A lobbyist known for his ties to the inner circle of President Donald Trump has been indicted on campaign finance charges for allegedly using straw donors to conceal contributions to Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, the Justice Department revealed on Tuesday.
The lobbyist, George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, has acted as an informal conduit between Trump’s top advisers and various Middle Eastern interests. He also served as a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into election interference.
The Justice Department refers only to an unidentified 2016 presidential candidate, but campaign finance records make clear that the candidate was Clinton.
Nader embarked on the scheme in a bid to gain influence in Clinton’s circle while reporting to a foreign official, according to the Justice Department.
Among his alleged co-conspirators is Ahmad “Andy” Khawaja, the CEO of a payments processing company, according to the Justice Department news release announcing the unsealing of the indictment, which was made by a grand jury in the District of Columbia.
Nader conspired with Khawaja to secretly fund $3.5 million in donations that were made in the name of Khawaja, his wife and his firm, Allied Wallet Inc., according to the indictment.
Khawaja co-hosted an August 2016 fundraiser for Clinton alongside the likes of Univision owner Haim Saban, basketball legend Magic Johnson and movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.