A Democrat appointment to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has been indicted for campaign fraud over his political donations. Andy Khajawa is accused of concealing $3.5 million in illegal contributions to friend Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.
“A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia indicted Ahmad ‘Andy’ Khawaja, 48, of Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 7, 2019, along with George Nader, Roy Boulos, Rudy Dekermenjian, Mohammad “Moe” Diab, Rani El-Saadi, Stevan Hill and Thayne Whipple,” the DOJ stated in its announcement of the indictment.
The indictment is yet another example of charges of fraud and money laundering in connection with the Clinton family or the campaigns of both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, respectively. Investigations continue over allegations of kick-backs and widespread fraud in connection with the Clinton Foundation.
“We’re not commenting on Andy Khawaja’s indictment,” said USCIRF spokesperson Kellie Boyle. “Your best bet would be to contact Chuck Schumer’s office, since that is who appointed Andy.”
Boyle didn’t respond when asked if Khawaja continues to participate in the commission’s daily management, or if he’s recused himself pending the outcome of the indictment that was announced Dec. 3 by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Khawaja’s photograph and official biography remain posted on the USCIRF website.
Spokesmen for Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who appointed Khawaja, has not responded to media questions.
Khawaja is a 48-year-old Lebanese American businessman and mega-aillion political donor with deep national-level connections in the Democratic Party.
Khawaja is founder and chief executive officer of Allied Wallet Inc., an online payment processing firm with offices in Los Angeles, Germany, Ireland, India, Japan, and Macau.
“The 53-count indictment charges Khawaja with two counts of conspiracy, three counts of making conduit contributions, three counts of causing excessive contributions, 13 counts of making false statements, 13 counts of causing false records to be filed, and one count of obstruction of a federal grand jury investigation.”
“According to the indictment, from March 2016 through January 2017, Khawaja conspired with Nader to conceal the source of more than $3.5 million in campaign contributions, directed to political committees associated with a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 election,” the DOJ stated. The $3.5 million came from an unnamed foreign nation.”
After Clinton lost the election, Khawaja quickly donated to the inaugural of then President-elect Donald Trump. The donation to the inaugural was through ordinary means.
Federal Election Commission records show the contributions went to Clinton, who was favored to defeat Republican Trump, who scored an upset victory in the 2016 election.
“By design, these contributions appeared to be in the names of Khawaja, his wife, and his company. In reality, they allegedly were funded by Nader. Khawaja and Nader allegedly made these contributions in an effort to gain influence with high-level political figures, including the candidate,” the announcement stated.
The USCIRF was created by President Bill Clinton and Congress in 1998 “to monitor violations of religious freedom or belief abroad. Such violations range from the denial of permits to build places of worship to the detention, torture, killing or displacement of individuals due to their holding or practicing a particular religion or belief,” according to the commission’s web site.
The present chairman of the commission is Dr. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council in Washington, following an appointment by Trump.
There is nothing in Khawaja’s USCIRF biography that connects him with specific religious institutions or international religious advocacy groups. His term officially ends in May 2020.
–EPTimes and wire services