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‘Trump is the Man’: Trial paints White House haunted by foreign influence | US News

“TThomas “Tom” Barack, a wealthy investor friend of Donald Trump, addressed someone in a foreign government in 2016, when Trump’s chances of winning the Republican nomination for president began to look certain. wrote. Barrack cryptically added that someone called “HH” should be ready for the trip.

The meaning of those words and the intent behind them are at the center of the latest lawsuit that has disrupted Trump circles. It refers to His Highness Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who said Barrack was secretly and illegally trying to trade access to Trump’s ears. The Emirati government and its vast investment capital.

The US government has indicted Barrack, whose trial began in New York last month, for acting as an unregistered foreign agent. For several years, he had lobbied Trump on behalf of the emirate and provided sensitive information to small but powerful Middle Eastern oil companies. state.

Barrack has denied the charges against him, which his lawyers have called “nothing less than ludicrous.” Barack’s attorney, Michael Schacter, Said last month. “The idea that Tom Barack was controlled by someone is nonsense.”

While there’s no evidence that Trump knew of Barack’s alleged wrongdoing, the case adds to the mountain of legal troubles plaguing the Trump campaign. Now, there are congressional hearings on the Capitol attack, a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally kept classified White House documents, a New York lawsuit accusing Trump of unfair business practices, and a former Trump adviser. Steve Bannon’s New York state indictment is included. , for suspected fraud People who donated to the campaign to build a wall on the Mexican border.

Barack’s indictment as a suspected UAE quasi-spy is yet another scandal involving foreign influence on the Trump campaign and administration, impeachment proceedings and the alleged collusion with Russia and inadequate access to Ukraine. The Special Investigation on Pressure has done this relentlessly.

Barack co-founded the pro-Trump fundraising group Rebuilding America Now with lobbyist Paul Manafort. Paul Manafort later pleaded guilty to bank fraud, witness tampering, and conspiracy to defraud the United States stemming from the Robert Mueller investigation. The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said Manafort’s interactions with the Russian public constitute a “serious counterintelligence threat” because “Russian intelligence agencies exert influence over the Trump campaign and obtain classified information.” He said he created an opportunity for

Mike Flynn, who served as national security adviser during Trump’s campaign and became the first national security adviser to the White House after taking office, has accused the Turkish government of lobbying. After admitting it, I was forced to retroactively register as a foreign agent. He resigned less than a month into his tenure after serious questions were raised about his close relationship with the Russian ambassador.

Barack has been Trump’s business associate and confidante for decades. They met through their mutual work in real estate, and in the 1980s and his 1990s, Barrack, Trump, and socialite and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein were the “nightlife musketeers” named journalist Michael Wolf. formed a trio. I have written In his book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. When Trump ran for president, Barack teamed up with Manafort to raise millions of dollars for his campaign.

Prosecutors say Barack began colluding with the Emirati government before Trump took office. In May 2016, Manafort submitted Trump’s draft speech to Barack, according to The New York Times asked, “Is this run by a friend of ours?”

Barack shared it with Saudi and Emirati officials. “They loved it! This is great,” Rashid Al-Malik, Barak’s Emirati contact, told him. When the speech was revised, Barrack worked to ensure that it remained favorable to the emirate’s geopolitical interests.

The Lebanese, Arabic-speaking Mr. Barack liked to see himself as someone who understood the Middle East better than most American officials and could act as a mediator between the Gulf states and the United States.

This was especially noticeable when Trump angered the Middle East world shortly after taking office by barring people from many Arab and Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.Saudi Arabia and the emirate were also keen to influence Trump against rival Qatar.

Less than two weeks after Trump entered the White House, Barack tried to persuade Steve Bannon to support a plan to supply advanced American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. It said it would help “balance the current noise” caused by the travel ban.

at the same time, according to According to The New York Times, Barack was trying to get Saudi officials to pressure the United States to appoint him as special envoy to the Middle East. The nuclear program never materialized and Barack never became an envoy.

Between 2016 and 2019, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates paid approximately $1.5 billion to Colony Capital, a Barrack real estate company now called DigitalBridge Group.For example, in 2017, the Emirati Sovereign Wealth Fund gave his $374 million two deals Arranged by Colony Capital.

At a meeting in Abu Dhabi in February 2019, Barack excuse The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia. “Whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal or greater,” he said, although he later apologized for the remarks.

Relations between Barracks and the Gulf States report 2019 by the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform. “When it comes to Saudi Arabia,” commission chair Elijah Cummings said, “The Trump administration has effectively erased the lines that normally separate government policymaking from corporate and foreign interests.” rice field.

As foreign influence on Trump’s courts comes under increasing scrutiny, Barrack comes under investigation. Prosecutors accused him of misleading federal investigators. interviewed Him in 2019.

A messy case sucks others. Barack Emirate contact Al-Malik has been charged as an accomplice but is avoiding trial because he is not in the United States. Matthew Grimes, Barack’s assistant at Colony Capital, was charged with a misdemeanor charge related to lobbying.

Barack “illegally provided foreign countries with access and influence over the highest levels of the U.S. government,” prosecutor Hilal Mehta declared in the government’s opening statement last month. did. they were criminals.

Witness testimony began recently, with Trump’s former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling to testify.Tillerson Said He didn’t know Barack well, had no ties to the emirate, and had minimal influence over the U.S. State Department.

Whatever the outcome of Barack’s corruption trial, it seems unlikely that he will do anything to improve the already dark legacy of the Trump White House.

Former federal mob prosecutor Patrick Cotter said, “There is no precedent in any administration in the United States for so many close family members around a president to be shown to be swindlers, fraudsters and base criminals. I believe not,” he said. Said 2020 Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/10/trump-ally-tom-barrack-trial ‘Trump is the Man’: Trial paints White House haunted by foreign influence | US News

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