** Statement by Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Barisan Nasional strategic communications director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department:
1 September 2016
1. As I told the BBC, it's obvious that the so called “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) referred to by the U.S. Department of Justice is our Prime Minister.
2. Many others were also referred to by the DoJ. But, critically, none of them including MO1 were named as subjects of the investigation.
3. As any lawyer will confirm, the difference between being named as the subject of a civil lawsuit, and merely being referred to in an investigation, is black and white.
4. Tun Mahathir Mohamad and his new allies in the opposition are deliberately mixing the two up to deceive the Malaysian people. The failed protests their proxies organised asking who MO1 is are irrelevant, as MO1 was not named as the subject of any DoJ civil suit.
5. Meanwhile, after comprehensive investigations by multiple authorities, our Prime Minister has been cleared of any wrongdoing. So the evidence is clear. And Tun Mahathir's smears will fail once again – just as all his attempts to topple Malaysia's democratically elected government have failed miserably.