Trump ally Barack traded access for UAE money as trial draws to a close, prosecutors say

NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Tom Barrack, a former private equity executive and fundraiser for Donald Trump, said in Barrack’s closing arguments on Tuesday. Tom Barrack) traded his engagement with the then-president for investment from the United Arab Emirates. Foreign Agent Trials.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn last year accused Barack of promoting the interests of the United Arab Emirates to the Trump campaign and the administration without informing the U.S. attorney general that he was an agent, as required by law.

Abu Dhabi then invested $374 million in Barrack from its sovereign wealth fund, prosecutors said.

“Mr. Barak traded his political access for longstanding relationships with senior Emirati officials … who control vast oil wealth,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Harris told jurors on Tuesday. “In return, the UAE has unlocked its wallet.”

Barack, 75, the former chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee, has pleaded not guilty. He argues that his interactions with Middle Eastern officials are part of his running private equity firm Colony Capital, now known as DigitalBridge Group Inc. (DBRG.N).

His lawyers are expected to deliver closing arguments later on Tuesday.

During the six-week trial, federal prosecutors showed jurors the number of disputes between Barack, his former assistant and co-defendant Matthew Grimes and a businessman named Rashid Malik. Hundreds of text messages and emails, prosecutors said he was the go-between. UAE officials.

Grimes pleaded not guilty. Almalik is at large.

Harris said on Tuesday that Barack passed “insider information” about U.S. foreign policy to Emirati officials and heard the UAE’s views on what he should say about the Middle East in television interviews and opinion pieces.

Jurors heard the indictment last month of former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said he was unaware of any role Barack had in U.S. foreign policy.

“How can the defendant get away with impunity?” Harris said. “Because they never told … the public officials charged with stopping foreign influence campaigns.”

Barack himself took the stand last week, testifying that he never agreed to act on Abu Dhabi’s direction or control. He also pointed to his support for the UAE’s rival Qatar during the 2017 blockade of the country by its Middle Eastern neighbours as proof that he was not promoting UAE interests.

Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jonathan Oatis

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