NEW YORK — Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is expected to be called to testify as a defense witness in the trial of Colony Capital LLC founder Tom Barrack on charges of acting as an agent of the United Arab Emirates, a prosecutor said.
At a hearing outside the jury’s presence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Heeren said Wednesday that defense lawyers recently told prosecutors they planned to call Mnuchin. However, defense lawyers and prosecutors are jousting over how extensively Mnuchin can be questioned about possible bias, according to people familiar with the matter.
Heeren told U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn that possible bias is relevant “in a case involving a person being accused of acting as an unlawful agent of the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
It’s unclear what bias prosecutors are concerned about, though Mnuchin also has strong ties to Saudi Arabia. Last September, Mnuchin’s private equity fund raised $2.5 billion, largely from Middle East sovereign wealth funds like the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Barrack is accused of trying to influence the campaign and administration of his longtime friend, Donald Trump, on behalf of the UAE. Prosecutors claim he was motivated by his desire for investment money from the Gulf state, but Barrack denies there was any connection between $374 million Colony received from UAE funds and informal advice he gave the Trump administration.
While Trump’s treasury secretary, Mnuchin advocated for strong ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, a close ally of UAE. He was one of the first Western government officials to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is known as MBS, following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A U.S. intelligence report released in February 2021 held MBS responsible for Khashoggi’s killing.
Neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers would comment Wednesday on the possibility of Mnuchin’s testimony.
During the trial, prosecutors have shown jurors emails and chats in which Emiratis discussed the close friendship between MBS and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, the UAE leader known as MBZ.
The prosecution rested its case Wednesday, and the defense called as its first witness Princeton University professor Bernard Haykel. The Middle East expert testified about UAE leaders and officials invest the nation’s money. He also recounted his own interactions with MBS and MBZ, recalling that the “extremely charming” UAE leader favors Teva sandals.
During a break in Haykel’s testimony, prosecutors said they will seek to offer a more rounded portrait of both leaders. Haykel was later questioned about the Khashoggi killing, and he said he urged MBS to tell the truth about what happened.
Before the trial began, Cogan asked potential jurors if they held any bias against Trump and members of his administration who might testify in the case. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testified as a government earlier in the trial. Prosecutors had said they intended to call to the stand former national security adviser H.R. McMaster but never did.
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(Zijia Song contributed to this story.)
