Umno-linked daily New Straits Times (NST), took a swipe at US Attorney-General Loretta E Lynch over her announcement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had commenced a civil suit to recover billions of dollars in assets linked to state investment arm 1MDB.

In a commentary today, NST Online raised questions on what it described as an “unusually political” press conference to announce a civil action.

“The attorney-general spent much of her presentation making it clear that the intention of this action is to send a message to the world, that improper use of its banking system would not be tolerated.

“We are not so sure of the motivation of the DOJ in this particular case, but was it acting on misinformation fed by some bloggers or detractors of the Malaysian government?” the NST commentary asks.

It further said that involving five senior US officials for the press conference, broadcasted via online live streaming, looked a “bit overdone” for a civil case.

“To be sure, the DOJ case is a civil case, not a criminal case against the people and the government of Malaysia, but against the assets (mostly property) in the US by three individuals,” it said.

Easy way out

After months of intense probe, the NST also said, filing a civil case could be an easy way out for the DOJ, rather than to pursue a criminal indictment.

“Perhaps the burden of proof is less onerous via the civil route.

“Basically the US is pouring a bucket of allegations over the defendants, and telling them they have to prove it is wrong, or else they lose the assets which are under US jurisdiction,” it added.

There were no stories from the DOJ press conference in the print editions of NST or other mainstream English and Malay dailies today.

The press conference in Washington was held at 11.30am there yesterday, or close to midnight in Kuala Lumpur, after the printing deadline for most major dailies.

However, NST and The Star ran the news wire stories online later this morning.

Online versions of Malay-dailies Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian instead ran stories quoting government sources responding to the explosive allegations.

Sinar Online, meanwhile, ran stories quoting both government sources as well as PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who urged prime minister Najib Razak to hold a special parliamentary session and provide an explanation to all lawmakers.

The Chinese dailies reported on the issue by quoting the foreign press and wires.