Former President Donald Trump’s 2017 Inaugural Committee Chairman was arrested on Tuesday for federal accusations of working as an agent in the United Arab Emirates.
Thomas Barrack, 74, was charged with seven counts of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal agents in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
Prosecutor Tell the Associated Press News Barak not only agreed to promote the UAE’s foreign policy interests through his unique means and influence, but also provided UAE government officials with sensitive information about internal developments in the Trump administration.
The prosecutor wrote in a letter calling for his detention: “The defendant described his efforts to obtain an official position in the government as that would allow him to further promote the interests of the UAE, not the interests of the United States.”
The authorities cited several examples of Barak’s alleged attempts to influence U.S. policy. They said that in May 2016, Barak inserted language praising the UAE in Trump’s campaign speech on U.S. energy policy and sent a pre-draft of the speech via email for submission to senior UAE officials.
Barack’s lawyer Matt Herrington said in a statement that Barack “has voluntarily let investigators reach him from the beginning. He is not guilty and will not plead guilty today.”
Barack is the latest in Trump’s long list of colleagues facing criminal charges, including his former campaign chairman, former deputy campaign chairman, former chief strategist, former national security adviser, former private lawyer and the company’s long-term chief financial officer official, ABC News report.
