Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into foreign election interference appears to be widening. His team has interviewed and is asking questions about a Lebanese-American businessman named George Nader who serves as "adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates."
In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
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In one example of Mr. Nader’s influential connections, which has not been previously reported, last fall he received a detailed report from a top Trump fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, about a private meeting with the president in the Oval Office.
Mr. Broidy owns a private security company with hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the United Arab Emirates, and he extolled to Mr. Trump a paramilitary force that his company was developing for the country. He also lobbied the president to meet privately “in an informal setting” with the Emirates’ military commander and de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan; to back the U.A.E.’s hawkish policies in the region; and to fire Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson.
A copy of Mr. Broidy’s memorandum about the meeting was provided to The New York Times by someone critical of the Emirati influence in Washington.
... Mr. Trump’s endorsement of an Emirati- and Saudi-led blockade against [Qatar] has put him openly at odds with his secretary of state — as well as with years of American policy.
Full story: Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to Emirates Suggests Broader Investigation (NYT)