A federal jury on November 4 found investor and former Trump associate Thomas Barrack not guilty of criminal charges that included violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) by acting of a foreign agent of the United Arab Emirates.
Barrack, the founder of Colony Capital, was an adviser to former President Donald Trump and chair of his Inaugural Committee. In July 2021, The Department of Justice unsealed an indictment alleging that Barrack acted and conspired to act as an agent of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018. Barrack also faced several other counts, including obstruction of justice, related to lying to the FBI during an interview about his involvement with the UAE.
At trial, prosecutors argued that Barrack acted at the direction of top UAE officials to, among other things, insert pro-UAE language into a Trump stump speech and influence Trump’s position on the 2017 blockade of Qatar by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt. Prosecutors alleged Barrack did so because the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund had invested $374 million with Colony Capital. The defense, however, maintained that there was no explicit arrangement between Barrack and the UAE, which is required for a FARA violation to occur.
Witnesses at trial included former Trump administration secretary of state Rex Tillerson and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Barrack had faced up to 20 years in prison.
For more information regarding FARA, please contact us using our online form.
An Informational Resource in a New Era of Foreign Agents Registration Act Enforcement.
Search
Recent Blog Posts
- U.S Attorney Announces Charges Against Co-Director of Maryland Think Tank for Acting as an Unregistered Foreign Agent
- DOJ Sends Letter to Congress in Support of Proposed FARA Legislation, Repeal of LDA Exemption
- Trump Ally Acquitted of Violating FARA
- Federal Court Grants Casino Mogul Steve Wynn Dismissal of DOJ FARA Suit
- DOJ Sues Casino Mogul Steve Wynn to Compel FARA Registration
- Former US Ambassador to Plead Guilty to Violating Post-Employment Ethics Law in Qatar Representation
- Chinese National Charged with Acting as an Illegal Agent of the Chinese Government in the United States
- House Judiciary Committee Holds First FARA Hearing In 30 Years
- Dual Russia-U.S. Citizen Charged With FARA Violations, Remains At-Large
- DOJ Unseals Indictment Charging U.S. Resident With Acting As An Agent Of Egypt Government
Bios
Archives
- July 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- October 2021
- July 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- September 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- February 2020
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019