According to NBC News’ Tom Winter, the chairman of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration — a Trump confidant — is having a bad day after being arrested by federal authorities as part of an ongoing investigation into inauguration funds that were allegedly mishandled.
And, to be honest, Trump’s old pal Thomas Barrack, 74, should have known better than to associate himself with the most divisive figure in American politics in recent memory.
We might presume that Barrack, a private equity investor, is on his own because Trump’s devotion is a one-way highway. The ‘lock her up’ crowd appears to have been locked up recently.
The Department of Justice states that a “seven-count indictment was unsealed today in a New York federal court relating to the defendants’ unlawful efforts to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 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,”
It continued, “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, and three others, are “accused of acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018. The indictment also charges Barrack with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 20, 2019, interview with federal law enforcement agents.”
NEW: Thomas Barrack, former chairman of the Trump Inaugural and Trump confidant, was arrested on federal charges in Los Angeles this morning, multiple law enforcement officials tell @anblanx and @PeteWilliamsNBC
It's not clear what he's been charged with yet…
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) July 20, 2021
And this was during the Trump administration.
MORE: The indictment says that Barrack was an agent of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) both before and during the Trump administration.
They say he made multiple false statements to the FBI including about whether he had a dedicated phone and messaging app to the UAE.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) July 20, 2021
UPDATED: The Justice Department says that Barrack has been charged with acting as an agent of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the direction of UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the Trump campaign in 2016 and lying to the FBI. https://t.co/CNH3Dy6KxA
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) July 20, 2021
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