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Thomas Barrack, Trump ally who chaired inaugural committee, indicted in foreign lobbying case

By Shayna Jacobs, Josh Dawsey and Devlin Barrett
Today at 3:00 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/thomas-barrack-indictment-trump/2021/07/20/d40b64f0-e985-11eb-84a2-d93bc0b50294_story.html

NEW YORK — Thomas J. Barrack, a longtime friend to former president Donald Trump and a billionaire businessman, was arrested on Tuesday for violating foreign lobbying laws, obstructing justice and making false statements, officials said Tuesday.

Barrack, whose primary residence is in Los Angeles, was taken into custody in California and indicted on foreign lobbying charges related to his dealings with the United Arab Emirates, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday afternoon.

He and two other defendants are accused of acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018. Officials also alleged that Barrack lied to FBI agents in 2019 during an interview about his dealings with the UAE. He did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

A real estate titan who became wealthy buying out-of-favor assets, Barrack was one of Trump's closest associates during the campaign and in office, regularly speaking to the former president, visiting him and channeling him to others, including business officials and leaders in foreign countries.

He chaired Trump’s inaugural committee, which also faced federal investigation for its spending and activities, and at one point was considered as a candidate to become ambassador to Mexico.

Barrack joins a long list of friends, campaign associates and other Trump advisers who have faced criminal charges, including his former campaign chairman; the chief financial officer at his company; the former Trump Organization lawyer; Trump’s former White House strategist; and his former national security adviser.

Trump later pardoned some of those figures.

Federal prosecutors say Barrack capitalized on his friendship with and access to Trump and other high-ranking and government officials, and his relationships with U.S. journalists, to “advance the policy goals of a foreign government without disclosing their true alliances.”

On a number of occasions, the Justcie Department alleged, Barrack pushed the interests of the UAE to the Trump administration without disclosing that he was working on the country’s behalf.

Barrack helped rescue Trump's business empire decades ago and was a top fundraiser for his campaign, though he declined to enter the administration. He was also a regular adviser on the Middle East, jetting through the region and talking with royalty and leaders, and sought to make Trump more interested in the topic.

The real estate scion grew frustrated with some of Trump’s conduct in office and has told others his advice regularly went unheeded. He tried to convince Trump to agree to an orderly transition but failed, The Washington Post has reported.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.


By Shayna Jacobs
Shayna Jacobs is a federal courts and law enforcement reporter on the national security team at The Washington Post, where she covers the Southern and Eastern districts of New York. Twitter

By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal. Twitter

By Devlin Barrett
Devlin Barrett writes about the FBI and the Justice Department, and is the author of "October Surprise: How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election." He was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for National Reporting, for coverage of Russian interference in the U.S. election. Twitter

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/thomas-barrack-indictment-trump/2021/07/20/d40b64f0-e985-11eb-84a2-d93bc0b50294_story.html


During his deposition, Trump Jr. was asked about Winston Wolkoff: “Do you know her?” He replied, “I know of her. I think I’ve met her, but I don’t know her. If she was in this room I’m not sure I would recognize her.” He added, “I had no involvement with her.”

Which might be a reasonable answer if not for the fact that in a video obtained by Mother Jones, Don Jr. is seen at a dinner held the night before the inauguration lavishing praise on Winston Wolkoff (and inauguration committee chair Tom Barrack) for the “incredible” work they did preparing for the event.