George Nader, key witness to the investigation in the Mueller case, accused of carrying child pornography

One of the main witnesses to the investigation of former special adviser Robert S. Mueller III on Russian interference in the elections was accused of transporting child pornography last year, according to court documents.

George Nader, who had a criminal record, was charged by a federal court in Virginia and is expected to appear for the first time in New York.

Nader played an unusual role as a type of liaison between Trump supporters, Middle Eastern leaders and Russians wishing to contact the new administration in early 2017.

Officials said 60-year-old Nader was charged with criminal charges for documents he was traveling with when he arrived at Washington-Dulles International Airport on January 17, 2018 from Dubai. At the time, he wore a cell phone containing visual representations of minors engaging in sexually explicit behavior, officials said. The charges were lifted after his arrest Monday morning at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

In the event of conviction, Nader incurs a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and 40 years, officials said.

Trump's associates knew Nader as someone who had political connections in the Middle East and who could help them navigate the diplomacy of the region.

[New court documents offer new details about witness in Mueller probe]

He helped organize a meeting in Seychelles in January 2017 between Erik Prince, a supporter of Trump, founder of private security firm Blackwater, and a Russian official close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The purpose of the meeting was of particular interest to Mueller's investigators, and some questions about it remained unanswered even after Mueller published a 448-page report on his findings.

An American businessman of Lebanese origin, Nader, was arrested by federal agents on his arrival at Dulles International Airport in January 2018. He was summoned to appear and finally cooperated with the authorities, thus providing a great testimony of the jury on its interactions with Trump supporters, according to familiar people. with the material.

Prince insisted publicly and in front of Congress that his meeting in Seychelles with Kirill Dmitriev, head of a Russian government-controlled wealth fund, was a chance meeting because he had met with officials from the United Arab Emirates to a luxury hotel in the Indian Ocean nation.

At the time, Nader had been working for years as an advisor to the United Arab Emirates. Nader told investigators that it was a scheduled meeting in advance, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Nader was convicted of transporting child pornography 28 years ago. In a case where he was sentenced to a reduced sentence, influential figures claimed in court that he played a valuable role in national security affairs by trying to free American hostages then held in Lebanon.