Head of Trump Inaugural Committee Accused of Being Foreign Agent

Tom Barrack, the chair of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, has been arrested on charges alleging he secretly conspired to influence U.S. policy to benefit the United Arab Emirates (UAE), even while he was seeking a position as an American diplomat, reports the Associated Press. Barrack and two other men were charged in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., with acting as unregistered foreign agents as they tried to influence U.S. policy on the UAE’s behalf while Trump was running in 2016 and later while he was president.

Besides conspiracy, Barrack was charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal agents. Also charged in a seven-count indictment were Matthew Grimes, 27, of Aspen, Colorado, who is a former executive at Barrack’s company, and Rashid al Malik, 43, a businessman from the United Arab Emirates who prosecutors said acted as a conduit to that nation’s rulers. Barrack is the latest in a long line of the former president’s associates to face criminal charges, including his former campaign chair, his former deputy campaign chair, his former chief strategist, his former national security adviser, his former personal lawyer, and his company’s longtime chief financial officer.