Trump Inaugural Committee Chair Tom Barrack Arrested, Charged With Illegal Foreign Lobbying

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Tom Barrack, an ally of former President Donald Trump and chair of his inaugural committee, was arrested on federal charges Tuesday.

Barrack has been charged with illegal foreign lobbying, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal law enforcement.

CNN reports that Barrack was charged over his lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates “for what federal prosecutors described as an effort to influence the foreign policy positions of both the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and the subsequent incoming administration.”

According to the indictment, Barrack and two other men charged Tuesday — Matthew Grimes of Aspen, Colorado, and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, a UAE national — capitalized on Barrack’s status as a senior outside adviser to the Trump campaign to “advance the interests of and provide intelligence to the UAE while simultaneously failing to notify the Attorney General that their actions were taken at the direction of senior UAE officials.”

Barrack was directly and indirectly in contact with UAE senior leadership, according to the charges, and he referred to Alshahhi as its “secret weapon” to promote its foreign policy agenda in America.

A spokesperson for Barrett told CNN, “Mr. Barrack has made himself voluntarily available to investigators from the outset. He is not guilty and will be pleading not guilty.”