Dem newcomer heads to Washington despite past ties to al Qaeda-linked group

Democratic congressman-elect Adam Hamawy is headed to Capitol Hill after cruising through the New Jersey election amid renewed scrutiny of his past ties to a charity later designated by the U.S. as a terrorist financier.

Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and former U.S. Army medical officer, secured approximately 70% of the vote in New Jersey's 12th Congressional District, despite facing questions on the campaign trail about his reported previous volunteer work with the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), a Chicago-based charity that federal authorities later identified as providing financial and logistical support to al Qaeda.

According to a 1996 interview with the Newark Star-Ledger uncovered by Jewish Insider, Hamawy spent five weeks in Bosnia in 1994 volunteering with the organization, delivering medical supplies to hospitals in Sarajevo and Zenica.

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"I worked in Sarajevo for 10 days and then the rest in Zenica, a large regional center in central Bosnia," Hamawy told the newspaper at the time. "We went out to hospitals around the area and in the mountains to check what supplies they needed, and we tried to deliver them."

Adam Hisham Hamawy, a plastic surgeon, is seen during an exclusive interview in New York, United States on April 24, 2024. (Islam Dogru/Anadolu via Getty Images)

In 2002, Bosnian authorities raided the charity's offices in those cities, recovering documents that federal investigators linked to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, including correspondence, financial records and information about terrorist training camps.

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The 9/11 Commission later identified the charity's Sarajevo office as part of a network that covertly provided financial and logistical support for terrorist activities.

The organization's chief executive, Enaam Arnaout, pleaded guilty in 2003 to a racketeering charge involving funds raised for purported humanitarian purposes and diverted to the Bosnian military. Federal prosecutors ultimately dropped terrorism charges against him.

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The BIF remains on the U.S. Treasury Department's terrorism-related sanctions list.

Hamawy's past relationship with Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, commonly known as the "Blind Sheikh," also drew scrutiny during his congressional campaign.

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Adam Hisham Hamawy, right, has ties to Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks in New York City. (Najlah Feanny/Getty Images; Islam Dogru/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Abdel-Rahman was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks in New York City. Court records show that Hamawy accompanied the cleric on a trip to Detroit in 1991, served as his translator during a press conference and testified on his behalf during his federal criminal trial.

Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York who helped secure Abdel-Rahman's conviction, told Fox News Digital that Hamawy's testimony ultimately strengthened the government's case against the terrorist leader.

"As was uniformly the case with witnesses presented in the extensive defense case, his testimony, once cross-examination was over, did more to bolster the prosecution's proof of a jihadist terrorism conspiracy against the United States than to help the accused," McCarthy said.

Hamawy's campaign has pushed back against scrutiny of his past association with Abdel-Rahman, accusing Republican-aligned organizations and media outlets of attempting to undermine his candidacy.

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Dr. Adam Hamawy speaks during an interview in Washington, D.C., on June 14, 2024, after attending meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill. (Drew Angerer/AFP)

"It's unsurprising that the RNC and Republican billionaire-backed outlets are trying to cast Dr. Adam Hamawy in a negative light: he's Donald Trump's worst nightmare," Hamawy's campaign told Fox News Digital in May when asked about his relationship with Abdel-Rahman and related reporting.

The reporting has not established that Hamawy personally participated in terrorist activities or knowingly supported al Qaeda through his humanitarian work in Bosnia.

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Hamawy did not respond to Fox News Digital’s latest request for comment.