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.”
