Revealed: UAE Bribing U.S. Politicians for Influence

Date: 24 December 2019 - 21:41

News ID: ۷۴۳۲۳

WASHINGTON (Middle East Eye) -- A group of men accused by the U.S. Justice Department of conspiring to illegally funnel $3.5 million from a Middle Eastern government to support Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid have since given more than $3m to both Democrats and Republicans, federal election records show.
Campaign finance experts told MEE that the revelations of the men’s continued contributions raised "serious concerns” and should be scrutinized. The Justice Department declined to tell MEE whether it was investigating beyond the 2016 campaign donations.
Earlier this month, eight men were charged in connection with an alleged scheme which aimed to help an unnamed foreign government gain access and influence in Washington.
Prosecutors say the money was channeled from the government through George Nader, a UAE adviser, convicted pedophile, and key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The government was not named in the indictment, but has been identified by the New York Times as the United Arab Emirates. Middle East Eye asked the UAE embassies in London and Washington whether the country was involved, but has not received a response.
Nader gave the money to the seven other men, mostly based in Los Angeles, who then gave donations to Clinton and Democrat allies ahead of the presidential elections, according to the indictment.

The indictment notes that when Clinton lost to Donald Trump in November 2016, the company of one of the men – Andy Khawaja, the CEO of West Hollywood-based Allied Wallet – then contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, a fact confirmed in the public record.
That contribution, which prosecutors say gave Khawaja and Nader access to Trump’s inaugural celebrations in Washington, has already sparked questions about whether Nader was the source of the funds.
Now an analysis of federal election records shows that most of the men continued to give significant donations to the Democrats and added Republicans to their contribution lists, raising further queries about whether the alleged scheme continued after Trump came to power.
Playing Both Sides
In addition to the $1 million Khawaja gave towards Trump’s inauguration, the men gave over $2 million to committees, politicians and candidates from both sides of the aisle following the 2016 election.
The biggest spender was Khawaja who records show gave over $1.1 million to Democrats, including more than $500,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) which helps get Democrats elected to the House.
He gave only $2,700 to one Republican, Greg Gianforte, the U.S. Representative from Montana who was convicted of assaulting a journalist in 2017.
Rudy Dekermenjian, a one-time law clerk who became a producer for a reality TV show that Khawaja created about models and served as an attorney for Allied Wallet, gave $100,000 to Democrats after the election, according to federal records.
Stevan Hill, also charged in the alleged 2016 scheme, gave $65,000 to the Democrats in 2018, the majority of which went to the DCCC.
Three of the men - Muhammad Diab, Thayne Whipple and Roy Boulos - focused their attentions on Republicans, giving over $725,000 to committees and candidates.
Diab, the chief operational officer at Allied Wallet, gave a total of $539,600 in 2017 and 2018 to party committees, and 20 Republican House candidates in 12 different states, according to federal election records.
Boulos, who owns a cigar, wine and liquor store in Las Vegas, gave $135,600 to the Republican National Committee in March 2018, the records show.
And Whipple, who was an Allied Wallet contractor and the elected school board president of the Ojai Unified School District in southern California, gave $50,000 to the Republican National Committee in September 2017.
Campaign finance experts told MEE that they weren’t shocked to see donations cross the aisle after November 2016, particularly given that Trump’s win took many donors by surprise.