Epstein files: Bannon accused UAE's MBZ of 'coughing up' paedophile George Nader

Former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon accused the ruler of the UAE of “coughing up” convicted paedophile George Nader to US authorities, according to files newly released by the Department of Justice related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Bannon was messaging convicted sex offender and financier Epstein on 4 June 2019. 

Epstein sent a link to Bannon of a CNN article about the arrest a day earlier of George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman and former adviser to Mohammed bin Zayed, the leader of the UAE who was then the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

Nader was arrested at New York's JFK airport on child pornography charges which he was later convicted of a year later. 

“Not cool,” Bannon says to Epstein reacting to the arrest, to which the financier responds, “Mandatory minimum 15.”

“MBZ must have coughed him up,” Bannon alleges in an apparent reference to the UAE leader who is commonly known by his initials.

Epstein responds “Nope.” 

“How did he get extradited ?-- could have stayed in UAE forever,” asks Bannon. 

Epstein remarks that Nader was not extradited, but rather “duped”. 

The financier appears to then criticise Nader over the charges of possessing child pornography showing young children being sexually abused, including by animals.

Just weeks later, Epstein himself was arrested and charged with sex trafficking offences. 

In 2020, Nader pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and bringing a 14-year-old boy into the US for sex in 2000. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

George Nader: How a convicted paedophile became key to an Emirati hook-up with Trump

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Nader, 61, served as a key point of contact between members of US President Donald Trump's inner circle and Mohammed bin Zayed in the leadup to and after Trump's victory in the 2016 election.

According to Robert Mueller's probe into possible Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, Nader sought to serve as an intermediary between members of Trump's transition team and Russian businessman Kirill Dmitriev, an ally of President Vladimir Putin.

He also arranged a meeting between Dmitriev and Erik Prince, the Trump-linked founder of the US private mercenary firm Blackwater, which has been accused of committing war crimes in Iraq.

In January 2018, Nader was caught with "visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct" on his phone after he landed in New York on a flight from Dubai, the US Justice Department said. 

The guilty plea and 10-year sentence are mostly based on a 2000 incident when Nader brought a 14-year-old boy from the Czech Republic into the United States for sexual exploitation.

Nader had a long career as a businessman and dealbroker, despite a string of child sex offence allegations and convictions.

Prosecutors called Nader's crimes "grave and dangerous," fitting into a pattern that dated back to 1984 when he was investigated for child pornography obtained by mail. He "escaped responsibility" for this offence after a court in Washington ruled that the evidence was improperly obtained.

In 1991, he received a sentence of six months in prison for attempting to bring two films of young boys being abused into the United States. At the time, he was helping free American hostages in Lebanon as a broker.

He was also sentenced in the Czech Republic to one year in jail for sexually abusing minors.