“He did things because he wanted to,” the lawyer, Michael Schachter, said on the first day of Mr. Barrack’s trial in US District Court in Brooklyn on charges that he acted covertly at the behest of the United Arab Emirates. “The idea that Tom Barrack was controlled by anyone is nonsense.” In opening statements Wednesday, prosecutors and lawyers for Mr. Barak tackled a case that could shine a light on the Trump administration and efforts by foreign governments to gain influence in the United States. Prosecutors accused Mr Barrack – a Los Angeles-based private equity investor – of using his influence with Mr Trump to advance Emirati interests by acting as a secret communication channel without disclosing his efforts to the attorney general. as the government claims it should have. In the government’s opening statement, a prosecutor, Hiral Mehta, said Mr Barak tried to influence US policy and agreed to pass sensitive information to the Emirates “in the corrupt pursuit of money and power”. Mr Mehta said Mr Barak did not notify the attorney general because it would have rendered him useless to the UAE, saying the effort would have been “struck down for what it was: a foreign influence and intelligence campaign”. The prosecutor said Mr. Barak’s deal with Emirates began when Mr. Trump was a candidate and escalated as Mr. Trump moved toward the Oval Office and Mr. Barak became more helpful. Mr. Barak faces a total of nine charges, including acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, obstruction of justice and perjury: Prosecutors say he repeatedly lied to FBI agents when questioned in 2019 about his dealings with the Emirates. Opening statements from both sides touched on a central government allegation: that Mr. Barak, while serving the Emirati government, also solicited money from the Gulf nation’s leaders for investment funds. Mr Schachter said his client’s interactions with these leaders – including a cycling excursion “in the desert heat” with a member of the Emirati ruling family – were perfectly normal for the head of an investment firm. He is on trial along with his former aide, Matthew Grimes, who was indicted only on the lobbying charges. Both were arrested in July 2021. Prosecutors filed a second indictment in the case in May with additional allegations about Mr. Barak’s efforts. A third defendant, Rashid al-Malik, an Emirati businessman who fled the United States in 2018 after being interviewed by federal agents, remains at large, prosecutors said. The government could call its first witness Wednesday afternoon after opening statements are completed.
