The Story:
Thomas Barrack, who was a senior advisor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, and chairman of his inaugural committee 2016-17, was arrested on Tuesday, July 20, accused of working as an undisclosed foreign lobbyist for the United Arab Emirates. Barrack has two co-defendants in this matter:n Matthew Grimes, who worked at Barracks’ investment firm, and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, a citizen of the UAE living in the US.
The three men are said to have worked together to influence Trump’s foreign policy during the campaign and into the early period of Trump’s administration, in a direction of benefit to the UAE.
Background:
Barrack is the founder and executive chairman of the corporation until recently known as Colony Capital Inc. (NYSE: CLNY), which invests in real estate and related debt investments. Colony Capital was rebranded just weeks ago as DigitalBridge Group, to emphasize its digital infrastructure focus.
The Thing to Know:
The UAE is a federation consisting of seven city states in the Pesian Gulf: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain. Its oil reserves the sixth largest in the world: the need to continue exporting those reserves to the United States is likely the key to the foreign policy it wants from US Presidents.
