A trauma surgeon seen as the current frontrunner to succeed a retiring House Democrat was an acquaintance of and defense witness for the Egyptian-born cleric and convicted terrorist known as the «Blind Sheikh» in the seditious conspiracy trial that put the latter away for life.

Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman was one of several people convicted of seditious conspiracy in the aftermath of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Abdel-Rahman later died in prison at the federal detention center in Butner, North Carolina, in 2017.

Dr. Adam Hisham Hamawy, now a plastic surgeon who runs his own «regenerative medicine» practice near Princeton, was one of the witnesses for the defense in Abdel-Rahman’s case and now faces questions about his judgment and past association with the sheikh, which his campaign told Fox News Digital amount to «guilt-by-association» shaming.

Hamawy is running to replace Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman, D-N.J., in a crowded primary for the blue-favored district spanning Trenton through Somerville to the Plainfields that has not elected a Republican since 1994.

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Hamawy and Abdel-Rahman first met at a middle school forum in Matawan, New Jersey, in 1991, according to the former’s testimony in court, as he began accompanying the Blind Sheikh to mosques and even took a 13-hour road trip with him and others, including future FBI informant Emad Salem, from the cleric’s home mosque in Jersey City to an Islamic conference in Michigan.

In his testimony, Hamawy recounted being in a Michigan hotel room with Abdel-Rahman and Salem, where the latter was saying he was «bragging about his abilities» in bombmaking from his time in the Egyptian special forces.

Abdel-Rahman regularly verbalized envisioning the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and spoke of jihad, according to court documents.

Abdel-Rahman’s mosque was also where several 1993 World Trade Center bombing suspects would meet, according to Front Page Magazine and the Washington Free Beacon.

Court records characterized the Jersey City mosque as a «jihad office,» according to reports, as Abdel-Rahman had also founded Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, a group considered a terrorist organization by European governments.

While he did not directly participate in the World Trade Center bombing, followers of Abdel-Rahman who frequented his mosque did, and the government later arrested him on charges of a plot to wage «urban terrorism against the United States» by targeting Mid-Atlantic landmarks such as the George Washington Bridge, the United Nations and part of Interstate 78.

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Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman during a press conference in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Najlah Feanny/Getty Images)

RNC spokesperson Kristen Cianci told Fox News Digital that Hamawy’s testimony is a «matter of record» and that his campaign can try to «sweep this under the rug but voters won’t ignore it.»

According to Front Page Magazine’s review of the thousands of pages, a federal prosecutor summarized Hamawy in part as someone who «didn’t want the defendant, Abdel-Rahman, to look bad,» and didn’t recall discussions about Mubarak until a transcript was shown to him.

Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy — who was formerly the Southern District of New York prosecutor credited with putting Abdel-Rahman away for life — said that while Hamawy was a witness for the terrorist, his testimony helped the government more than his acquaintance.

«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 in a statement to Fox News Digital.

McCarthy said the jury credited Salem’s recollection of their trip to Michigan, and that the evidence Abdel-Rahman called for Mubarak’s assassination had been so overwhelming, that the Blind Sheikh’s attorneys were reduced to «arguing, in essence, that Mubarak had it coming.»

«Not surprisingly, that’s not how the jury saw it.»

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Hamawy also recently appeared on far-left anti-Israel podcaster Hasan Piker’s program, where he advocated for a «healthcare, not bombs» platform that would «dismantle» the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon — which he monikered «The Department of War Crimes» — and instead divert funding to education and healthcare.

Through his campaign, Hamawy blasted the media for resurrecting his time with Abdel-Rahman and his witness testimony in the case, with his campaign characterizing the reports as an attempt by wealthy Republicans to shield President Donald Trump through the press from lawmakers who would hold his feet to the fire.

«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 on Monday when presented with the association with Abdel-Rahman and related reporting.

Hamawy’s campaign added that he used his medical background to treat victims of the ensuing 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center and said the doctor’s «patriotism and love of this country are at the core of his values.»

Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., and Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., leave a meeting about President Joe Biden’s candidacy at the Democratic National Committee on July 9, 2024. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)

Instead, the campaign said, Republicans and other critics are using «bad-faith, guilt-by-association attacks» on Muslim and Arab candidates.

«He was in the military at the time the events litigated in the trial took place, during the trial, and after the trial,» the campaign said, adding he performed his civic duty to testify truthfully — while noting that Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., credits him with saving her life after her helicopter crashed during the Iraq War.

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In turn, Hamawy credited Duckworth with saving his life when he and a Gazan aid group were trapped by a closed Israeli border at Rafah that the senator pressed the Biden administration to act upon.

Voters will decide whether Hamawy’s role in the case reflects routine legal duty or a deeper question about his judgment as they choose among a crowded Democratic field.

Antecedente

Futuro

A new U.S.-backed proposal to build a network of overland energy pipelines bypassing the Strait of Hormuz is gaining attention as tensions in the region expose a critical vulnerability in the global energy system.

A policy memo reviewed by Fox News Digital outlines the concept, known as «ARAM Express,» a proposed consortium between the United States and Gulf partners to develop a multidirectional overland network for oil, gas and petrochemicals, originating with Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The plan envisions pipelines extending westward to the Red Sea and Mediterranean, as well as southern routes toward the Arabian Sea, creating multiple export pathways that would reduce reliance on the strait, through which roughly one-third of the world’s seaborne oil currently flows.

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The proposal would rely on broad international participation, with European and Asian buyers investing in infrastructure and securing long-term supply agreements.

«European buyers are desperate for long-term supply resilience, and Asian customers are equally exposed,» Goldberg said. «Even China cannot tolerate the risk of a sustained disruption.»

