Tom Barrack Acquitted in Foreign Lobbying Case

Colony Capital founder Tom Barrack was acquitted on all counts Friday afternoon.

After two days of deliberation, a jury ruled in favor of Barrack, who was accused of acting as an unregistered agent of the United Arab Emirates. Matthew Grimes, an aide accused of illegal lobbying, was acquitted as well, the Commercial Observer reported.

Federal prosecutors accused the real estate titan of trying to influence national policy on behalf of the Middle East nation while seeking sovereign wealth investments. UAE funds invested $374 million into Colony, which Barrack said was unrelated to informal advice given to Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign and subsequent administration.

Barrack was arrested in July 2021. His indictment did not mention Trump by name, but provided obvious context clues pointed towards the former president. The indictment referenced attempts to advance the UAE’s interests in the foreign policy positions of a certain presidential campaign.

Barrack was an informal adviser to Trump’s campaign between April 2016 and November 2016. He then chaired his presidential inaugural committee and was an informal adviser to senior government officials on Middle East foreign policy issues.

The seven-week trial took a dramatic turn in its final days when Barrack took a risk and testified in his own defense. The 75-year-old, who was also acquitted on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements in a 2019 interview with federal law enforcement, held firm to the belief he did nothing wrong and said his friendship with Trump actually made his Middle East dealings more challenging.

Barrack’s former firm has transformed as it distanced itself from its former leader. In recent years, the company changed its name to DigitalBridge, overturned its leadership and moved its headquarters. It also shifted its portfolio from mainly hotel, office, warehouse and retail to primarily digital-related assets, such as data centers and cell towers.