Brookings president resigns amid FBI foreign lobbying probe

By ALAN SUDERMAN and JIM MUSTIAN
Associated Press

The president of the Brookings Institution has resigned amid a federal investigation into whether he illegally lobbied on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. Retired Gen. John Allen said in a letter to the think tank Sunday that he was leaving with a “heavy heart” but did not offer any direct explanation. A retired four-star Marine general who led U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Allen’s announcement came less than a week after The Associated Press was first to report on new court filings that showed the FBI had seized Allen’s electronic data as part of the probe.