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Thomas Barrack, President and CEO of Colony Capital Inc., gestures during the closing reception at the Milken Institute Japan Symposium in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, March 25, 2019. The conference brings together business leaders and government officials to discuss geopolitical, economic and social issues facing Japan. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Thomas Barrack, a private equity investor who is a close friend of former President Donald Trump, was arrested Tuesday morning in Los Angeles on federal charges relating to Trump’s illegal lobbying for the United Arab Emirates.
Barrack, who was indicted along with three other men in a seven-count indictment in Brooklyn, New York, federal court, was chairman of Trump’s inaugural fund in 2017.
Barrack, 74, is a longtime friend of Trump and the founder of large private equity firm Colony Capital.
The Santa Monica, Calif., Barracks and the other defendants are accused of unlawful efforts to advance UAE interests under the leadership of senior UAE officials, “by influencing campaign foreign policy positions. ‘a candidate in the 2016 US Presidential Election and, subsequently, the US government’s foreign policy positions in the new administration, ”the Department of Justice said.
Matthew Grimes, 27, of Aspen, Colorado, Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi and Rashid Al-Malik, a national of the United Arab Emirates, were accused of acting and conspiring to act as agents of UAW from April 2016 to April 2018.
Barrack is also charged with obstructing justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal law enforcement officials.
“The defendants have repeatedly taken advantage of Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was ultimately elected president, to senior campaign and government officials, and to the American media to advance the political goals of a foreign government without revealing their true allegiances, ”the acting aide said. Attorney General Mark Lesko of the National Security Division of the Ministry of Justice.
“The behavior alleged in the indictment is nothing less than a betrayal of those officials in the United States, including the former president,” Lesko said in a statement.
A Trump spokeswoman did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the arrest.
A spokesperson for Barrack could not be reached immediately for comment.
Barrack resigned as CEO of Colony Capital in 2020. In April, he stepped down as executive chairman of the company.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating Barrack’s alleged work on behalf of UAE interests for at least two years.
One of the events that caught their attention was an energy policy speech Trump gave as a presidential candidate in May 2016.
According to the indictment, Barrack “inserted language praising the UAE” into the speech and “emailed a draft of the speech to Alshahhi for delivery to senior UAE officials United Arabs “.
Over the next two years, prosecutors allege that Barrack “sought and received direction and comment, including talking points, from senior United Arab Emirates officials regarding the national press appearances that Barrack used to promote. the interests of the United Arab Emirates “.
“During this period, Barrack never registered as a lobbyist for the UAE, as required by the Foreign Agent Registration Act.”
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