The Justice Department has announced that multiple individuals – -including a convicted sex offender who was also a witness in the Mueller probe — are accused of having made illegal campaign contributions, and the campaign in question is believed to be Hillary Clinton’s, according to the Washington Examiner.
Indictments in the case were detailed in statement from Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and FBI Washington Field Office chief Timothy Slater.
Federal charges filed
The statement explains that a District of Columbia federal grand jury has indicted Ahmad “Andy” Khawaja, George Nader, Roy Boulos, Rudy Dekermenjian, Mohammad “Moe” Diab, Rani El-Saadi, Stevan Hill and Thayne Whipple with conspiracy to make and ultimately conceal illegal campaign donations starting in 2016.
“By design, these contributions appeared to be in the names of Khawaja, his wife, and his company. In reality, they allegedly were funded by Nader,” it asserts.
“Khawaja and Nader allegedly made these contributions in an effort to gain influence with high-level political figures, including the candidate. As Khawaja and Nader arranged these payments, Nader allegedly reported to an official from a foreign government about his efforts to gain influence,” according to the government.
The statement goes on to allege that “from June 2019 through July 2019, Khawaja obstructed a grand jury investigation of this matter in the District of Columbia. Knowing that a witness had been called to testify before the grand jury, Khawaja allegedly provided that witness with false information about Nader and his connection to Khawaja’s company. Boulos, Diab, Hill, and Whipple also are charged with obstructing the grand jury’s investigation by lying to the FBI.”
The recipient isn’t named, but the Washington Examiner reports that “the indictment and campaign finance records make it clear that the money was directed towards helping Clinton during the 2016 campaign.”
Troubling history
This isn’t Nader’s first serious brush with high-profile legal proceedings or the criminal justice system. In addition to having been interviewed on several occasions by Robert Mueller’s team in the Russia probe, he is also a convicted sex offender.
Politico reports that in 1991, Nader pleaded guilty to child porn charges. That came six years after facing previous child pornography charges that were ultimately dismissed.
In 2002, Nader was convicted in the Czech Republic of preying on children in that country. According to the Associated Press, he was sentenced to one year in prison as a result.
What’s more, Nader was indicted this summer on federal human trafficking charges. He is alleged to have smuggled a fourteen-year-old boy into the country from Europe and then sexually abused him, according to the Washington Post.
Nader has pleaded not guilty to the trafficking charges and remains in federal custody.
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