Libyan rebels lobbied US energy officials, GOP lawmakers amid oil dispute

Lobbyists for Libyan strongman Khalifa Hifter’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) met with Republican lawmakers and US officials in charge of energy policy last summer, a newly disclosed lobbying filing reveals.

The filing sheds light on Hifter’s targeting of key US decision-makers even as the United States recognizes the rival UN-backed government in Tripoli as the country’s legitimate authority. Hifter’s LNA hired Texas-based Linden Government Solutions in May for $2 million per year to advocate for the group in its conflict with Tripoli over control of the country’s vast oil wealth.

Lobbying records show that Linden lobbyists Stephen Payne and Joe Fleming met with Joe Uddo, the deputy assistant secretary of energy innovation and market development, and Vincent Trovato, a senior adviser in the department’s Office of International Affairs, in late July during a visit to Washington by a delegation from the Hifter-aligned House of Representatives in Tobruk. Around the same time, the pair also met with Landon Derentz, then the director of energy at the National Security Council (he’s now at the Energy Department), and Elizabeth Litchfield, deputy director of the Office of Maghreb Affairs at the State Department.

The National Security Council declined to comment. The State Department and Energy Department did not respond to requests for comment.