https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/george-nader-child-porn-467776
“Although the United States Government, at the highest levels, is aware of Mr. Nader’s participation in these negotiations, no ‘official’ confirmation of his activities will be forthcoming since our government’s official policy is not to negotiate with hostage-takers,” defense attorneys Neil Jaffee and Richard Mendelson wrote.
The defense filed several letters of support, including from Jean Sutherland, whose husband, Thomas, was a professor at American University of Beirut who was then being held hostage. Defense attorneys even accused prosecutors of being duplicitous about Nader’s role.
“The inconsistencies in consenting to Mr. Nader’s unrestricted travel and the sealing of this record but refusing to acknowledge his work on behalf of the hostages is, at best, inexplicable, and, at worst, malevolent,” Jaffee and Mendelson said.
Prosecutors rejected that claim as “totally unfounded” and insisted that much of Nader’s work was indeed opaque to the State Department and other officials.
Hilton, the judge, sided with the defense, concluding that a lighter sentence than usual was warranted “because of the defendant’s extraordinary cooperation with the government’s in certain areas.”