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Trump tax returns have to be launched by IRS to Congress, DOJ says

Trump tax returns must be released by IRS to Congress, DOJ says

US President Donald Trump leaves Air Force One upon arrival at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on September 20, 2018. – Trump travels to Las Vegas for a campaign rally.

Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump’s income tax returns must be submitted to Congress by the IRS, the Justice Department said on Friday.

The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel said the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee had filed a request with a legitimate legislative purpose to inspect Trump’s tax returns, with the stated aim of assessing how the IRS judges the presidents’ tax returns checks.

This 39-page statement is a reverse of a statement by the same bureau during the Trump administration that supported the IRS’s refusal to submit Trump’s Returns to the Committee.

Under federal law, the tax-related committees of Congress have a “broad right” to obtain taxpayer information from the Treasury Department, the parent company of the IRS, the new statement said.

“The statute at issue here is clear: ‘Upon written request’ from the chairman of one of the three tax committees of Congress, the secretary ‘sends’ the tax information requested to the committee,'” said Friday’s statement.

While these committees cannot force government executives to compel disclosure of this information, the opinion states that the committees should be denied tax returns “only in exceptional circumstances” and when the request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose”.

The ruling comes more than a year after the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s tax returns and other financial records had to be turned over to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. by his longtime accountants following a criminal investigation subpoena.

The Trump Organization and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg were charged by Vance on July 1 with crimes related to an alleged plan since 2005 to avoid paying taxes on the remuneration of the CFO and other top executives.

Trump broke decades of precedents as a presidential candidate and White House resident by refusing to voluntarily release his income tax returns.

He had claimed that his returns were being examined by the IRS to justify not disclosing the returns.

However, there is no ban on taxpayers from making their tax returns publicly available, even if those tax returns are audited.

The Justice Department opinion, coming under an Attorney General Merrick Garland selected by President Joe Biden, is likely to anger Trump.

A Trump spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, said in a statement, “As I have maintained for years, the committee’s case is very strong and the law is on our side.”

“I’m glad the Justice Department approves and we can move forward,” said Neal.

Neal’s committee sued the Treasury Department and the IRS in July 2019 for obtaining Trump’s tax returns after then Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the head of the tax office defied subpoenas demanding Trump’s persona and business returns for six years. Mnuchin argued at the time that the committee had no legitimate legislative purpose in finding the documents.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said in a statement: “Today the Biden administration won a rule of law victory as it respected the public interest by responding to Chairman Neal’s request for Donald’s tax returns Trump follows. “

“As speaker, on behalf of the House of Representatives, I applaud Chairman Neal for his dignified pursuit of the truth and the Justice Department of the Biden Administration for its respect for the law,” said Pelosi.

“Access to former President Trump’s tax returns is a national security issue,” she said. “The American people deserve to know the facts of their troubling conflicts of interest and the undermining of our security and democracy as President.”

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U.S. Declines to Defend Trump Ally in Lawsuit Over Jan. 6 Riot

U.S. Declines to Defend Trump Ally in Lawsuit Over Jan. 6 Riot

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department declined Tuesday to defend a congressional ally of former President Donald J. Trump in a lawsuit accusing both of them of rallying supporters in the hours leading up to the January 6 storm of the Capitol to have instigated.

Law enforcement officials determined that Alabama Republican Representative Mo Brooks, in an incendiary speech shortly before the attack, acted outside his mandate, according to a court file. Mr. Brooks had asked the Department to confirm that he was acting as a government employee during the rally; Had they agreed to defend him, he would have been dismissed from the lawsuit and the United States would have been represented as a defendant.

“The records indicate that Brooks ‘appearance at the January 6 rally was campaign activity and it is not part of the United States’ business to choose between candidates in the federal election,” the Justice Department wrote.

“Members of Congress are subject to a variety of restrictions that carefully distinguish between their official functions on the one hand and campaign functions on the other.”

The Justice Department’s decision shows that it is also likely to refuse to provide legal protection to Mr Trump in the lawsuit. Legal experts have been closely monitoring the case because the Biden Justice Department continued to fight to grant immunity to Mr Trump in a 2019 defamation lawsuit in which he denied allegations of raping writer E. Jean Carroll and said he accused her him to attract attention.

Such substitution provides full protection for government officials and is generally reserved for government employees who are being sued for acts arising out of their work. In the Carroll case, the Department cited other defamation lawsuits as precedent.

The Brooks decision also contradicted the Justice Department’s long-standing broad view of actions taken in the context of the employment of a federal employee, which has made it difficult to use the courts to hold government employees accountable for wrongdoing.

House attorneys also said Tuesday that they refused to defend Mr. Brooks on the lawsuit. Since it “does not question institutional actions by the House of Representatives,” a House attorney wrote in a court filing, “it is not appropriate for it to participate in the lawsuit.”

The Justice Department and the House filed their pleadings Tuesday, the deadline set by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit, filed in March by Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat of California, accuses Mr. Brooks of inciting a riot and preventing a person from holding office or performing official duties.

Mr. Swalwell accused Mr. Brooks, Mr. Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and his former personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani of key roles in instigating the January 6 attack during a rally near the White House in the Having played Storming the Capitol hours earlier.

Citing excerpts from their speeches, Mr Swalwell accused the men of breaking federal law by conspiring to prevent an elected official from holding office or performing official duties, arguing that their speeches attracted supporters led Mr. Trump to believe that they were acting on orders to attack the Capitol.

Mr Swalwell alleged that their speeches encouraged Mr Trump’s supporters to unlawfully force members of Congress out of their chambers and destroy parts of the Capitol to deter lawmakers from performing their duties.

During the rally, Mr. Brooks told attendees that the United States is “at risk unlike in decades and perhaps centuries.” He said that their ancestors sacrificed “their blood, sweat, tears, wealth, and sometimes their lives” for the land.

