8 Accused of Conspiracy Around Clinton Donations

Lebanese-American businessman George Nader is back in the news
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 4, 2019 6:30 PM CST
Feds: Mueller Witness Conspired to Hide Donations
This 1998 frame from video provided by C-SPAN shows George Nader, president and editor of Middle East Insight.   (C-SPAN via AP, File)

The Justice Department on Tuesday charged eight people—including a prominent political donor to both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and a Lebanese-American businessman who was a witness in Robert Mueller’s investigation—with conspiring to conceal the source of more than $3.5 million in donations to Clinton, the AP reports. The 53-count indictment unsealed in federal court in Washington detailed efforts by Ahmad "Andy" Khawaja and George Nader to conceal the true source of the millions of dollars in campaign contributions, which prosecutors allege were made to gain influence with high-level political figures, including Clinton. Khawaja, the owner of the online processing company Allied Wallet, is accused of making the donations in his name, his wife's name, and his company’s name.

But authorities say the donations were really funded by another businessman, Nader. As they arranged the payments, Nader was in touch with an official from a foreign government about his efforts to gain influence with the prominent politicians, prosecutors charge. The government is not identified in court documents. A 2018 AP investigation detailed that Khawaja, Allied Wallet, and top executives contributed at least $6 million to Democratic and Republican candidates and groups. The donations earned Khawaja access to Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign and a post-election Oval Office visit with Trump. Nader is currently up on child pornography charges. (Seems he also had quite the in with Donald Trump Jr.)

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