Trump associate Thomas Barrack hit with illegal foreign lobbying charges

Thomas Barrack, who spearheaded the inaugural fund for former President Donald Trump in 2017, was arrested and charged Tuesday with illegal foreign lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

The Justice Department unveiled a seven-count indictment charging Barrack and his co-defendants related to “unlawful efforts to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates in the United States at the direction of senior UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the campaign of a candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the U.S. government in the incoming administration, as well as seeking to influence public opinion in favor of UAE interests.”

Barrack, the founder of private equity firm Colony Capital, was charged along with employee Matthew Grimes of Colorado and UAE national Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, with the trio accused of “acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018.”

Barrack was also hit with charges related to obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal law enforcement, with investigators saying Barrack “falsely” denied that Alshahhi had ever asked him to take any actions on behalf of the UAE.