George Nader (businessman)

George Nader
Born (1959-05-15) 15 May 1959[1]
Lebanon
Citizenship American
Alma mater Cleveland State University
Conviction(s) Child pornography infractions
Child sexual abuse
Capture status
 Released
Details
Country United States, Czech Republic
Date apprehended
 1991; 2003–2004

George Nader (Arabic: جورج نادر‎, born 1959) is a Lebanese-American businessman, lobbyist, and convicted sex offender. He has acted as an unofficial liaison between Washington politicians and Middle Eastern officials.

Nader is an adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates and a consultant to Blackwater founder Erik Prince. In January 2018, special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators questioned Nader in connection to suspicions that the UAE had been involved with President Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Nader was sentenced in the 1990s for transporting child pornography publications, and imprisoned in 2003 for sexually abusing 10 boys in the Czech Republic.[2]

Early life and education

Nader was born in Lebanon.[3] As a teenager, he moved to the US, not knowing any English. He went on to attend Cleveland State University.[4] Nader is a Christian.[5]

Career

From 1981 through the 1990s, Nader was editor of Middle East Insight.[6] The magazine ceased publication in 2002.[7]

During the George H. W. Bush administration (1989–1993) he helped to free American hostages in Lebanon after the Iran–Contra affair.[6] During the Clinton Administration (1993–2001), Nader tried unsuccessfully to broker an Israeli–Syrian peace agreement, working with Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder.[6]

In the 2000´s Nader left Washington and spent most of his time in the Middle East, especially in Iraq after the 2003 Iraq invasion.[7] Since then, Nader has volunteered with U.S. politicians to act as a "shadow diplomat" connecting them to Middle Eastern officials.[6] Erik Prince, founder of security firm Blackwater hired Nader to help with contracts with the Iraqi government; in a 2010 deposition Prince identified him as a "business development consultant".[8]

In August 2016, Nader met with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower offering assistance to the his father's presidential campaign.[9] Nader served as an envoy representing Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammad bin Salman and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The meeting included Blackwater founder Erik Prince again and Joel Zamel, an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation.[10][9]

Nader attended a December 2016 meeting in New York between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials and president-elect Donald Trump's associates Jared Kushner, Michael Flynn, and Steve Bannon.[6] In January 2017 he was at a meeting on the Seychelles islands between the Emiratis and Erik Prince, and was present when Prince met with officials from the UAE and Kirill Dmitriev, head of state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund.[6]

Working with Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy in 2017, Nader funded a conference criticizing Qatar that was hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.[11] At the time Nader and Broidy were pushing the White House to remove Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom the Saudis and Emiratis saw as insufficiently tough on Iran and Qatar.[3]

In January 2018, Nader was served a grand-jury subpoena,[12] and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators questioned him to elicit if the UAE had tried to influence members of President Trump’s campaign.[6][13] Kathryn Ruemmler, an Obama-era White House counsel, was among the lawyers representing Nader.[1] Nader was granted immunity for information for the investigation.[3][14]

Child pornography and sexual abuse convictions

Nader has been charged with crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors, and convicted of several of them. A 1985 charge of receiving from the Netherlands films and magazines depicting pre and post pubescent boys engaged in sexual acts, was dismissed due to an invalid search warrant.[15] A federal court in Virginia in 1991 gave him a six-month sentence on a felony charge of transporting from Germany pornographic videotapes of boys about 13 or 14 years old.[15] Prosecutors agreed to put the case under seal "due to the extremely sensitive nature of Mr. Nader’s work in the Middle East."[15]

In 2003, he was convicted in Prague, Czech Republic for sexually abusing 10 boys, for which he served one year in prison.[1][15] A spokesperson of the court told press that the crimes occurred between 1999 and 2002. In one case, at his room in Hilton Prague Hotel, he requested oral sex from a 14-year-old boy and after he refused, Nader masturbated in front of him, paying him 2,000 koruna.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bradley Klapper, Karel Janicek, Desmond Butler, Tom LoBianco and Eric Tucker (15 March 2018), "Mueller Witness Is Convicted Pedophile With Shadowy Past", Bloomberg, retrieved 20 May 2018
  2. ↑ Mueller witness was convicted on child porn charge, by Josh Gerstein, at Politico; published March 16, 2018; retrieved May 21, 2018
  3. 1 2 3 Kirkpatrick, David D.; Mazzetti, Mark (March 21, 2018). "How 2 Gulf Monarchies Sought to Influence the White House". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Max Kutner. Who Is George Nader? Mueller Investigating Whether Magazine Editor Helped UAE Buy White House Influence Newsweek, 3/6/18
  5. ↑ George A. Nader (3 May 1987), AT HOME WITH THE AYATOLLAH AND HIS MEN, The Washington Post, retrieved 20 May 2018
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Shimon Prokupecz, Kara Scannell and Sara Murray 'Man of mystery' cooperates with Mueller in Russia probe CNN, March 7, 2018
  7. 1 2 Zoe Szathmary, Joseph Weber George Nader in spotlight amid Mueller probe: Who is he? Fox New, March 5, 2018
  8. ↑ Mark Mazzetti, Maggie Haberman and David D. Kirkpatrick Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation New York Times, 3-3-2018
  9. 1 2 "Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election". The New York Times. 19 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Trump Jr. met Gulf princes' emissary in 2016 who offered campaign help". Reuters. 19 May 2018.
  11. ↑ Gardiner Harris (13 May 2018). "He Was a Tireless Critic of the Iran Deal. Now He Insists He Wanted to Save It". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  12. ↑ Natasha Bertrand Was George Nader Allowed Into the White House? The Atlantic, March 8, 2018, accessed 114 May 2018
  13. ↑ Mark Mazzetti, David D. Kirkpatrick, Adam Goldman. Adviser to Emirates With Ties to Trump Aides Is Cooperating With Special Counsel. NYT, March 6, 2018
  14. ↑ Zeeshan Aleem (March 28, 2018). "George Nader, one of the Trump-Russia investigation's most mysterious figures, explained". Vox.com. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Josh Gerstein Mueller witness was convicted on child porn charge Politico, 03/16/2018
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