The Intercept reported on Wednesday that the Center for American Progress (CAP) — a left-wing think tank founded by Clinton and Obama administration alumnus John Podesta in 2003 — fired two staffers suspected of leaking information related to the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) influence over CAP’s operations.

The UAE is one of CAP’s primary donors, with CAP listing the Gulf state’s embassy as having donated between $500,000 and $999,999 in 2017.

CAP’s internal investigation of leaks followed The Intercept’s publication of a report in December examining left-wing groups’ — including CAP’s — responses to legislative efforts to end U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen’s ongoing civil war.

The two fired staffers were reportedly investigated by CAP for leaking an internal email exchange to The Intercept. The email exchange related how CAP would publicly respond to the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabian officials in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

With the UAE as a close ally of Saudi Arabia, CAP experienced perplexity in considering its response to Khashoggi’s death at the hands of Saudi Arabian officials.

The Intercept explains some of the UAE-CAP financial relationship:

The Intercept reported, “CAP’s acceptance of UAE money has also been controversial within the organization for some time.”

The Intercept denies that either of the two fired staffers was its sources for previous reports on CAP’s internal goings-on.

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