A longtime ally of Donald Trump was found not guilty of foreign lobbying charges and lying to the FBI on Friday.
California billionaire Tom Barrack, 75, was acquitted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates after a seven-week federal trial in Brooklyn, the Associated Press reported.
Jurors deliberated for 13 hours before finding Mr Barrack not guilty of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI.
“I’m so thankful for this system,” a jubilant Mr Barrack told the AP after the verdict.
Mr Barrack chaired the Trump inaugural committee in 2017 and was accused of using his political connections to set up a secret back channel to the Emirates.
Prosecutors told the jury that he had promised to be the “eyes, ears and the voice” for the oil-rich Gulf state as part of a criminal conspiracy to manipulate Mr Trump’s foreign policy, the Associated Press stated.
They alleged the real estate magnate and private equity investor had persuaded the UAE to invest tens of millions of dollars into his property and investment fund interests.
Matthew Grimes, an assistant to Mr Barrack, was also found not guilty.
The charges arose from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between Mr Trump and Russia.
Taking the witness stand in his own defence, Mr Barrack said that Mr Trump was viewed as someone who “could not spell ‘Middle East’”.
He testified that “dozens” of people had asked him for pardons from the ex-president, though he had never sought one himself.
Mr Barrack, an Arabic speaker of Lebanese descent, said during the trial that he had tried to arrange a meeting between Mr Trump and a UAE national security adviser to persuade him to tone down his anti-Muslim statements.
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified during the trial that he had not seen anything suspicious in Mr Barrack’s interactions with the Trump administration.
Mr Barrack is the latest in a long line of Trump allies who have faced criminal and ethics investigations for their dealings with foreign governments.
Trump fundraiser Elliot Broidy pleaded guilty to conspiring to influence Chinese and Malaysian interests in 2020. He was later pardoned by Mr Trump.
