A judge said Wednesday that prosecutors who accuse Tom Barrack, a fundraiser of former US President Donald Trump, of being a foreign agent can ask him regarding his comments on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and efforts to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East.
Judge Brian Coogan, who is overseeing Barak’s trial, ruled on the third day of Barrack’s testimony in his own defense in Brooklyn Federal Court. He faces charges of supporting the interests of the UAE without notifying the US Attorney General, as required by law.
Barak, 75, pleaded not guilty. He said that his dealings with officials in the Middle East were within the framework of his work in managing the “Colony Capital” company for direct investment, now known as “Digital Bridge”, and even in cases where his interests coincided with those of the UAE, he was acting of his own volition.
During the public hearing, Kogan did not mention what Barak had said regarding Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was killed and dismembered inside the Riyadh consulate in Istanbul in an operation that US intelligence said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler, had approved.
In 2019, Barak said at a conference in Abu Dhabi that “the atrocities in America are equal or worse” than the killing of Khashoggi, according to media reports at the time, before he later apologized for the statements, describing the killing of the Saudi journalist as “horrific.”
The crown prince denied ordering the killing. Barak is not accused of acting as a client of Saudi Arabia, but the kingdom and the UAE are close allies.
Kogan also said he would allow prosecutors to ask Barak regarding her support plan in the early days of the Trump administration to build 40 nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East.
A Democratic-led Congressional report in 2019 concluded that Barak sought to cash in on the deal, even as he lobbied for his appointment to a diplomatic post.
Barak is not charged with any crimes related to the failed civilian nuclear power plan, but Kogan said the defense opened the door for prosecutors to question it by offering contacts involving Barak and the co-founder of IP3, the consortium that was pushing the plan.
energy letter
Earlier on Wednesday, Barak testified that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had asked him to solicit input from Middle East officials for a speech Trump was to give on energy policy in 2016, when he was a presidential candidate.
One of the main charges the prosecution brought once morest Barak was that Emirati officials provided him with notes on what Trump should say in the speech.
Barak’s assertion that seeking these data from the Emiratis was not his idea may strengthen his defense by saying that while he has long sought to improve relations between the United States and several countries in the Middle East, he has never acted under the direction or control of Abu Dhabi, which is what should The prosecution has to prove it to confirm that he was an agent.
Manafort’s lawyer, who does not face wrongdoing charges in the case, declined to comment.
Barrack, who was not involved in Trump’s election campaign but later chaired his inauguration committee, said he sent a draft of the letter to a UAE energy executive as well as to Rashid al-Malik, a businessman accused by prosecutors of acting as an intermediary between Barack and Emirati officials. And the owner is not detained.
But Barak said he did not eventually include notes the owner sent him from an Emirati official in the draft.
