Officials from Qatar claim to have obtained evidence that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), its Persian Gulf neighbor, illicitly influenced President Trump’s son-in-law and White House special adviser Jared Kushner.
Qatari government officials who visited Washington in late January considered passing information to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian election meddling investigation which they believed showed coordination between the UAE and Mr. Kushner to hurt Qatar, NBC News reported Monday.
The evidence, reportedly including information about secret meetings, was not passed along because Qatari officials feared “harming relations with the Trump administration.”
Last summer, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and numerous other Arab countries cut diplomatic ties with Qatar over its alleged support for terrorism, which it denies. The diplomatic crisis was the worst in the Gulf in decades.
Earlier this month it was reported that Mr. Mueller’s investigators, who are also probing possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign, were digging into the relationship between the UAE and the Trump administration.
According to reports, the probe has zeroed in on Lebanese-American businessman, George Nader, who also advised Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the crown prince of the UAE.
Mr. Nader reportedly visited the White House frequently last year.
According to The Washington Post, Mr. Nader also helped organize a January 2017 meeting in the Seychelles islands, which allegedly was an effort to establish a back channel of communications between the Kremlin and the Trump transition team.
Last week, the New York Times reported that Mr. Nader recently provided testimony to the Mueller investigators, who are also said to be exploring whether any money from the UAE found its way to the Trump campaign.
On Friday, the Qatari embassy in Washington rejected the NBC report, saying in a statement that its government “has not been approached nor has it had any contact with the special counsel’s office on any matters.”
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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