The push comes as Iran’s threats to commercial shipping and ongoing U.S. efforts to secure the waterway under President Donald Trump’s «Project Freedom» highlight the risks posed by a single chokepoint to global energy flows.

Roughly one-third of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the narrow waterway, making it a critical artery for global markets. With Iran threatening shipping and U.S. forces now guiding vessels through the strait under President Donald Trump’s «Project Freedom,» the White House is framing the crisis in global terms. 

«The President will not allow Iran to hold the global economy hostage and undermine the free flow of energy,» said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers, describing the launch of «Project Freedom» as a humanitarian effort to restore navigation through the strait.

That framing aligns with a growing view among U.S. officials and analysts that the risk is not only immediate but also structural.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz signaled that Washington’s partners are already looking beyond the strait itself.

«I know our Gulf partners and allies are seriously thinking through that,» Waltz told Fox News Digital when asked about long-term alternatives during a conference call with reporters Monday.

«I know they’re looking at additional alternatives to frankly diversify their pathways and diversify their economies,» he added.

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The surge in regional piracy risk is exacerbated by the volatility of the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian-backed threats persist in the Persian Gulf and global energy flows are shifting. (Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Cassandra Thompson/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

A vulnerability years in the making

The idea that Hormuz represents a structural weakness is not new. But until now, it has largely been tolerated, with global markets relying on stability in the Gulf to keep energy flowing.

That assumption is now under strain.

Even with U.S. naval power deployed to secure the waterway, the current crisis has highlighted how quickly disruption, or even the threat of it, can ripple through global supply chains.

«This isn’t just a long-term idea anymore,» said Rich Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. «There is a real threat to the Strait of Hormuz that isn’t going away so long as the regime in Tehran remains.»

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The proposal would rely on broad international participation, with European and Asian buyers investing in infrastructure and securing long-term supply agreements. (U.S. Central Command)

Saudi Arabia: Building around the risk

Saudi Arabia stands out as the country among Gulf states that has invested most heavily in reducing reliance on Hormuz.

Its East-West pipeline allows crude oil to travel from eastern fields on the Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing the strait entirely. From there, shipments can move toward Europe, Africa and Asia without entering the chokepoint.

«Saudi Arabia has treated the Strait of Hormuz risk with planning, not panic,» said Salman Al-Ansari, a Saudi geopolitical analyst.

«The East-West pipeline is strategic insurance,» he told Fox News Digital, «A Hormuz closure would be disruptive, but not paralyzing. Saudi Arabia has spent years reducing that vulnerability, and today it is uniquely positioned to absorb shocks and keep global flows moving.»

Al-Ansari argued that the kingdom’s strategy goes beyond energy exports, positioning the country as a broader logistics hub.

«Ports, pipelines, land bridges, storage and Red Sea access are all part of one Saudi contingency architecture,» he said.

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The plan envisions pipelines extending westward to the Red Sea and Mediterranean, as well as southern routes toward the Arabian Sea, creating multiple export pathways that would reduce reliance on the strait, through which roughly one-third of the world’s seaborne oil currently flows. (Fadel Senna / AFP via Getty Images)

UAE and the fragmentation of the Gulf model

Saudi Arabia is not the only player adapting. 

The United Arab Emirates also has developed alternative export capacity through its pipeline to Fujairah, outside the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, some analysts argue that recent regional dynamics point to a deeper shift, one that goes beyond infrastructure and into the political structure of the Gulf itself.

Yonatan Adiri, an Israeli entrepreneur and former adviser to former Israeli President Shimon Peres, said the traditional model of a unified Gulf energy system centered on Hormuz is beginning to break down.

«The whole arrangement … it’s starting to expire,» Adiri said, referring to the long-standing reliance on the strait as a central artery for Gulf exports. 

He pointed to emerging economic and geopolitical realignments, including new corridors and shifting alliances, that are fragmenting the region’s traditional energy architecture.

«The UAE stepping away from OPEC is not just about production policy,» Adiri said, referring to the country’s decision to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries effective May 1, 2026. «It reflects a broader shift toward an independent strategy — building its own routes, partnerships and leverage rather than relying on a collective system.»

These changes are driven in part by broader global competition, according to Adiri, particularly efforts by the United States and its partners to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

«The entire system is being rethought,» he said, describing a shift toward diversified routes that reduce reliance on single choke points.

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Cargo ships are anchored in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo)

Uneven exposure across the Gulf

Despite these developments, not all Gulf states are equally prepared.

«If you’re Kuwait, you’re in a world of hurt,» Goldberg said, pointing to countries that lack meaningful alternatives to maritime exports.

Qatar, one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas, remains heavily dependent on the strait, with limited options to reroute supply if shipping is disrupted.

This uneven exposure could reshape regional dynamics, giving countries with alternative routes greater resilience and leverage in future crises.

Political limits and long-term questions

While the technical case for alternative routes is growing stronger, political constraints remain.

One of the most sensitive issues is whether future corridors could involve Israel, even indirectly.

«As for routes involving Israel, even indirectly, the politics are extremely difficult under current circumstances,» Al-Ansari said. «I genuinely do not see it happening now.»

At the same time, he suggested that such cooperation could become more realistic in the future under different political conditions.

A system in transition

For now, the U.S. and its allies remain focused on stabilizing the immediate situation in the Strait of Hormuz, ensuring that ships can pass safely and global markets continue to function.

But as tensions persist, the current crisis is forcing a broader reassessment.

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While the technical case for alternative routes is growing stronger, political constraints remain. (Altaf Qadri/The Associated Press )

The question is no longer just how to secure the strait, but whether the global energy system can afford to depend on it to the extent it has for decades.

If the current trajectory continues, Hormuz may remain critical, but no longer dominant, experts argue, as countries invest in new routes, new partnerships and a more diversified energy map.

Fox News Digital reached out to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.