The Justice Department stated that Thomas Barrack did not publicly disclose his work on the UAE during Trump’s presidency.

Tom Barack, Donald Trump’s billionaire ally, served as chairman of the former president Form a committee The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that he was arrested in 2016 on charges of foreign lobbying.

In a statement issued by the Office of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., the Justice Department said that 74-year-old Barak was charged in the Federal Court of New York with seven illegal efforts to promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates.

“The defendants have repeatedly used Barack’s friendship and contact with the final president-elect candidate, senior campaign and government officials, and the U.S. media to advance the policy goals of foreign governments without revealing their true loyalty,” Marklesco said, acting as an agent. The Assistant U.S. Attorney General is responsible for national security.

The United States has also sued Matthew Grimes, a 27-year-old Barak Investment Company employee, and Rasheed Malik, a 43-year-old UAE national and Barak’s former business partner. The US government now accuses him of secretly working for the UAE government.

A spokesperson told the Associated Press that Barack will plead not guilty.

The spokesperson said: “Mr. Barak has volunteered to help investigators from the beginning.”

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Barak referred to Malik, who served as an intermediary for senior UAE officials, as the UAE’s “secret weapon” for advancing its Washington foreign policy.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, after Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Barak asked Malik to develop a “wish list” of U.S. foreign policy goals that the UAE hopes to obtain from the incoming Trump administration.

The Justice Department stated that after the White House met with senior UAE officials in May 2017, Barak agreed to share the private views of senior U.S. government officials.

In September 2017, at the urging of Malik, Barak suggested that Trump not hold a proposed summit at Camp David to resolve Block Qatar According to the Ministry of Justice, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The US government stated that Barak used a dedicated cell phone with a secure messaging app to communicate with UAE officials.

According to a report, Al-Malik receives tens of thousands of U.S. dollars each month from the UAE intelligence services to obtain useful information about the Trump administration’s Middle East policy in 2017. 2019 media coverage That cited documents and unnamed officials.

Al-Malik left the United States after being questioned by the U.S. Special Attorney during Mueller’s investigation of Trump’s alleged campaign relationship with Russia.

Barak was interrogated by the FBI in 2019 and denied that Malik had asked him to do anything for the UAE. The Justice Department stated that in addition to allegations of illegal peddling of influence, Barak was also accused of obstructing justice and making false statements.

“Today’s indictment confirms the FBI’s unwavering commitment to eradicating those who believe that they can manipulate the system to harm the United States and the American people,” said Calvin Schiffers, assistant director of the FBI.

During Trump’s presidency, Barack’s connections with Trump appeared elsewhere in the United States’ foreign policy toward the Middle East.

In the early days of the Trump administration, Barack was recruited by the US consortium IP3 International to try Sell ??nuclear power To Saudi Arabia. The organization hopes that Barack will use his contacts with Trump to win government support for the IP3 program, which involves bypassing Congress to sell restricted US nuclear technology.

Barrack is the founder of Colony Capital, a private equity firm. He resigned as executive chairman of the company in April. Forbes estimates Barack’s net worth is $1 billion.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. prosecutor in California asked Barak not to be released on bail, saying that he was “an extremely wealthy and powerful man with close ties to Lebanon, the UAE, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” and that he was at serious risk of escape. .