US charges Trump ally with undisclosed lobbying for UAE

Thomas Barrack did not publicly disclose influence work for UAE during the Trump presidency, Justice Department says.

Tom Barrack, a billionaire ally of Donald Trump who chaired the former president’s inaugural committee in 2016, has been arrested on foreign lobbying charges, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday. Barrack, 74, was charged in a federal court in New York with seven counts of unlawful efforts to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates, the DOJ said in a statement released by the department’s public affairs office in Washington, DC. “The defendants repeatedly capitalized on Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected president, high-ranking campaign and government officials, and the American media to advance the policy goals of a foreign government without disclosing their true allegiances,” said Mark Lesko, acting assistant US attorney general for national security.