One of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's key witnesses, George Nader, on Monday was charged with transporting child pornography last year. Nader is a Lebanese businessman with ties to President Donald Trump's associates, The Hill reported. He was responsible for brokering "a meeting in the Seychelles between Trump ally and Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian financier."
Nader was arrested at John F. Kennedy airport on Monday. Following his arrest, the details of his charges were made public.
On January 17, 2018, Nader returned from a trip to Dubai. He flew into Washington, D.C.'s Dulles Airport. He was “voluntarily interviewed by FBI agents regarding a matter unrelated to child pornography,” the court documents said. An anonymous source told the Washington Post investigators were interested in interviewing him as part of the Russia probe.
He was given a search warrant for an unrelated case. The search warrant covered electronics, which included the three iPhones he had on his person. During the search, "the case agent in that other matter uncovered multiple files which appeared to contain child pornography."
A judge issued another search warrant, this one to look for child pornography. When investigators searched the phones, they found 12 sexually explicit videos of minors, the affidavit said.
Nader pleaded guilty to similar charges back in the early 1990s. When he was convicted last time around he received a reduced sentence because "he was playing a valuable role in national security affairs — trying to free U.S. hostages then held in Lebanon," the Washington Post reported.
Nader faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years, officials said.
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