Thomas Barrack, who spearheaded the inaugural fund for former President Donald Trump in 2017, was arrested and charged Tuesday with illegal foreign lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
The Justice Department unveiled a seven-count indictment charging Barrack and his co-defendants related to “unlawful efforts to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates in the United States at the direction of senior UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the campaign of a candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the U.S. government in the incoming administration, as well as seeking to influence public opinion in favor of UAE interests.”
Barrack, the founder of private equity firm Colony Capital, was charged along with employee Matthew Grimes of Colorado and UAE national Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, with the trio accused of “acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018.”
Barrack was also hit with charges related to obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal law enforcement, with investigators saying Barrack “falsely” denied that Alshahhi had ever asked him to take any actions on behalf of the UAE.
Barrack served as an informal Trump campaign adviser in 2016 and as the chairman of Trump’s presidential inaugural committee between November 2016 and January 2017 after his victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Robert Mueller’s special counsel report stated that Barrack and longtime Trump associate Roger Stone “both recommended” that Trump hire Paul Manafort to run his presidential campaign and that “in early 2016, at Manafort’s request, Barrack suggested to Trump that Manafort join the Campaign to manage the Republican Convention.” Manafort and Stone would both be convicted of crimes stemming from Mueller’s investigation.
The Justice Department said Barrack “informally advised senior U.S. government officials on issues related to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East” beginning in early 2017 and “also sought appointment to a senior role in the U.S. government, including the role of Special Envoy to the Middle East.”
The 46-page indictment against Barrack, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, contended that Barrack sent Alshahhi a text message in April 2017 stating that Trump had discussed appointing him as either U.S. ambassador to the UAE or special envoy to the Middle East, which Barrack told Alshahhi “would give Abu Dhabi more power!” Alshahhi allegedly replied, “This will be great for us. And make you deliver more. Very effective operation.” Barrack then allegedly said this would also be “great for u!” And Alshahhi told him that senior UAE officials “love the idea” of Barrack potentially getting appointed and would support him.
“The defendants repeatedly capitalized on Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected President, high-ranking campaign and government officials, and the American media to advance the policy goals of a foreign government without disclosing their true allegiances,” acting Assistant Attorney General Mark Lesko of the DOJ’s National Security Division said Tuesday. “The conduct alleged in the indictment is nothing short of a betrayal of those officials in the United States, including the former President. Through this indictment, we are putting everyone — regardless of their wealth or perceived political power — on notice that the Department of Justice will enforce the prohibition of this sort of undisclosed foreign influence.”
The Justice Department said Barrack used his “status as a senior outside advisor to the campaign and, subsequently, to senior U.S. government officials, to advance the interests of and provide intelligence to the UAE” while failing to register with the DOJ as required by law, noting that Barrack — “directly and through Alshahhi and Grimes — was regularly and repeatedly in contact with the senior leadership of the UAE government” and that on multiple occasions, he referred to Alshahhi as the UAE’s “secret weapon” to advance its foreign policy agenda in the U.S.
Barrack also “inserted language praising the UAE into a campaign speech” in May 2016 and “emailed an advance draft of the speech to Alshahhi for delivery to senior UAE officials,” according to the DOJ. Barrack and Grimes further “solicited direction from senior UAE officials in advance of the publication of an op-ed authored by Barrack” in October 2016, the Justice Department said, and “removed certain language at the direction of senior UAE officials, as relayed by Alshahhi.” Investigators said “throughout 2016 and 2017, the defendants sought and received direction and feedback, including talking points, from senior UAE officials in connection with national press appearances Barrack used to promote the interests of the UAE.”
Barack and his co-defendants also “repeatedly acted at the direction of UAE officials to influence the foreign policy positions of the incoming administration in favor of UAE interests” after Trump won, DOJ said, with Barrack attending a December 2016 meeting with Grimes, Alshahhi, and senior UAE government officials at which he allegedly advised them to make a “wish list” of U.S. foreign policy items that the UAE wanted accomplished during the Trump administration. The DOJ said Barrack “agreed to promote the candidacy of an individual favored by senior UAE officials for the position of U.S. Ambassador to the UAE” in May 2017 and also “agreed to provide Alshahhi with non-public information about the views and reactions of senior U.S. government officials following a White House meeting between senior U.S. officials and senior UAE officials.”
The Justice Department said “Alshahhi communicated with Barrack about the opposition of the UAE to a proposed summit at Camp David to address an ongoing dispute between the State of Qatar, the UAE, and other Middle Eastern governments” in September 2017, “after which Barrack sought to advise the President of the United States against holding the Camp David summit.” DOJ noted that “the summit never happened.”
Barrack stepped down as CEO of Colony Capital in 2020 and resigned as its chairman in April.
“American citizens have a right to know when foreign governments, or their agents, are attempting to exert influence on our government,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney Jr. said on Tuesday. “This is especially important to Americans during a presidential election year, and the laws on the books were created to protect our nation from such untoward influence. This case is about secret attempts to influence our highest officials, and when that corrupt behavior was discovered, we allege Mr. Barrack went even further, obstructing and lying to FBI special agents.”
Earlier this month, Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, was indicted on 15 felony charges pertaining to what prosecutors called over a decade of tax evasion. Investigators indicated that the 74-year-old dodged Internal Revenue Service payments on $1.7 million in income after he was seen parading through a courtroom in New York City. The charges resulted from a yearslong inquiry into the 45th president, his associates, and the Trump Organization. Trump himself has not faced charges.
