WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s move to sell sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia took shape even before the president took office and was championed by Donald Trump’s longtime personal friend and fundraiser, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., according to a new report released Monday by congressional Democrats.

The report details how Barrack used his personal connections to the president and other Trump administration officials to win support for the controversial Saudi nuclear deal – at the same time he was seeking funding from the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates for a bid to purchase Westinghouse Electric Company, the only U.S. manufacturer of large-scale nuclear reactors.

The Trump administration quietly approved the transfer of commercial nuclear expertise to the kingdom starting in December 2017, later explaining that it would allow Saudi Arabia to build nuclear reactors.

But lawmakers in both parties have expressed alarm about the deal, in part because the Saudis have so far refused to agree to standard restrictions that would bar them from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel.

In March, Sens. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, asked a non-partisan congressional agency to investigate whether the Trump administration's negotiations with the Saudis violated the Atomic Energy Act, which regulates the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee has been probing the Saudi transaction for months. Democrats on the panel released an initial report in February concluding that Trump administration officials – including Michael Flynn, the president’s first national security adviser – pushed for the nuclear transfer over the objections of career employees who feared it could lead to nuclear proliferation, among other concerns.

A spokesman for Barrack said he has cooperated with the Oversight Committee and defended his business dealings.

"Mr. Barrack's engagement in investment and business development throughout the Middle East for the purpose of better aligned Middle East and US objectives are well known, as are his more than four decades of respected relationships in the region," the statement said.

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans on the committee released their own report last week, rejecting the Democrats' characterization of the nuclear transfer as legally questionable and riddled with conflicts of interest.

"The Trump administration is not rushing nuclear energy technology to Saudi Arabia," the GOP report states. "The Trump Administration is not conflicted from deliberations to transfer nuclear energy technology to Saudi Arabia."

Democrats on the Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, "are obsessed with investigating every decision made by the Trump White House," the Republicans' argue.

The Democrats' new report delves into the financial interests of those pushing the deal, highlighting Barrack's role in particular. Through emails and interviews, the committee found that Barrack was promoting the interests of American companies seeking to do business with the Saudis at the same time he was trying to position his own company, Colony NorthStar, to profit from those same proposals.

He was also lobbying the Trump administration to appoint him to a top diplomatic position that would have allowed him to shape Middle East policy.

"The new documents indicate that a key component of Mr. Barrack’s plan was the purchase of Westinghouse Electric Company – the only U.S. manufacturer of large-scale nuclear reactors – using significant Saudi and Emirati capital, but with enough U.S. ownership to bypass scrutiny" from federal regulators that oversee foreign investment in the U.S.

Barrack’s efforts to shape Trump’s relationship with the Saudi and Emirati governments began when Trump was still campaigning for the GOP nomination, according to the report.

In May 2016, for example, Barrack got a draft copy of an energy speech then-candidate Trump was set to deliver. He circulated it among Saudi and Emirati officials, including a businessman named Rashid Al-Malik, and then pressed for changes sought by Al-Malik.

"‘This is probably as close as I can get without crossing a lot of lines. Give me a call’,” Barrack wrote in an email to Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort at the time.

Manafort emailed back with a final draft that included some, but not all, of Barrack's language, according to the report.

A few days before Trump's inauguration, Barrack aligned himself and his company with IP3 International, a consortium of U.S. firms seeking to build nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. Barrack chaired Trump's inaugural committee; both he and the inaugural committee have come under scrutiny from law enforcement officials seeking to determine, among other things, whether it received improper donations from foreign sources, according to multiple media reports.

Barrack used his contacts with the president and other advisers to push IP3's agenda, the Democrats' report alleges. And IP3 officials "repeatedly pressed the Trump Administration" not to require the Saudis to sign a so-called "Gold Standard” non-proliferation agreement that would limit the kingdom's ability to use the technology to develop a nuclear weapon.

"The new documents obtained by the committee show that the unique access that Mr.

Barrack and IP3 officials enjoyed with the Trump administration yielded promises from high-level government officials to support IP3’s efforts with Saudi officials," the report states.

In November of 2017, an IP3 employee sent an email to another nuclear company

executive boasting that the Trump administration fully supported its plans.

"The USG [U.S. Government] is an extended team member," the IP3 employee wrote. “We will help Saudi leapfrog Iran and become a nuclear leader."

In a statement, IP3 blasted the reported as flawed and rife with "misunderstandings" of the nuclear technology transfer process.

"Unfortunately, there are conclusions in the Committee report ... that link these misunderstandings with conspiracy theories and allegations to create an arbitrary and contrived story that doesn’t reflect the reality that occurred," the IP3 statement says.

Barrack's bid to purchase Westinghouse was unsuccessful, but the Trump administration did allow American companies to transfer nuclear civil nuclear technology to the Saudi government. In late 2017, Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry secretly authorized the transaction, first reported by Reuters earlier this year.

The Department of Energy has not released the names of the companies involved in the transaction; the agency said it limited disclosures about the deal because of "proprietary business information."

Democrats say that IP3’s efforts to influence and profit from the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia "continue to this day." Negotiations about what nonproliferation restrictions the Saudis will accept are reportedly still underway.

In their report, the Democrats concluded that when it comes to Saudi Arabia, "the Trump Administration has virtually obliterated the lines normally separating government policymaking from corporate and foreign interests. The documents show the Administration’s willingness to let private parties with close ties to the President

wield outsized influence over U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia."

Republicans blasted that assertion, saying the White House-approved transfers went through a lengthy review process and involved no untoward influence.

"The documents show that IP3, since its formation, attempted to educate federal officials – including Democrat Members of Congress – about the importance for American companies to lead the development of civil nuclear energy in the Middle East, instead of allowing Russia and China to do so," the GOP report states. "There is no evidence of a conflict of interest between IP3, Barrack, Flynn ... or the Trump administration in advocating for civilian nuclear energy in the Middle East."