Tom Barrack, former advisor to Donald Trump and chairman of the former U.S. president’s inaugural committee, was acquitted Friday in a case in which he was investigated for ‘lobbying’ foreign countries on behalf of the United Arab Emirates with the aim of influencing the tycoon’s foreign policy in 2016.
The jury has settled its decision over two days in a federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York City after he was indicted on seven counts of acting as an Emirati agent between April 2016 and April 2018, as well as obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents, NBC News has learned.
According to prosecutors, the former Trump adviser and two other men–Matthew Grimes, of Aspen, Colorado, and Rashid al Malik Alshahi, an Emirati citizen–capitalized on Barrack’s status as a senior adviser during the tycoon’s campaign to promote Emirati interests. That charge of acting as an agent of a foreign government carried a penalty of up to ten years in prison.
Barrack’s attorney, Randall Jackson, argued during his closing argument on Tuesday that there was «nothing» unusual about Barrack’s dealings with Emirati leaders, explaining that he had dealt with senior foreign officials in more than 100 countries over the years.
Barrack, founder of Colony Capital LLC and a longtime friend of Trump, had previously denied acting on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, saying any advice he gave to the Trump administration was based on his own experience doing business in the Middle East.
The former Trump adviser, who was released from prison after posting $250 million (more than €212.3 million) bail, was in direct and indirect contact with a senior Emirati official and referred to Al Malik Alshahi as a «secret weapon» to promote his foreign policy agenda in the United States.
The trial comes at a time when former US President Trump is once again in the spotlight ahead of his possible candidacy for the 2024 elections and also for the mid-term elections scheduled for November 8.
