On Friday, a federal jury found Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a real estate investor and close adviser to former President Donald Trump, not guilty of foreign lobbying and lying to the FBI, reports say.
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On Friday, a federal jury found Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a real estate investor and close advisor to former President Donald Trump, not guilty of foreign lobbying and lying to the FBI in a blow to the Justice Department, multiple outlets reported.
The charges against Barrack stemmed from allegations that he was acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the United Arab Emirates and that he lied to the government when questioned about it.
A jury in Brooklyn deliberated for two days before voting to acquit the Colony Capital founder.
Prosecutors alleged the 75-year-old businessman who served as a senior adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign as well as on his inaugural committee, capitalized on his decades-long relationship with the 45th president to provide UAE officials with access to and inside information on the Trump campaign and Trump White House.
Barrack faced charges of acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the justice department, a charge that carried up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Additionally, he was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to FBI agents about his contacts with the UAE during a 2019 interview with federal investigators.
Barrack, a billionaire and California resident, has denied working for the Emirates and has maintained that he organized meetings between UAE officials and White House staff and made public comments praising the UAE by his own fruition, not because he was paid to.
He thanked the jury following his acquittal. “I’m so moved by…