Squad-endorsed candidate once reportedly volunteered with group tied to al-Qaeda and testified for terrorist 'blind cleric'

A top candidate vying among a crowded field for New Jersey's 12th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is facing flak from other Democrats over his alleged terror ties.

Physician Adam Hamawy, who also served as a U.S. Army combat surgeon, downplayed his interactions with the "blind cleric" Omar Abdel-Rahman, the late Islamic leader with ties to the terror bombing at the World Trade Center in 1993.

'Any Muslim is going to be called a terrorist at some point, and these tropes are outdated and worn. Unfortunately, they continue to be used right now.'

Hamawy did not respond to a separate report indicating he had volunteered with a Chicago-based group in Bosnia that was later discovered to be a front for al-Qaeda and shut down.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, who is also running for the Democratic nomination, called Hamawy a "radical extremist" over his ties to Abdel-Rahman.

"The blind sheikh was not a marginal or misunderstood figure," Mapp said. "He was a convicted terrorist, convicted of seditious conspiracy. He was connected to one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history."

Hamawy admitted that he carpooled with the blind sheikh once in 1991 and later testified for Abdel-Rahman out of a sense of "civic duty," but he called the accusations Islamophobic.

"I was called as a witness, and I gave my testimony under oath, and then I walked out," he explained. "It was never an issue back then, and they're trying to make it an issue now."

He also fired back at fellow Democrat Mapp.

"My patriotism and my record is clear," he added. "I think he's desperate, and desperate people say desperate things."

Hamawy obtained endorsements from high-profile politicians including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).

According to a Jewish Insider report, he also worked for the "Benevolence International Foundation" according to an unearthed interview Hamawy had with the Newark Star Ledger from 1996.

The 911 Commission Report found that the group was part of a complex network of organizations set up to help provide resources for terrorist operations linked to Osama bin Laden.

Hamawy, who was born in Egypt, cited his extensive service in the U.S. military to undermine the accusations.

"Any Muslim is going to be called a terrorist at some point, and these tropes are outdated and worn. Unfortunately, they continue to be used right now," he said. "These are not serious arguments, and they're getting old."

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Mapp responded by saying he was not attacking Hamawy's faith and accused other Democrats of being too fearful to criticize his past ties to terrorists.

Hamawy and Mapp are running for the nomination to seek the office vacated by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D), who is retiring. Whoever wins will run in November against Republican Gregg Mele, who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Abdel-Rahman died in 2017 at a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

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