added, with a smiley face emoji. Mr. Lavine no longer sits on the center’s board, but his foundation remains a big donor.
“The Netanyahu event was arranged with the public and private support of the Obama administration, and the notion that it was done at the behest of any donor is preposterous,” a center spokeswoman said.
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