Democrats rally behind party’s N.J. congressional nominee with ties to ‘Blind Sheikh’ terrorist

Congressional Democrats are throwing their support behind Adam Hamawy, their party’s nominee in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, despite his vouching in court for the good character of Omar Abdel-Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh,” who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Mr. Hamawy, a plastic surgeon practicing near Princeton, was close to Abdel-Rahman around the time of the bombing, which killed six people, including a New Jersey resident, and injured more than 1,000 others.

Mr. Hamawy testified as a character witness for Abdel-Rahman in his 1995 trial.

Now, as the Democratic nominee to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, he is facing questions about his character — but not from a parade of House Democrats ready to welcome him to the halls of Congress.

Mr. Hamawy’s website lists 21 endorsements, including from 14 Democratic and allied lawmakers, mostly from the party’s liberal and socialist wings. They include Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Ro Khanna of California.

Others are voicing support and dismissing Mr. Hamawy’s friendship with the Blind Sheikh.

Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, a former National Security Council staffer, gave Mr. Hamawy his full support. He told The Washington Times that Mr. Hamawy had earned his support through his U.S. military service.

“Our military vetted him. Our military does all sorts of tests and efforts to try to look into the background of the people that serve in our forces. So, I support our troops,” Mr. Kim said when asked about Mr. Hamawy’s connection to the Blind Sheikh.

Pressed further, Mr. Kim said, “He has served our country. And if there was some concern about him, I’m sure our military would have been able to find that.”

Mr. Hamawy served as a general surgeon and a flight surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during the Iraq War. He did a nine-month stint in Baghdad at the 31st Combat Support Hospital, where he saved Ms. Duckworth’s life after a rocket-propelled grenade hit her Black Hawk helicopter and she lost both her legs in the explosion.

Rep. Herb Conaway of New Jersey said Mr. Hamawy was just a “kid” in his 20s when he palled around with Abdel-Rahman.

Rep. Analilia Mejia of New Jersey, a new member of Congress’ far-left “Squad,” said she saw herself in Mr. Hamawy’s ability to connect with voters.

She said: “What we’re seeing across not only New Jersey, in his district, in my own district, across the country are folks wanting — regular voters wanting to vote for people who feel authentic, who are brave enough to speak their personal truth, that are able to express distaste around or opposition to the conditions that we are seeing in Gaza, in the West Bank, and not slip into us-versus-them othering antisemitism, et cetera. I think that’s important.”

Republicans, however, balk at Mr. Hamawy’s association with the terrorist mastermind, regardless of how much time has passed.

President Trump said the Democratic nomination of Mr. Hamawy was “terrible,” even if he is trying to walk back his relationship with Abdel-Rahman.

“Now he’s trying to sort of say, ’Yeah, I sort of knew him.’ He didn’t sort of know him. They were very good friends,” Mr. Trump said. “You go back and look at what happened during that period of time. He was a witness at the trial for him. He was a positive witness.”

Mr. Hamawy’s supporters in Congress dismissed Mr. Trump’s criticism.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez called it “awful attacks.”

Mr. Khanna said: “The president should be focused on bigger things, like trying to end the mess he’s created in Iran.”

Mr. Hamawy first met Abdel-Rahman at a New Jersey middle school forum in 1991 and thereafter began accompanying him to events.

On the stand, under cross-examination by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Mr. Hamawy acknowledged that Abdel-Rahman “always talked about” jihad.

Still, Mr. Hamawy’s relationship with Abdel-Rahman deepened over time. They once took a road trip together to Detroit, where Mr. Hamawy served as the sheikh’s translator at a conference at which Abdel-Rahman denied any role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Investigators said Mr. Hamawy was untruthful on the stand. When defense attorney Lynne Stewart asked him to describe the Detroit conference headlined by Abdel-Rahman, Mr. Hamawy called it an economics event. However, a transcript of the conference revealed it to be a gathering of jihadi leaders at which Abdel-Rahman’s speaking topic was “The Best Way of Supporting Jihad,” and his opening sentence declared jihad “the pinnacle of Islam.”

Investigators have reported that Mr. Hamawy subsequently worked with the Benevolence International Foundation, an organization that was shut down after it was discovered to be an al Qaeda front, according to The Star-Ledger.

Mr. Hamawy’s campaign called the scrutiny “guilt by association” and accused the candidate’s detractors of unfairly shaming him. The campaign highlighted his more than 20 years of military service, during which he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, has not addressed Mr. Hamawy’s ties to the Blind Sheikh, but he celebrated his primary win on June 2.

“Congratulations to @HamawyForNJ on a hard-fought victory tonight,” Mr. Jeffries wrote on social media. “Welcome to the growing House Democratic Doctors’ Caucus! Together there is much work to do to lower the high cost of living and fix our broken healthcare system.”

Mr. Hamawy faces Republican Gregg Mele, a lawyer and finance expert, as well as several independent candidates in the Nov. 3 election.