Trump associate acquitted on charges of illegally lobbying for UAE

Tom Barrack, an ally of former US President Donald Trump, was acquitted of all counts on Friday at a federal trial in which he was accused of illegally lobbying the president on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

The jury in Brooklyn began a three-day deliberation earlier this week before finding Barrack not guilty of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE, committing an obstruction of justice, or making false statements. Throughout the trial Barrack had vehemently denied the charges.

"I'm so thankful for this system," Barrack said, following the decision on Friday.

Barrack, a 75-year-old billionaire and friend of Trump who chaired the Republican's inaugural committee, was arrested last year on charges that he and two associates were part of a secretive effort to shape Trump's foreign policy to the benefit of the UAE.

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The original seven-count indictment alleges that four Emirati officials "tasked" Barrack and his associates with moulding the foreign policy positions of the Trump campaign, and later, his administration, by developing "a back-channel line of communication" with the US government that promoted Emirati interests.

Prosecutors had accused Barrack of using his influence to advance the UAE's foreign policy goals in the United States without registering as a lobbyist, in violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (Fara).

Barrack "marketed himself as politically connected. Someone who could open doors for the UAE. Someone who could offer access to Donald Trump ... He was going to be their man on the inside," Assistant US Attorney Ryan Harris said in his final arguments on Tuesday.

Defence attorney Randall Jackson said it "makes no sense" that his client would try to infiltrate the Trump campaign on the behalf of the UAE at a time when Trump's chances of winning the presidency were considered a long-shot.

Barrack, an Arabic speaker of Lebanese descent, described efforts to arrange for Trump to meet with UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan as an effort to persuade Trump to tone down his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

"I was trying to get common ground, to try to get him to step back from what he didn't believe," he said, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Last month, during his testimony in the trial, Barrack said he had suggested to Trump that the former president use the murder of Washington Post and Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi to pressure Saudi Arabia into lifting its blockade on Qatar.

The testimony was seen as potentially undermining the charges he was facing. While Barrack was not facing charges of acting as a Saudi agent, Riyadh is a close ally of Abu Dhabi and the two nations both took part in the boycott against Doha.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who both served under Trump, said during testimonies that they were not aware of any suspicious activity conducted by Barrack. Tillerson went on to say that he was not aware of any role that Barrack played in Trump's Middle East policy.

Barrack's acquittal is the latest setback for the US Justice Department, which has worked in recent years on cases of unregistered foreign agents in the country.

Last month, a judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to force casino magnate Steve Wynn to register as a foreign agent because of his alleged lobbying at the behest of China during the Trump administration.

Still, lawmakers have continued to raise the concerns of unregistered foreign lobbying in the US, pointing to the recent example of retired US general John Allen, who earlier this year stepped down from his role as president of the Brookings Institution over an investigation into whether he was illegally lobbying for Qatar.