A top US Republican party fundraiser had lobbied the White House for US President Donald Trump to play golf with caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak during the latter’s visit to Washington DC last year, according to The New York Times (NYT).

The daily said Elliott Broidy, who was deputy finance chairperson for the Republican National Committee until his resignation last week, had attempted to curry favour with Malaysia in hopes of securing a contract in the country for his private defence company.

The report claimed that Broidy had personally approached Trump in June last year and appealed to him to have a one-on-one golf game with Najib.

In an email obtained by NYT, which was dated Aug 31, 2017, and addressed to White House chief of staff John F Kelly, Broidy allegedly claimed that Trump said he “would be happy” to play golf with Najib.

He also claimed in the email that he had done work in Malaysia for many years and knew Najib well, and was writing to inquire why the golf date was not showing up on the schedule for Najib’s visit.

“Unfortunately, the golf game is not appearing on the schedule that has been provided through protocol to the PM. I look forward to discussing this with you,” Broidy purportedly wrote to Kelly.

NYT said that Kelly’s predecessor Reince Priebus had previously confirmed the golf date to Broidy. It quoted “a person close to Broidy” saying that Kelly did not respond to Broidy’s queries.

It also quoted the anonymous source as saying that the golf game with Najib never took place, and Broidy’s business discussions with Malaysia never passed the preliminary stage.

Najib and his entourage paid a working visit to Trump at the White House on Sept 12 last year, amid a US Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal probe into the 1MDB scandal as well as a series of civil forfeiture suits.

The civil suits implicated a certain individual codenamed “Malaysian Official 1”, who is widely speculated to be Najib. Notably, Najib was denied the customary photo opportunity with the US president in the Oval Office during his visit.

However, Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, NYT noted that if Trump had a golf date with Najib, it could “fuel criticism that the president is indifferent to the appearance of corruption”.

Broidy, meanwhile, reportedly told NYT: “This whole narrative is a fabrication driven by hackers who want to undermine me.”

‘Internal drafts’

Last month, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited another set of leaked emails saying that Broidy and his wife Robin Rosenzweig, a lawyer, had been in discussions to set up a consulting contract with the Penang-born tycoon Low Taek Jho.

This included a draft proposal asking Low for a US$75 million (RM295 million) fee “if the Justice Department quickly drops its (1MDB) investigation”, and draft talking points for Najib’s meeting with Trump.

Low is among the individuals named in the DOJ’s civil suits, but he has denounced the allegations against him as being politically motivated.

Rosenzweig’s lawyer Chris Clark reportedly told the WSJ that the emails in its possession were “internal drafts of documents that were never used, and that were never intended to be shared with third parties”.

Clark said neither Broidy, Rosenzweig, or anyone acting on their behalf had discussed Low’s case with Trump, his staff, or with anyone in the DOJ.

Malaysiakini is unable to independently verify either the WSJ or NYT reports, and previous queries to the Prime Minister's Office regarding WSJ’s report has yet to receive a response.