Former President Trump’s billionaire friends Tom Barrack on Monday pleaded not guilty in a Brooklyn court to federal charges of illegally lobbying for the United Arab Emirates.
A small crowd was waiting for the private equity investor as he arrived at court and pelted him with insults.
‘It’s our democracy,’ shouted one man in video posted to social media one man yelled. ‘It’s our democracy, not yours. Traitor!’
Barrack, 74, faces seven charges, including secretly lobbying the Trump administration for the UAE between 2016 and 2018, and lying to investigators about his relationship with the Gulf state.
He pleaded not guilty on all counts during a brief hearing on Monday.
Tom Barrack (center) arrived at federal court in Brooklyn on Monday. Hecklers branded him a traitor before he pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including that he secretly lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of the United Arab Emirates
Barrack, a private equity investor, served as an informal adviser to Trump’s 2016 election campaign before chairing his inaugural committee
Barrack appeared in court in Los Angeles, California, last week after being arrested
He was released on a $250 million bond and is due to return to court on Sept. 2.
Under terms arranged with prosecutors last week, he has given up his passport and will wear an ankle monitor, while complying with a curfew.
In addition, he was ordered to restrict his travel to California, New York and Colorado, where he will live at his Aspen home while awaiting trial.
Barrack, who chaired Trump’s inaugural committee, was arrested in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
He and two others were charged with acting as unregistered foreign agents as they allegedly tried to influence US policy on the UAE’s behalf while Trump was running in 2016 and later while he was president.
The other two men charged are Barrack’s former assistant Matthew Grimes, 27, and Emirati businessman Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, 43.
Grimes, of Aspen, Colorado, also pleaded not guilty in court on Monday.
Al Malik is a businessman from the United Arab Emirates who prosecutors said acted as a conduit to that nation’s rulers and is believed to be at large in the Middle East.
In court papers, prosecutors said al Malik was living in LA for years before fleeing the US three days after an April 2018 interview by law enforcement.
Thomas Barrack reached a deal with prosecutors on Friday that will saw him released from custody while he awaits trial on charges of illegal lobbying
Barrack was a prominent supporter of Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign and directed his inaugural committee
Barrack, 74, (pictured left at the 2017 inauguration) was hit with seven-count indictment relating to trying to push the UAE’s agenda and shape the foreign policy of the administration
A seven-count indictment filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn alleged that Barrack, Grimes and Al Malik failed to register as lobbyists and used their influence to advance the UAE’s foreign policy goals in the United States.
Barrack is also alleged to have repeatedly lied during an FBI interview about his dealings with the UAE.
The indictment goes to the heart of the US′ longtime close relationship with the UAE and directly ties its de facto ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to Barrack’s charges.
Barrack raised $107 million for Trump’s inaugural celebration, which was scrutinized both for its lavish spending and for attracting numerous foreign officials and businesspeople looking to lobby the new administration.
While the indictment made no allegations of wrongdoing by the inaugural committee, or by Trump — who was referenced only as ‘the Candidate,’ the ‘President-Elect’ and ‘the President’ — it said Barrack boasted that he had been a 30-year partner of Trump and could help the UAE gain US influence.
‘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 said.
Barrack’s spokesperson has denied any wrongdoing, saying: ‘Mr Barrack has made himself voluntarily available to investigators from the outset. He is not guilty and will be pleading not guilty.’
Prosecutors said Barrack provided UAE government officials with sensitive information about developments within the Trump administration — including how senior U.S. officials felt about a yearslong boycott of Qatar conducted by the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.
‘Worse, in his communications with Al Malik, the defendant framed his efforts to obtain an official position within the Administration as one that would enable him to further advance the interests of the UAE, rather than the interests of the United States,’ prosecutors wrote in a letter seeking his detention. They noted that he has citizenship in the U.S. and Lebanon, a country with no extradition treaty with the U.S.
Barrack is the founder of the private equity firm Colony Capital, though stepped down as the company’s chief executive in 2020, and in April resigned as executive chairman. He is pictured at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in 2014
When Barrack tried to get Trump to appoint him as either the U.S. ambassador to the UAE or as special envoy to the Middle East, he wrote al Malik ‘that any such appointment ‘would give ABU DHABI more power!’ prosecutors wrote.
Barrack served as an informal adviser to Trump’s campaign in 2016 before becoming the inaugural committee chair. Beginning in January 2017, he informally advised senior U.S. government officials on Middle East foreign policy, prosecutors said.
Authorities cited several specific instances when Barrack or others allegedly sought to influence U.S. policies, noting that, in May 2016, Barrack inserted language praising the UAE into a campaign speech Trump delivered about U.S. energy policy and arranged for senior UAE officials to receive an advanced draft.
They said he also agreed to arrange meetings and phone calls between senior UAE officials and Trump, reviewed a PowerPoint presentation to be delivered to senior UAE officials on how to boost their influence in the U.S. with his help and repeatedly tried to conceal his conduct, even denying he’d ever been asked by al Malik to help the UAE.
Throughout 2016 and 2017, Barrack and Grimes received talking points and feedback from senior UAE officials in connection with Barrack’s national press appearances and communicated on a dedicated cellular telephone which had a secure messaging application to facilitate communications with senior UAE officials, prosecutors said.
They said that after one appearance in which Barrack repeatedly praised the United Arab Emirates, Barrack emailed al Malik, saying: ‘I nailed it … for the home team,’ referring to the UAE.
The billionaire is a longtime Trump ally and founder of the digital infrastructure-focused private equity firm DigitalBridge Group Inc, which was known as Colony Capital Inc before a rebranding announced in June.
Barrack stepped down as DigitalBridge’s chief executive in 2020.
In April, he resigned as executive chairman of the firm but has remained as a non-executive director. Forbes estimates his wealth at $1 billion.
Barrack was a prominent supporter of Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign and directed his inaugural committee.