Assessment: “Show me your friends I’ll show you your future”
The Biden administration’s nominee to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Brazil spoke at length about the influence of Jewish money in politics, claiming the “Jewish lobby” exerts undue influence over the Democratic Party with its “major money.”
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a longtime diplomat and Democratic Party insider, is scheduled on Thursday to have her nomination advanced to the full Senate by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But Bagley’s comments about Jewish money in politics—tropes long considered anti-Semitic in nature—are raising red flags among Democratic and Republican members of the committee, senior congressional sources told the Washington Free Beacon.
“He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.” Proverbs 13:20
Bagley, in a 1998 interview, a full copy of which was obtained by the Free Beacon, bemoaned “the influence of the Jewish lobby because there is major money involved.” She went on to claim “the Democrats always tend to go with the Jewish constituency on Israel and say stupid things, like moving the capital to Jerusalem always comes up.” Support for these Israel-related issues are due to “the Jewish factor, it’s money.” The interview was conducted by a historian at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training for an oral history project.
Senate sources involved in the confirmation process said Bagley’s comments should disqualify her from the ambassador’s role and told the Free Beacon that both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate committee have privately expressed concerns about these remarks.
“Under a normal administration this kind of vicious anti-Semitism would be disqualifying. You couldn’t get hired as an intern,” said one senior congressional Republican staffer, who was not authorized to speak on record about the concerns related to Bagley. “It speaks volumes that the Biden administration was confident enough to nominate Bagley and send her to the Senate for confirmation. They know that Democrats are going to fall into line.”
