Jimmy Lai's 'close ties with US right-wing politicians' revealed in leaked email trove

Media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has maintained close ties with right-wing politicians in the United States, according to documents leaked to the media.

The documents, mostly email exchanges between Lai's top aide Mark Simon and others, were sent to major news outlets yesterday by the same person who last month leaked information about Lai's donations to Hong Kong politicians.

The documents suggest Lai had regular contacts with US politicians. In one case, Simon acted as a go-between to set up a meeting between former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and a group of pan-democrats during her visit to Hong Kong in September 2009.

In an email dated September 4, 2009, to Meghan Stapleton - Palin's senior adviser - Simon wrote that pan-democrats "need some attention and gain a level of protection by government knowing they can get some international attention".

Palin, one of the most prominent right-wing politicians in the US, lost the election in 2008 as running mate to Republican presidential contender John McCain.

Receiving no reply from Palin, Simon wrote again on the same subject to Randy Scheunemann, who was McCain's foreign affairs adviser. Simon offered advice on how Palin should approach the media to gain positive exposure. "[The] press [in Hong Kong] is going to be very hostile, I am certain, if she does not have a say on who she sees. SCMP is bad news, Tom Mitchell from FT [ Financial Times] wore an Obama button during [the presidential election] campaign," Simon said.