Federal prosecutors are contemplating calling former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as a witness in the New York trial of Thomas Barrack, a billionaire friend of former President Donald Trump accused of illegally lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, Barrack’s lawyers said in a letter Saturday. . a the judgment on the presidency of the trial.
Tillerson would be the first Trump administration cabinet official to testify at the trial, which is his third week.
Barrack, an adviser to the Crusade and the Trump administration, as well as chairman of the inaugural presidential committee, is accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE, obstructing justice and making false statements to the FBI about his relations.
Barrack’s lawyers said in their letter to Judge Brian Cogan that Tillerson, who is also a former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, is being called earlier than expected because of a scheduling conflict.
“Today, the government informed the defense that it had ‘finalized the resolution to call Secretary Tillerson as a witness,'” Barrack’s attorneys wrote. They said prosecutors intended to call Tillerson on Tuesday, but asked Cogan to order him to appear on Monday. Tuesday is expected to be a shorter check day than the previous one due to Yom Kippur.
A spokesman for the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn declined to comment.
Prospective jurors in the trial were long questioned during the trial and lawyers in the case about their opinions and wisdom of Trump and others in their orbit, Tillerson added. as witnesses at trial.
The case centers on allegations that Barrack exchanged his friendship and with Trump in exchange for benefits from the UAE government.
In the first two weeks, jurors heard from law enforcement officials, such as a virtual forensic analyst and an expert on Gulf monarchies. In recent days, they read text messages and emails between Barrack and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner — Trump’s son-in-law and former senior White House adviser, and Paul Manafort, former chairman of the 2016 Trump campaign. They also read messages between Barrack and the other two people charged in the case, former worker Matthew Grimes and Rashid Al Malik. , an Emirati citizen then living in California.
Federal prosecutors say that, from 2016 to 2018, Barrack sought to advance a UAE “wish list” for overseas positions.
Barrack was indicted in July 2021. At the time, he was ceo of investment company Colony Capital. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Colony Capital is now called DigitalBridge.
Grimes has pleaded not guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Al-Malik, who has also been accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, has not been through police.