Barak, a 75-year-old investor who was an adviser to former President Donald Trump and chairman of his inaugural committee, has been accused of using his connections to the Trump administration to try to influence US foreign policy for a client, the United Arab Emirates. Outside Brooklyn federal court, Barack praised jurors and invoked “Lady Justice.” “The system is amazing. The people are amazing. I have no animosity, I’m just proud to be an American,” Barack said, later adding that he was “done with politics.” “Let’s stop arguing with each other. Let’s stop politicizing everything, whoever the president is,” Barak told reporters before teenagers playing music on hand-held speakers passed by. Barack stopped talking for a moment, put his hands in the air and danced. A few teenagers with handheld speakers walked through the court. Barak danced. pic.twitter.com/me5vWYxkXJ — Graham Kates (@GrahamKates) November 4, 2022 Prosecutors portrayed Barak as a businessman “campaigning for cash” to use his White House connections to add a lucrative client to his investment portfolio. Barak’s defense said he was using his ties to the Middle East and the presidential administration to try to mediate differences in a volatile but critical region, an attempt to cap a storied international investment career. The jury, which had been empaneled since September 19, deliberated for two days before reaching its verdict. Barak has pleaded not guilty to charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI. Prosecutors showed jurors text messages and emails sent in 2016 and 2017, during the presidential campaign and the early days of the Trump administration, in which Barak and an employee of his firm, Colony Capital, appeared to air talking points about a “wish list” of UAE priorities. Barak and the employee, Michael Grimes, contacted Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a sheikh who is the UAE’s national security adviser, through an intermediary, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Barrack and Grimes’ efforts raised $374 million in new investment from a UAE sovereign wealth fund for their company. Their defense said there was nothing illegal in their efforts to attract new investment and noted that the figure represented just 1% of the investment portfolio managed by Barrack’s former company, which is now known as DigitalBridge.
Grimes, 29, was also charged in the case. The court found him not guilty of the charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent. The alleged middleman, an Emirati citizen living in California, Rashid al-Malik, was also charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Al Malik has not been located by authorities. After the verdict, Grimes said he felt “grateful” to the jurors and his parents, who watched the trial every day and “stood by me every day.” “I’m grateful to live in the United States to have the opportunity to stand before a judge who is fair and impartial and before a jury of my peers who came to the conclusion of what it should have been. And that’s the truth,” Grimes said. . Asked what’s next, he replied “insult”, without elaborating. Outside the courtroom, prosecutors walked by without comment. Barak spent the last six days of the trial on the stand, testifying in his own defense. He described his communications with UAE officials about the Trump administration as “inflatable” and attempts to mediate disputes. The jury also heard testimony from two Trump administration officials, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, called by Barack’s defense, and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, called by the administration.

Graham Cates

Graham Cates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy and information security issues for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]