Franklin, Andrews, Kramer & Edelstein

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Trump friend Tom Barrack pleads not guilty in UAE lobbying case after being heckled as ‘traitor’

PUBLISHED MON, JUL 26 202111:29 AM EDTUPDATED 7 MIN AGO
Dan Mangan @_DANMANGAN
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/26/trump-friend-tom-barrack-set-for-arraignment-on-uae-lobbying-charges.html

KEY POINTS

*Private equity investor Thomas Barrack and a co-defendant pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn to federal charges of illegally lobbying his friend ex-President Donald Trump on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

* As he entered the courthouse, Barrack was met by a man hoisting a sign saying “Traitor” in big black letters.

*Last Friday, Falcon Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company backed by Barrack, withdrew its registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it was abandoning planned transactions.

Private equity investor Thomas Barrack and a business associate pleaded not guilty Monday through their lawyers in Brooklyn, New York, to federal charges of illegally lobbying his friend ex-President Donald Trump on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

Barrack’s $250 million release bond was maintained by a judge during the arraignment.

The judge ordered Barrack, 74, to refrain from traveling on private aircraft and from conducting any foreign financial transactions, and to limit his domestic financial transactions to $50,000 or less.

Barrack, who will live in his residence in Aspen, Colorado, is allowed under the bond to travel only to southern California to visit his children, and to New York for court appearances.

As he entered the courthouse before his arraignment, Barrack was met by a man hoisting a sign saying “Traitor” in big black letters.

That’s the same message — wielded by what appeared to be the same person — that often greeted Trump’s 2016 campaign chief Paul Manafort and his ally Roger Stone during their federal criminal cases, which ended in convictions.

Those convictions later were voided when Trump pardoned both men shortly before leaving office.

Asked by a reporter how he would plead at this arraignment, Barrack replied, “Guys, I know you’re just doing your job — I’ll talk to you on the way out.”

Barrack had been jailed without bond until Friday, when a federal judge ordered him released on the $250 million bond, one of the largest criminal bails in history.

The bond is secured by $5 million cash, more than $21 million in securities, and by four properties owned by Barrack.

Since Barrack’s release, a judge ordered him to stay in the company of his lawyers. He also was fitted with an electronic bracelet with GPS monitoring.

Prosecutors in a detention memo last week had raised concerns that Barrack might flee to avoid the charges, given his holding of Lebanese citizenship and his access to a private jet.

Barrack, who chaired Trump’s inauguration committee, was arrested in Los Angeles Tuesday with a 27-year-old business associate, Matthew Grimes, on an indictment accusing them of secretly working to advance the interests of UAE with Trump’s 2016 campaign and then during his presidency.

Grimes was released on a $5 million bond on Friday, and was arraigned with Barrack on Monday.

Barrack, who never registered with the American government as an agent for the oil-rich UAE, is also charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal law enforcement agents.

Prosecutors have said that as Barrack was promoting UAE’s interests with the Trump administration, he was informally advising U.S. officials on Middle East policy and was seeking appointment to a senior role in the U.S. government, including as special envoy to the Middle East.

The indictment also charges another man, UAE national Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, 43, who remains at large.

Last Friday, Falcon Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company backed by Barrack, withdrew its registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it was abandoning planned transactions.

The transactions had included an initial public offering of 25 million shares to raise $250 million for Falcon Acquisition, which was formed by Barrack’s family office Falcon Peak and TI Capital. The SPAC had planned to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Barrack stepped down in 2020 as CEO of Colony Capital, a private equity firm he founded. He resigned as the firm’s executive chairman in April.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/26/trump-friend-tom-barrack-set-for-arraignment-on-uae-lobbying-charges.html