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NEW YORK, Oct. 25 (AP) A California billionaire known as a Donald Trump ally used his testimony at a federal trial to question Trump’s foreign policy leadership, saying the former The president is clueless about the dynamics of the Middle East.
Defendant Tom Barrack is accused of using his “unique access” as a longtime Trump friend to provide the United Arab Emirates with classified information about the Trump administration in order to advance the UAE’s foreign policy and commercial interests.
When Emirati officials colluded with Barak, they rewarded him by pouring millions of dollars into his business ventures, prosecutors said.
Barack, a former chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee, told a New York City jury on Monday that he considered Trump a “bold” and “smart” businessman and backed his candidacy as a political outsider, “which could be bad for the system. ”
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He testified, however, that he was later disappointed by Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and other divisive positions he called “disastrous.”
He testified that some of his private equity clients were “disturbed by me being friends with the president.” He added that Trump was considered someone who “couldn’t spell Middle East.” …it was a nightmare. “
Barak said his mission was to sell Trump to encourage the UAE and Saudi Arabia to align with Israel as a way to bring stability to the oil-rich region. He’s also working behind the scenes to try and get the former president to drop the idea of ​​a Muslim travel ban.
He said he took the stance, “This is America. How can you ban an entire religion?” Barack also testified that he was “impossible” to act as a foreign agent for one of his firm’s Middle Eastern investors because other investments would object. There is a rigorous vetting process to ensure fund managers don’t have such conflicts of interest, Barack said.
Investors “want to know that nobody has an edge, they’re all equal,” he said. Otherwise, “it’s going to send shivers down the spines of all the other investors,” he added.
Barack, 75, pleaded not guilty to acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, obstructing justice and making false statements. His lawyers deny that he did anything wrong.
The Los Angeles-based billionaire has known Trump dating back decades, from the days of their real estate development. Barack played an integral role in the 2016 campaign, when many other Republicans shunned the upstart candidate.
The government closed its criminal case last week. Much of the evidence centers on emails and other back-channel communications between Barak and his senior leaders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors said the communications showed how Barack and his contacts strategized to win Trump’s support.
The defendants said on Monday that there was no malicious intent in Trump’s constant contacts with UAE leaders during his tenure.
Such interactions would have been a normal part of doing business with any country or government with which he used state-owned investment funds for high-end real estate deals, he said.
The explanation comes after Barack described his rise to a high financial heavyweight from his humble beginnings in Southern California, as the son of a small grocer of Lebanese descent.
With his background, the Arabic speaker said he developed a cultural “sixth sense” that allowed him to build relationships with clients in the Arab world.
Before the indictment, Barack raised eyebrows by raising $107 million for the former president’s inauguration after the 2016 election. The event has come under scrutiny because of its huge expense and its attraction to foreign officials and businesspeople looking to lobby the new government.
Barrack will continue to testify on Tuesday. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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