Mueller witness, bipartisan political donor George Nader pleads guilty to child sex charges

U.S. federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

George Nader, a wealthy Lebanese-American political campaign bundler for Hillary Clinton and frequent guest in President Trump's White House in the first few months of his administration, pleaded guilty Monday to child exploitation charges in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. His sentencing is scheduled for April 10.

The guilty plea covers Nader's sexual acts with a 14-year-old Czech boy in the U.S. 20 years ago and possession of child pornography in 2012, but under a plea deal with prosecutors, he won't be charged for child pornography found on his phone en route to Mar-a-Lago, leading to his cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Trump's campaign and Russia.

Nader, 60, was questioned by Mueller's investigators about whether he illegally channeled campaign contributions to Trump's 2016 campaign from the United Arab Emirates, where he worked as an adviser to UAE leadership, and about a January 2017 meeting he set up and attended between Trump associate Erik Prince — Blackwater founder and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos — and a Russian official close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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The crimes Nader pleaded guilty to carry penalties of up to 50 years in prison, but prosecutors agreed to request the mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars, served concurrently. He still faces campaign finance charges in federal court in Washington, D.C., for allegedly illegally funneling more than $3 million in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans. Nader served six months for child pornography charges in 1991, and he was sentenced to a year in prison in the Czech Republican in 2003. Between his Czech sentence and his 2000 journey with the 14-year-old boy, Nader served as Pentagon contractor and Middle East policy adviser to President George W. Bush's administration, The Washington Post reports.

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.