Trump’s Inaugural Committee Chair Charged For Acting As Foreign Agent

The chair of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee was arrested Tuesday on federal charges that he acted as a United Arab Emirates agent.

Thomas Barrack, 74, was charged in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on a seven-count indictment for conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent, for obstruction of justice and for lying to federal agents.

Prosecutors told AP News Barrack not only agreed to promote UAE foreign policy interests through his unique access and influence, but also provided UAE government officials with sensitive information about developments within the Trump administration.

“The defendant framed his efforts to obtain an official position within the Administration as one that would enable him to further advance the interests of the UAE, rather than the interests of the United States,” prosecutors wrote in a letter seeking his detention.

Authorities cited several instances when Barrack allegedly sought to influence U.S. policies. They said that in May 2016, Barrack inserted language praising the UAE into a campaign speech Trump delivered about U.S. energy policy and emailed an advance draft of the speech to be delivered to senior UAE officials.

Matt Herrington, Barrack’s lawyer, said in a statement that Barrack "made himself voluntarily available to investigators from the outset. He is not guilty and will be pleading not guilty today."

Barrack is the latest in a long line of Trump 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, ABC News reported.