U.S. Prosecutors: Illegal Campaign Donations in 2016 Election Originated From UAE

WASHINGTON (Middle East Eye) – U.S. prosecutors preparing for a trial of two individuals on charges of illegally funneling more than $5mn to political committees, including one that backed Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential campaign, have said that the money originated from the United Arab Emirates.
“The facts are this money came from the UAE Government,” Michelle Parikh, a Justice Department prosecutor, said at a hearing, as quoted by Politico.
In 2019, a grand jury indictment accused eight men of conspiring to illegally funnel money and make donations before and after the 2016 presidential election.
Among the men that were charged was George Nader, a UAE adviser, convicted paedophile and key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The original indictment mentioned that the money had originated from a “Middle East country”, but Tuesday’s hearing was the first time that prosecutors publicly named the UAE as the source of the funds.
According to the indictment, the money was funneled to Nader, who then gave the money to the seven other men, mostly based in Los Angeles. They went on to make donations to Clinton and Democrat allies ahead of the presidential elections.
After Clinton lost to Donald Trump in the election, the men reportedly began donating to Democrats and Republicans alike, including a $1m donation to Trump’s inaugural committee.
“If this money did in fact originate in the UAE, that in and of itself violates federal law, and any people who knowingly participated in routing this money into U.S. elections, likely committed a federal crime here in the United States,” Paul Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at the Washington, DC-based watchdog Common Cause, told Middle East Eye.
During the hearing, defense attorneys opposed the mentioning of the UAE, claiming it could pose diplomatic trouble for the U.S., according to Politico.
“I know the State Department would not like the Justice Department’s suggestion that some foreign government tried to influence the presidential election,” Justin Shur, one of the defense attorneys said.
Last year, the U.S. arrested Tom Barrack on charges that he and two associates were part of a secretive effort to shape Trump’s foreign policy to the benefit of the UAE.
The arrest helped to shine a spotlight on Abu Dhabi’s development of a sophisticated influence operation in Washington.
According to Meredith McGehee, an expert on Congress, lobbying and ethics, it would be a “sloppy move” if the allegation that the UAE was the origin of the money turned out to be true.