Retired Marine John Allen resigns from Brookings Institute

June 13 (UPI) -- Brookings Institute President John Allen resigned on Sunday as a federal investigation continued against the retired Marine general who has been accused of lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of Qatar during the Trump administration.

Earlier this month, an affidavit was filed in federal court in California naming Allen and several other men, alleging they secretly lobbied on behalf of the Qatari government and later lied about their roles.

He was named with a former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and to Pakistan, Richard G. Olson, and Imaad Shah Zuberi, a California venture capitalist who was sentenced in 2021 to 144 months in federal prison.

According to CNN, the Brookings Institution thanked Allen for "his contributions to Brookings, including his leadership in successfully guiding the institution during the pandemic, as well as his many years of service and sacrifice for our country."

Ted Gayer, a senior economic fellow, will take over as acting president of the research institute, according to an email to staffers by Glenn Hutchins and Suzanne Nora Johnson, who both chair the Brookings board of trustees.

"Brookings seeks to maintain high ethical standards in all its operations," Hutchins and Johnson wrote in the email, according to The Washington Post. "Our policies on research independence and integrity reflect these values."

Authorities accused Allen of meeting with senior Qatari officials in 2017, when he was a part-time senior fellow at Brookings. He used his Brookings email address to communicate with Trump administration officials, including Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who was White House national security adviser at the time, investigators said.