Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took the stand Monday as a witness in the New York trial of Thomas Barrack, a billionaire friend of former President Donald Trump accused of unlawfully lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
Tillerson is the first member of the Trump administration to testify in the trial of Barrack, an adviser to the 2016 Trump campaign and chair of the presidential inaugural committee. Barrack is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI about his dealings. Federal prosecutors say that from 2016 to 2018, Barrack sought to advance a UAE “wish list” of foreign policy positions. Tillerson served as secretary of state from February 2017 through March 2018.
Barrack was charged in July 2021 and has pleaded not guilty. At the time, he was executive chairman of investment firm Colony Capital, which is now known as DigitalBridge. Also charged was a Colony Capital employee named Matthew Grimes, and Rashid Al Malik, an Emirati citizen then living in California.
Grimes entered not guilty pleas to charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Al Malik, who was also charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent, has not been located by law enforcement. Prosecutors allege Al Malik was a middleman through whom Barrack and Grimes communicated with UAE officials, seeking their input on Barrack’s efforts to sway American foreign policy.
During the first two weeks of Barrack’s trial, jurors heard from members of law enforcement and an expert on Gulf region monarchies. The government’s presentation has so far revolved around text messages and emails between Barrack and his co-defendants. Jurors have also been shown messages sent by Barrack in 2016 to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner pushing for the Trump campaign to hire Paul Manafort, who later served as chair of the campaign for about two months.
Jurors were also shown messages sent by Barrack to Manafort about a speech then-candidate Trump was preparing to deliver on energy policy.
