George Nader (businessman)

George Nader
Born (1959-05-15) 15 May 1959 (age 65)[1]
Lebanon
CitizenshipUnited States
Lebanon
United Arab Emirates[2]
Alma materCleveland State University
Criminal statusPleaded guilty
Conviction(s)Child pornography infractions
Child sexual abuse
Criminal penalty10 years in prison
Details
CountryUnited States, Czech Republic
Date apprehended
1991; 2003; 2019

George Aref Nader (Arabic: جورج نادر, born May 15, 1959) is a Lebanese-American consultant, lobbyist, political adviser, and repeat sex offender. He has repeatedly acted as an unofficial liaison between United States politicians and the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and as a lobbyist for private security firm Blackwater.

Nader has served as an adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates and as 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 Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.[3] In August 2016 Nader met with Donald Trump Jr., Erik Prince, and Joel Zamel, an Israeli entrepreneur and specialist in social media manipulation, to offer help to the Trump team in winning the election. There are conflicting accounts of whether the nearly $2 million Nader paid Zamel after Trump's victory is attributed to that or not.[4] In 2021, Nader pleaded guilty to violating U.S. campaign finance laws by using over $3.5 million to reach out through a front to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for the U.S. Presidency.[5]

Nader has had several run-ins with the law over the years related to sexual abuse of children. He was convicted in the 1990s of transporting child pornography publications, and imprisoned in 2003 for sexually abusing ten boys in the Czech Republic.[6] He pleaded guilty in early 2020 to flying a 14-year-old boy from Europe to the US for sex, and transporting pornography depicting child sexual abuse and bestiality.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference AP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Vogel, Kenneth P.; Confessiore, Nicholas (8 February 2021). "Using Connections to Trump, Dershowitz Became Force in Clemency Grants". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  3. ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Kirkpatrick, David D.; Protess, Ben; LaFraniere, Sharon (4 April 2018). "Witness in Mueller Inquiry Who Advises U.A.E. Ruler Also Has Ties to Russia". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Bergman, Ronen; Kirkpatrick, David D. (19 May 2018). "Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Tau, Byron; Horwitz, Jeff (4 December 2019). "Mueller Witness With Trump Ties Is Charged With Illegally Funneling Money to Support Clinton". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 December 2019. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Gerstein, Josh (16 March 2018). "Mueller witness was convicted on child porn charge". Politico. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  7. ^ Barrett, Devin; Weiner, Rachel (3 June 2019). "Figure linked to Trump transition charged with transporting child pornography". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ "Businessman Named in Mueller Probe Arrested on Charges Including Child Porn". The New York Times. Associated Press. 3 June 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).