Mueller probe witness gets 10-year sentence on child porn, abuse charges

George Nader, a veteran Mideast policy expert who took part in transition activities for incoming President Donald Trump and later became a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump's 2016 campaign, was sentenced Friday to a decade in prison for possession of child pornography and bringing a minor to the U.S. for sexual purposes.

Nader, 61, received the sentence from Judge Leonie Brinkema in federal court in Alexandria, Va., after a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

The hearing included a statement delivered by phone by a Czech man who in 2000, at age 14, was brought to the U.S. by Nader and sexually abused.

"It is not right to abuse a child, practically abduct him and destroy him for life," the victim said, reading a letter that was later translated into English by an interpreter.

Nader is also facing separate criminal charges in Washington related to an alleged scheme to illegally funnel money to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid and other U.S. political campaigns.

However, even before Clinton’s defeat, Nader appears to have been courting members of Trump’s inner circle. In 2016, he attended meetings in New York involving top Trump aides and representatives of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Nader also reportedly attended closely scrutinized January 2017 meetings in the Seychelles between Blackwater founder Erik Prince, UAE officials and the head of Russia’s state investment fund.

Nader has had close ties to top U.S. national security and foreign policy figures for decades — a somewhat surprising fact given that his sexual interest in minors brought him repeated encounters with the law over that time.

In 1985, Nader faced a federal charge in Washington for allegedly importing magazines containing pictures of nude boys. A judge dismissed those charges after ruling that the search warrant issued for Nader’s home was invalid.

In 1991, he pleaded guilty to a similar charge in federal court in Alexandria, but got only a six-month prison sentence after a judge heard about Nader’s role in “extremely sensitive” attempts to win the release of U.S. hostages abroad.

And in 2002, Nader was sentenced by a Czech court to a year in prison for sexual abuse of teenagers, including the unidentified man who offered a statement at Friday’s sentencing.

Despite that history, Nader remained in close contact with Mideast policy experts and even reportedly attended meetings at the White House in 2017.

“I take great pride in the professional life I had here and the work I’ve done for the United States over the course of decades,” Nader told the judge. “I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering I have caused. ... There will be no need for me to be before the court anymore, anywhere in the world.”

Nader has also agreed to pay $150,000 restitution to the victim who testified Friday.

"It's less than I requested, but this money will definitely help me solve at least some of the problems I have had for 20 years," said the victim, who also complained of long-term health and emotional problems related to his dealings with Nader.

In 2018, Nader was questioned and had his mobile phones seized by FBI agents working for Mueller. He later testified before a grand jury, reportedly about efforts by the United Arab Emirates to influence the Trump administration.

In June 2019, as the native of Lebanon returned to the U.S., he was arrested and charged with having child pornography on the phones the FBI took from him the prior year.

Nader’s attorney, Jonathan Jeffress, stressed that Nader was not pleading guilty to that and maintains he didn’t know about those materials, which were in WhatsApp messages sent by others.

“There is no evidence that Mr. Nader ever looked at any of these images,” Jeffress said, noting that the last offense Nader was admitting to was from 2012.

But prosecutor Jay Prabhu called Nader a recidivist and said his abuse of minors went well beyond the passive receipt of photos. “Make no mistake: Mr. Nader is a repeat, hands-on sexual offender,” Prabhu said.

It’s unclear whether Nader plans to plead guilty in the campaign finance case he is facing in D.C., along with seven other co-defendants. When Brinkema brought up that issue up, Jeffress asked to address the court privately.

In imposing the 10-year sentence that both sides had agreed on during the plea deal, Brinkema said she was “satisfied” it was appropriate in the case.

“I have taken into consideration your age, your health condition, your past record of good works,” the judge said.

Brinkema, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, also sided with prosecutors in requiring that Nader be under court-imposed supervision for the rest of his life — at least when he is in the U.S.