New York - George Nader, a lobbyist linked to President
Donald Trump who later became a witness in Robert Muller's Russia
probe, pleaded guilty Monday to two sex crimes involving children.
Nader, 60, admitted he arranged to transport a 14-year-old boy from
Europe to Dulles International Airport for illegal sexual conduct in
early 2000, federal prosecutors in Virginia said.
He also admitted he possessed child pornography while he was in New
York in 2012.
The crimes took place years before Nader, who has dual American and
Lebanese citizenship, became an informal conduit between Trump's
administration and officials in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi
Arabia and Russia.
Nader will serve a minimum 10-year sentence for the crimes and could
get up to 50 years at his April 10 sentencing, prosecutors said.
He was arrested on the charges at John F. Kennedy International
Airport in June. A criminal complaint said he had a cellphone
containing a dozen child porn videos, some showing minors involved in
sex acts with goats.
His defense lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for
comment from the New York Daily News.
Nader pleaded guilty to similar charges in 1991. That case involved
two reels of child pornography smuggled into Dulles in candy tins.
During his time as an informal Trump policy adviser, Nader reportedly
attended meetings with Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn.
He also helped coordinate the controversial January 2017 meeting in
the Seychelles between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian
government official linked to President Vladimir Putin.
His cooperation with the Russia investigation was cited multiple
times in the Mueller report.