- LAST NOW: Trump’s Close Friend Accused of Conspiring Against Him
- Trump ally Thomas Barrack arrested on federal charges
- He is one of three defendants in federal court.
Trump ally Thomas Barrack arrested on federal charges. The head of the commission that organized Donald Trump‘s inauguration ceremony was arrested Tuesday, charged with conspiring and pressuring Donald Trump.
The conspiracy sought to achieve policies favorable to the United Arab Emirates, according to The Associated Press. Thomas Joseph Barrack, 74, of Santa Monica, was arrested Tuesday according to the news agency.
Thomas Barrack accused of being a foreign agent in Trump’s term
He is one of three accused in federal court of trying to influence US foreign policy during the time Trump was a candidate and later when he was president. Barrack’s attorney, Matthew Herrington, did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment.
Barrack is due to appear in federal court for Southern California soon, Efe points out. He was accused of having acted as a foreign agent of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and influenced the policies of former president Donald Trump, according to Efe.
Trump considered making Thomas Barrack an ambassador
Thomas Barrack, a billionaire investor who cooperated with Trump’s election campaign in 2016 and presided over the organization of his inauguration in 2017, was arrested on Tuesday in Los Angeles (California), official sources informed the television network NBC News.
Barrack, a friend of Trump for decades and whom the former president even considered nominating as ambassador to Mexico, faces federal charges in a New York court for his “illegal attempts to advance the interests of the UAE in the United States,” reported the Department of Justice in a statement.
Arrested for working for the ‘enemy’
According to the indictment, the 74-year-old investor “influenced the political positions” of Trump when he was a presidential candidate in 2016, and also when he arrived at the White House, to adjust to the interests of that Gulf emirate. Persian, Efe points out.
Along with three other defendants, Barrack worked to “advance the interests (of the emirate) and provide intelligence to the UAE, without notifying the United States attorney general that he was following instructions from senior officials” in that Arab country, the Justice Department explained. .
The ‘sins’ of Thomas Barrack
That is a violation of US laws on foreign influence, and had significant consequences on Trump’s foreign policy, according to the indictment. In May 2016, Barrack “inserted a praise for the UAE into a campaign speech” by Trump on energy policy.
He sent a copy of it to emirate authorities even before the candidate pronounced it, according to Efe. A month after Trump’s electoral victory, in November 2016, Barrack met with senior officials from that country.
“He advised them to create a ‘wish list'” to ask Trump
According to the reports, “he advised them to create a ‘wish list'” that they wanted to obtain from the foreign policy of the new Administration, the Justice Department said. Beginning with Trump’s rise to power in January 2017, Barrack “informally advised” senior officials in the Trump administration.
The above, on matters “related to US policy in the Middle East” and tried – unsuccessfully – to be appointed special envoy for the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Barrack also successfully counseled Trump in September 2017.
More involved in the scandal
Thomas Barrack advised Trump not to hold a summit at Camp David (Maryland) on the severing of diplomatic relations with Qatar from the UAE and other countries in the area, something the emirate opposed, according to the accusation cited by Efe.
In addition to Thomas Barrack Barrack, the federal authorities indicted his two alleged culprits in the plot: Matthew Grimes, 27, who was also arrested this Tuesday; and a 43-year-old Emirati citizen, Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, who is still free, according to Efe.
Tomas Barrack the “secret weapon” of the United Arab Emirates in the United States.
Barrack communicated through these two assistants with the Emirates authorities and went so far as to describe Alshahhi as the UAE’s “secret weapon” in the United States, according to the statement. Trump’s former adviser is also charged with “obstruction of justice.”
Furthermore, he is accused of making false statements during a June 2019 interview with FBI agents, in which he “falsely denied that Alshahhi had asked him” to act on behalf of the UAE. Barrack is one of multiple former Trump advisers who have faced federal charges, Efe said.
Arrest in the midst of all the scandal with the former president
His arrest comes shortly after a grand jury accused both the Trump Organization and the firm’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, of perpetrating a tax evasion scheme for 15 years, the news agency recalls.
This is not the only scandal that has surrounded former President Donald Trump in recent days. Recently, the head of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark A. Milley, feared that former President Donald Trump would carry out a coup to stay in power after losing the November 2020 elections, Efe said.
Another scandal shakes the Republican
Milley, the highest-ranking general in the United States, decided to make plans on how to stop that coup in the event of that attack on democracy, reveals a new book written by two journalists from The Washington Post, according to Efe. .
“They may try, but they are not going to be successful,” Milley told his subordinates, according to the controversial book. “You cannot do this without the military, you cannot do this without the CIA and the FBI. We are the guys with the weapons, ”remarked the general.