COMMENT | Prime Minister Najib Razak is among one of the 50 Muslim leaders who had shared a stage with President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia.

While Najib's ostensible focus is on the promotion of moderation, in truth he is there to moderate the virulence of the 1MDB investigation now proceeding apace at the US
Department of Justice (DOJ) and six other locations, one of which is Switzerland.

Thus, while Trump may be in Saudi Arabia to avoid his problems in the United States, Najib's mind may be more focused on the 1MDB debacle that has plagued him and triggered many investigations in Switzerland and various other locations.

Five reasons suggest that his moderation effort will fail. To begin with, the DOJ has classified the case under their kleptocratic initiative, even calling it the largest kleptocratic case ever, in the history of classical or modern USA. 

This is a first in the history of Malaysia. Whereas other corruption cases in Malaysia have never resulted in global prosecution across various jurisdictions, Najib’s 1MDB has taken Malaysia through the roof.

Countries that have come under the odium of this initiative have ranged from corrupt regimes in Africa like Guinea and Nigeria right down to Malaysia. So why should the DOJ ruin its reputation for impeccable independence in the service for Najib’s 1MDB?

They won't, especially if the US president himself is under the scrutiny of being illegally involved with Russians during the pre-presidential elections.

Secondly, Trump is now a lame duck Republican president. Hardly four months have passed, yet the support of the Republican Party throughout the United States has waned. There are 20 constituencies that are at the risk of turning over to the Democratic Party, according to the Cook Political Report. 

Thirdly, with a popular rating in the low 30s for Trump, which is one of the worst results since the days of the Depression, the DOJ is not in a position to respect Trump. 

Other law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have had their run-ins with Trump. The dismissal of James Comey without any justifiable cause has cast aspersions on the ability of Trump to lead the country.

The acting FBI director, Andrew McCabe who disagreed with Trump’s version of the story on the fired Comey, is the same person who gave the press conference on the largest kleptocratic case involving 1MDB on July 20, 2016. Andrew was then the deputy director of FBI.

All of these factors will go against Najib's plan to lean on the power and authority of Trump, when the latter has none. Attorney-general Jeff Sessions may be close to Trump. But Sessions too has failed to declare his previous involvement with the Russians.

Thus he has had to recurse himself from any investigation involving the Russian file, thus, weakening his hand further in any intervention to remove the 1MDB investigation. 

Fourth, unknown to Najib, the Kleptocracy Initiative in the DOJ, has always been a feisty body.  Most of its suspicions of 1MDB had been derived from the reports of the Wall Street Journal, leading to an avalanche of investigations, worldwide.

Thus, the DOJ cannot anymore detach itself from the trial any more than it can become impervious to the investigative journalistic works that have been done.

Fifth, Vice President Pence has an out size chance of replacing Trump if his administration continues to wobble. And it is. Trump understands the risks too.

Thus, why would Trump, known to be protective of his own gains, squander them by helping Najib’s 1MDB when Trump himself is in dire straits? 

Indeed, throughout the whole 1MDB fiasco, no Saudi official has stepped forward to defend Najib’s 1MDB. Those who did say something, engage more in vague acrobatics than anything else.

Close to U$700 million were in his account. Granted the shifty nature of the source, it makes no sense that Najib’s 1MDB can get a deal from Trump in the very heart of Saudi Arabia too.

DR RAIS HUSSIN is a supreme council member and head of policy and strategy of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.