Mike Huckabee was paid $50,000 to visit Qatar

Mike Huckabee prepared for his Senate confirmation hearing to be ambassador to Israel by visiting the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Queens on Sunday. Huckbee’s visit to the shrine of the messianic Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Hassidic Jews was a signal that the former Arkansas governor, a booster of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, wants to tout his alignment with the Israeli religious right and their American allies. Huckabee’s views have drawn opposition to his nomination from left-leaning Jewish groups and lawmakers.

But the visit—during which Huckbee was escorted by Joseph Frager, a gastroenterologist and rabbi who is executive vice president of the Israeli Heritage Foundation, a right-leaning pro-Israel group—was also a reminder of ties Huckabee may be less eager to highlight.

In 2018, a lobbyist for Qatar paid Huckabee $50,000 to make a brief visit to that country’s capital city, Doha. As Mother Jones reported that year, it was one of a series of trips for high-profile Americans organized by lobbyists hired by the wealthy Gulf state. Huckabee’s visit, which Frager also helped arrange, came at a crucial moment for Qatar, as it scrambled to improve its standing in Washington and among influential pro-Israel pundits, many of whom had faulted Qatar for past funding of Hamas. At the time, Qatar was being blockaded by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries in the region.

Upon returning to the United States, Huckabee tweeted positively, if vaguely, about Qatar. The former governor did not disclose at the time that he had been paid to travel there. That was revealed later when a lobbyist working for Qatar filed paperwork that characterized the fee as an “honorarium for visit.”

Just back from a few days in surprisingly beautiful, modern, and hospitable Doha, Qatar I will appear on @FoxNews at 9am ET and @Varneyco on @FoxBusiness at 8:45 to bring Fancy Nancy some “crumbs” to sprinkle on her caviar topped @FiveGuys burger.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 12, 2018

Frager in 2018 also registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for Qatar and reported that that he, too, was paid $50,000 by the country’s lobbyists, to help arrange Huckabee’s visit. In comments back then, and in a phone interview this week, Frager said that his goal in arranging the trip was to help secure Qatar’s assistance in retrieving the bodies of two Israeli soldiers held by Hamas. “I was trying to help get them out of Gaza,” he said Monday. He declined to address details of his efforts or the payment he received.

Huckabee did not respond to a request for comment from Mother Jones. But a person involved in arranging the trip said the payment was, in effect, an appearance fee, which Huckabee required before traveling. “He was very straightforward about the money,” the person said. “He knew what he wanted.”

That payment appears to have been part of Huckbee’s thriving career as a right-wing pundit, pitchman, author, and speaker, which, according to the financial disclosure form he filed in connection with his nomination, earned the former presidential candidate millions of dollars over the past year.

Huckabee reported receiving $62,000 as a spokesperson for Espired, a right-leaning education company that sells books and videos for children. Its titles include The Kids Guide to the Truth About Climate Change, which downplays the significance of global warming; the laudatory Kids Guide to President Trump; and the less positive Kids Guide Joe Biden.

Additionally, Huckabee said he was paid $245,000 in “consulting fees” by an Arkansas company called Asian American Advisors that has worked as a registered lobbyist for companies based overseas. Asian American Advisors did not respond to questions about what Huckabee did. Huckabee, whose daughter is the governor of Arkansas, also reported receiving $81,000 for consulting from Poynter Law Group, a medical malpractice-focused firm in Little Rock.

Huckabee netted another $108,000 from One Share Health, a Christian healthcare sharing organization. Such organizations resemble insurers but provide cheaper coverage that is frequently less comprehensive.

Huckabee was also paid $415,000 as a spokesperson for the American Behavioral Research Institute, a private outfit that sells dietary supplements. In 2023, the company paid a $925,000 settlement after district attorneys in California accused it of making misleading health claims and improperly renewing subscriptions automatically.

Huckbeee reported receiving $148,000 from Fox News and $57,000 from NewsMax for “studio fees.” He was paid $1.9 million by Ozarks Mountain Media Group, and he received $1.1 million from Trinity Broadcast Network and $353,000 from Founders Intent LLC for hosting duties.

Huckabee also reported receiving speaking fees, usually for $20,000 or $24,000, and honorariums, most for about $10,000, for around two dozen appearances. Those included a January event with the Israeli Heritage Foundation, the group that arranged Huckabee’s Sunday visit to the Rebbe’s grave. The January event earned Huckabee $10,000.