This Is How the UAE Tried to Influence the Shape of the American Political System in 2016

The American website The Intercept revealed on January 17, 2022 that George Nader, the US advisor to the UAE government convicted of sexual crimes, has pleaded guilty to his role in helping the UAE smuggle millions of dollars into the country.

“Nader, (63 years old), illegally smuggled Emirati donations into the electoral campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election, in order to influence and control the parameters of American policy and later shape it in the Gulf and Middle East regions,” according to the website.

 

Illegal Lobby

George Nader, a senior adviser to UAE Crown Prince, who visited the White House frequently during Donald Trump's presidency, has pleaded guilty to a new felony against the US government by pumping millions of donations into Hillary Clinton's campaign and concealing the source of this foreign money at that time,” according to what The Intercept published on January 17.

This came in a court note issued by the US Public Prosecution in December 2021, the content of which was recently revealed.

According to the website, “Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, a former advisor to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, has conspired to hide the money out of a desire to pressure and influence on behalf of the government of the UAE and promoting the interests of his client.”

A rare acknowledgment of this crime, according to the website, opens a new window on the efforts of the UAE and its de facto ruler, Mohamed bin Zayed, to influence the outcome of the 2016 election and shape subsequent US policy in the Gulf region and the Middle East.

This is the first time that the US government has openly accused the UAE, which is a close ally, of illegally seeking to buy candidates for the presidential elections, according to The Intercept.

According to the court note, Nader was receiving instructions from the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and that he was regularly telling Mohamed bin Zayed about his movements and efforts to get close to Hillary Clinton.

Nader also tried to arrange a meeting between Mohamed bin Zayed and Hillary and her husband, Bill Clinton.

Simultaneously, Nader also became close to the Trump campaign, admitting to the FBI that he met Trump's son Donald Jr more than once during 2016,” according to what The New York Times reported in March 2018.

The newspaper revealed that Nader told Trump Jr that the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia were keen to support his father to be elected.

According to FBI documents, Nader did not succeed in arranging a meeting between the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Trump after winning the elections.

Therefore, Nader arranged a meeting between the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Steve Bannon (Trump's former chief strategist), Michael Flynn (Trump’s former National Security Adviser), Jame B. Comey (FBI director) and Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor).

The newspaper pointed out that “Nader advised bin Zayed and bin Salman to have a good relationship with both Clinton and Trump in the run-up to the 2016 elections.”

Earlier, Politico magazine revealed that Nader worked as a mediator between Trump's advisers and bin Zayed's advisers, as well as bin Salman's advisers.

 

UAE Involvement

On the other hand, The Intercept also revealed that businessman Ahmad Khawaja (Andy), who lives in Los Angeles, was involved in providing about one million dollars to Trump's election campaign.

George Nader also transferred $5 million from his company's account in the UAE to Khawaja's account, of which $3.5 million went directly to the treasury of the UAE government; it was awarded to the Democratic political committees working on the Clinton campaign.

As a result, US prosecutors accused Nader, Khawaja and six others of working together to conceal the assets of the funds, five of the eight men accused in the case also pleaded guilty, two other defendants are scheduled to appear for trial this year.

The prosecutors demanded a five-year sentence for Nader, with an emphasis that the execution of the sentence will not begin until after he has completed the ten-year period he has spent on charges of possession of child pornography.

George Nader is not the only one accused of helping the UAE and increasing its influence on American politics.

Last year, the Justice Department indicted Thomas J. Barrack, a businessman and close friend and advisor of Trump, of working as a secret agent for the UAE, in an attempt to promote the foreign interests of its rulers.

In turn, Judicial Advisor Mohammed bin Saqr al-Zaabi said in a statement to Al-Estiklal: “Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed considers the United States the godfather of the Gulf region and the Middle East.”

“Therefore, his efforts to influence the American political decision or reach the decision-making circle and achieve the results he wants to achieve, and that can only happen through its influence on the process of the presidential elections of the United States,” he added.

“The rulers of the UAE know their size and ability to influence the region, which will not come to fruition without American guidance. Therefore, their work was to support the Democratic and Republican candidates in the 2016 US elections, whoever wins from them will work with him and appear supportive of him, without regard to any principles,” al-Zaabi said.

As for George Nader's recent declaration condemning the Emirati regime, especially Mohamed bin Zayed, and its political and judicial consequences, al-Zaabi stated that “what will result from the approval of the former advisor to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, George Nader, depends on what the US administration wants.”

“In the event that the Biden administration wants to punish Mohamed bin Zayed and make him an example to others, because he crossed the red borders inside its lands, or that the services and billions of money he provides to it from the people, his cooperation with the Zionists, and many of the dirty roles in the region may intercede for him,” he explained.

“Such agents (Mohamad bin Zayed) and with this strong loyalty, which has no ceiling or limits, do not repeat, because they do not have principles or values to follow or stop at,” al-Zaabi pointed out.

 

Malicious Endeavors

It is noteworthy that the UAE paid millions of dollars to George Nader when he was working with the American Jewish fundraiser, Elliott Broidy, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to coordinate cooperation between the UAE and Israel, and to collect donations for the Trump campaign, with the aim of formulating Trump's policy in the Middle East and winning contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars for the UAE.

In March 2018, Nader was under investigation regarding his relationship with the UAE, and his recent efforts to buy influence within the White House by supporting Trump's election campaign in 2016.

Months after the start of his investigation, specifically in November 2018, banking records showed that Nader received another $5 million from the UAE.

In August 2019, the New York Times revealed that George Nader and Elliot Broidy, received millions of dollars from the UAE to run a campaign against Qatar, and the last payment Broidy received from the UAE in March 2019 was $24 million, despite Abu Dhabi knowing that the federal agencies are investigating his activities and financial relations with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper also revealed that the UAE supported Zionist institutions hostile to Islam, Arabs and Palestine, and Broidy donated to two of them in Washington - the Foundation for Defense of Democracy and the Hudson Institute - to fund conferences attacking Qatar.

In June 2019, the US authorities arrested George Nader on charges of sexually exploiting children as young as two years old, and that was after it had found child pornography videos on his phone when it stopped him in January 2018.

In June 2020, the US judiciary issued a 10-year prison sentence for Nader, after he admitted possessing child pornography and sexually exploiting them.