Tom Barrack was acquitted on charges that he tried to influence the campaign and administration of his longtime friend, former President Donald Trump, as an agent of the United Arab Emirates.
The jury found Mr. Barrack not guilty of all nine counts against him, including failing to register as a foreign agent, obstructing justice and lying to federal agents. The Colony Capital founder's former assistant, Matthew Grimes was also acquitted on two foreign-agent counts following the six-week trial in federal court in New York.
The verdict after barely two days of deliberations was a stinging rebuke to federal prosecutors, who claimed Mr. Barrack advanced the UAE's interests to help Colony secure $374 million in investments from the Gulf state's sovereign wealth funds.
Mr. Barrack became a familiar face as a Trump surrogate during the 2016 campaign, though his warm and sunny manner in television interviews and during his Republican convention speech often contrasted with that of the candidate.
Prosecutors alleged that many of Mr. Barrack's campaign activities were undertaken at the behest of the UAE. During the trial, the government laid out his contacts with Emirati officials and said he agreed in May 2016 to serve as a secret back channel to the Trump campaign and, later, administration. Mr. Barrack was accused of inserting language sought by the UAE into a Trump energy policy speech and providing intelligence on U.S. Middle East diplomatic appointments, among other acts.
On the witness stand, Mr. Barrack denied any sinister motive in his interactions with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, or MBZ; his younger brother, Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed, the national security adviser, and other Emirati officials. He said he thought they sought him out because they were concerned about Mr. Trump's anti-Muslim campaign-trail rhetoric. Mr. Barrack acknowledged his desire for UAE sovereign wealth money but claimed that had no bearing on any informal advice he gave the Trump campaign or White House.
He made some effort to distance himself from Mr. Trump, saying his friend's time in office was "disastrous" for his business and criticizing the Republican Party's "racist tone" ahead of the 2016 election. He maintained a genial, self-deprecating demeanor for much of his time on the stand, occasionally winning smiles from the jury.
Prosecutor Ryan Harris took aim at an "incredibly eloquent man who can turn a phrase better than anyone" during closing arguments Tuesday.
"There are two Tom Barracks: the man who talks about weaving a web of tolerance and understanding, and the man he really is when the cameras are off, when no one is watching, when the facade is stripped away," Mr. Harris said. "A man ultimately just leveraging his access and influence with the Trump campaign and the Trump administration to make money and acquire power."
The government's case was built largely on hundreds of emails, texts and other communications among Mr. Barrack, Mr. Grimes and an Emirati businessman indicted with them, Rashid al Malik, who is a fugitive. The U.S. said he served as an intermediary to top UAE officials.
Mr. Harris said the evidence is "overwhelming that Rashid Al Malik asked Mr. Barrack to do things on behalf of the UAE time and time and time again. That is, at its essence, the heart of this case. Mr. Barrack denied these simple truths."
Mr. Barrack's attorney, Randall Jackson, in defense closing arguments said prosecutors failed to show why his client would act as a secret agent.
"What could possibly be the motive for an extraordinarily successful businessman at the end of his career, after a lifetime of doing good work, to decide for my final chapter, 'I'm going to engage in serious international crimes?'" Mr. Jackson said.
Mr. Jackson said the government had tried to falsely characterize the UAE investments in Colony as payoffs.
"That's not money that goes into Tom's pocket," Mr. Jackson said. "There's no $300 million that goes to Tom. It just goes into an account where it has to be invested by Colony; and only if it makes some money does Colony, as a company, not Tom, get some money from that."
Two Trump Cabinet officials testified during Mr. Barrack's trial. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared for the prosecution and said he was not informed about outreach to the UAE by either Mr. Barrack or Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump's son-in-law and also a senior adviser in the Trump administration. Testifying for the defense, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Mr. Barrack had expressed opposition to a blockade of Qatar that was supported by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries in the region.
