Tom Barrack and the influence he had in Trump’s world

But while Trump has come to the aid of many of his troubled associates with the law, it is unclear whether he will do the same for Barrack.

Barrack now joins a list of Trump officials indicted by federal prosecutors that includes Manafort, Trump’s longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, former lawyer Michael Cohen, senior national security adviser Michael Flynn and the ‘Former Senior Assistant Steve Bannon.

Before leaving the White House, Trump pardoned Manafort, Stone and Flynn – who had been involved in the Mueller investigation – as well as Bannon, who was accused of defrauding donors and was pardoned before being tried.

When the charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg came to light earlier this month, Trump released a statement calling the investigation a “political witch hunt led by the radical left Democrats, with New York now taking over.”

But the former president, who has issued numerous statements each day on a range of topics, has remained silent on Barrack’s accusations.

“I consider him a close friend”

There is a paper trail of FBI interviews during the Mueller investigation, depositions, court documents, and congressional reports that provide a window into Trump and Barrack’s relationship as Trump rose from being a government mogul. real estate to presidential candidate to commander-in-chief.

Barrack has also come under scrutiny related to investigations into Trump’s inaugural committee, although the indictment is unrelated to that investigation. But he sat for a deposition to the District of Columbia attorney general in November, after the presidential election, as part of the investigation into alleged embezzlement by Trump’s presidential inaugural committee.

Barrack said he was not interested in participating in the Trump administration, but got involved in the inaugural committee to help Trump with the “process of advancing what was on his agenda.” .

Barrack testified that he has known the Trump family since 1985 and had relationships with Trump, his wife Melania and Trump’s four grown children.

“Donald Trump is President of the United States, so an active friendship has become a bit more complex,” Barrack said in November. “But yes, I consider him a close friend, yes.”

Barrack recommended Manafort to Trump

Barrack pressured Trump “for a while” to hire Manafort as a campaign adviser in 2016, and arranged a meeting between Manafort and senior campaign officials in Mar-a-Lago, according to the testimony of the Manafort’s deputy Rick Gates, who later worked with Barrack on Trump’s nomination committee and also worked for Barrack’s investment firm.

According to FBI notes, Barrack told Mueller’s team that Manafort sent him a first draft of a speech Trump was planning to deliver on US energy policy in May 2016. He said he sent back some changes and suggestions. , but his ideas were rejected. He also said he considered the Trump campaign to have a negative view of the Persian Gulf countries, which included the United Arab Emirates.

The FBI memos also reveal what Barrack thought about some of Trump’s controversial measures as president.

“Something very important to share”

The Democratic report focused on Barrack’s alleged plea within the Trump administration for a Saudi Arabia nuclear technology deal. The House Democratic report included text – referenced in the Justice Department’s indictment – of Barrack claiming Trump had offered him a foreign policy role in the Middle East.

In the indictment released last week, prosecutors allege Barrack and Grimes helped UAE officials gain access to the Trump administration and that Barrack was in direct and indirect contact with senior Emirati officials.

Barrack and Grimes helped set up a phone call between Trump and an anonymous UAE official in the first month of Trump’s presidency, the indictment says, then pleaded for the appointment of officials from the favored Trump administration by the United Arab Emirates, including Barrack himself.

Barrack wrote in a text message that his appointment as Ambassador to the UAE or sent to the Middle East “would empower ABU DHABI!”

Prosecutors wrote that after the UAE and other Gulf countries severed ties with Qatar in 2017, Barrack’s aide asked to speak with Trump because he had “something very important to share … on the Middle East “.

Democrats, who accused Trump and former Attorney General William Barr of using the Justice Department to protect Trump and his allies, are now calling for an investigation from the Inspector General to find out whether Barrack and others have received “Special treatment from the Department of Justice during the last administration, and if his case was unduly suppressed.”