Democrat Adam Hamawy is headed to Capitol Hill after winning New Jersey's 12th Congressional District, securing approximately 70% of the vote. His victory comes amid renewed scrutiny over his past volunteer work with the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), a charity that U.S. authorities later identified as providing support to al Qaeda.
According to a 1996 interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, Hamawy spent five weeks in Bosnia in 1994 volunteering with BIF, delivering medical supplies to hospitals. At the time, he told the newspaper he worked in Sarajevo and Zenica, visiting hospitals to assess their needs and deliver supplies.
In 2002, Bosnian authorities raided BIF offices, recovering documents that federal investigators linked to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission later identified the charity's Sarajevo office as part of a network that covertly supported terrorist activities. The organization's chief executive, Enaam Arnaout, pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge involving diverted funds in 2003, though terrorism charges against him were dropped. The BIF remains on the U.S. Treasury Department's terrorism-related sanctions list.
Hamawy's congressional campaign also faced questions regarding his past association with Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the "Blind Sheikh." Court records show Hamawy accompanied the cleric on a trip to Detroit in 1991, served as his translator, and testified on his behalf during his federal criminal trial in 1995. Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor involved in Abdel-Rahman's conviction, stated that Hamawy's testimony, particularly after cross-examination, ultimately bolstered the prosecution's case.
Hamawy's campaign has pushed back against this scrutiny, attributing it to politically motivated attacks. A campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital in May that such reporting was an attempt to cast Hamawy in a negative light and that he was "Donald Trump's worst nightmare."
It has not been established that Hamawy personally participated in terrorist activities or knowingly supported al Qaeda through his humanitarian work. Hamawy did not respond to Fox News Digital's latest request for comment.