“Are you ready to do the same?” He asked the crowd. “Are you ready to do anything to fight for America?”

Mr Swalwell said the defendants in his lawsuit incited the mob and continued to generate false beliefs that the election had been stolen.

“As a direct and predictable consequence of the defendants ‘false and inflammatory allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the defendants’ explicit calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the US Capitol,” Swalwell said in his complaint. “Many participants in the attack have since revealed that they were acting on the orders of former President Trump in the service of their country.”

In June, Mr. Brooks asked the Justice Department to defend him on the case. He cited the Westfall Act, which essentially replaces the Justice Department as a defendant when federal employees are sued for acts in the course of their employment, a court document said.

Describing his January 6 speech as part of his job, he said his responsibilities include making speeches, making policy statements and convincing lawmakers.

Mr Trump has not sought the government to replace him as a defendant in the Westfall Act lawsuit. But he has argued in court records that the statements he made on Jan. 6 are backed by broad immunity, that he could not be sued for it, and that the lawsuit violates his right to freedom of expression.

Should a judge deny Mr. Trump’s allegations, he could ask the Justice Department to intervene on his behalf. But its decision in Mr. Brooks’ case reduced the chances that it will comply.

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Trump buddy Tom Barrack pleads not responsible to UAE lobbying costs

Trump friend Tom Barrack pleads not guilty to UAE lobbying charges

Thomas Barrack, a close adviser to former President Donald Trump and chair of his inaugural committee, arrives for a court appearance at the U.S. District Court of Eastern District of New York on July 26, 2021 in Downtown Brooklyn in New York City.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Private equity investor Thomas Barrack and a business associate pleaded not guilty Monday through their lawyers in Brooklyn, New York, to federal charges of illegally lobbying his friend ex-President Donald Trump on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

Barrack’s $250 million release bond was maintained by a judge during the arraignment, where his next court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 2.

Judge Sanket Bulsara also ordered Barrack, 74, to refrain from traveling on private aircraft and from conducting any foreign financial transactions, and to limit his domestic financial transactions to $50,000 or less. And Bulsara told Barrack not to have any contact with officials from the UAE.

Barrack, who will live in his residence in Aspen, Colorado, is allowed under the bond to travel only to southern California to visit his children, and to New York for court appearances. His compliance with the travel restrictions is being monitored by an electronic ankle bracelet and GPS.

As he entered the courthouse before his arraignment, Barrack was met by a man hoisting a sign saying “Traitor” in big black letters.

That’s the same message — wielded by what appeared to be the same person — that often greeted Trump’s 2016 campaign chief Paul Manafort and his ally Roger Stone during their federal criminal cases, which ended in convictions.

Those convictions later were voided when Trump pardoned both men shortly before leaving office.

Asked by a reporter how he would plead at this arraignment, Barrack replied, “Guys, I know you’re just doing your job — I’ll talk to you on the way out.”

Barrack had been jailed without bond until Friday, when a federal judge ordered him released on the $250 million bond, one of the largest criminal bails in history.

The bond is secured by $5 million cash, more than $21 million in securities, and by four properties. On Monday , Barrack’s son, ex-wife and a former business partner appeared Monday via video monitor to co-sign the release package and pledge properties to secure the bond.

Prosecutors in a detention memo last week had raised concerns that Barrack might flee to avoid the charges, given his holding of Lebanese citizenship and his access to a private jet. Barrack’s lawyer told Bulsara on Monday that Barrack does not own a plane.

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort (2nd R) arrives with his wife Kathleen Manafort (R) at the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse for an arraignment hearing as a protester holds up a sign March 8, 2018 in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Alex Wong | Getty Images

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Barrack, who never registered with the American government as an agent for the oil-rich UAE, is also charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal law enforcement agents.

Prosecutors have said that as Barrack was promoting UAE’s interests with the Trump administration, he was informally advising U.S. officials on Middle East policy and was seeking appointment to a senior role in the U.S. government, including as special envoy to the Middle East.

The indictment also charges another man, UAE national Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, 43, who remains at large.

Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to President Donald Trump, arrives at the Prettyman United States Courthouse before facing charges from Special Counsel Robert Mueller that he lied to Congress and engaged in witness tampering January 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. A self-described ‘political dirty-trickster,’ Stone said he has been falsely accused and will plead ‘not guilty.’

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Last Friday, Falcon Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company backed by Barrack, withdrew its registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it was abandoning planned transactions.

The transactions had included an initial public offering of 25 million shares to raise $250 million for Falcon Acquisition, which was formed by Barrack’s family office Falcon Peak and TI Capital. The SPAC had planned to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Barrack stepped down in 2020 as CEO of Colony Capital, a private equity firm he founded. He resigned as the firm’s executive chairman in April.

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China sanctions Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

China sanctions Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

China said Friday it had sanctioned seven people, including former Trump Trade Secretary Wilbur Ross, in response to US penalties imposed on Chinese officials for Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.

The mutual sanctions were imposed under the new Chinese anti-foreign sanctions law passed in June. The sanctions are in response to the recent US warning to businesses about the risks of doing business in Hong Kong.

They also came days before Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is due to visit China, making her the most senior US official to visit China during the Biden administration.

In addition to Ross, Carolyn Bartholomew, Chair of the US-China Economic Security Review Commission, was sanctioned; Jonathan Stivers, former Executive Commissioner of the Executive Committee for China; and Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch.

DoYun Kim from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs were also sanctioned; Adam Joseph King, Senior Program Manager of the International Republican Institute and the Hong Kong Democratic Council.

Ross, a billionaire businessman and investor, did business in China. As Minister of Commerce, he was one of the faces of former President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

“I would like to reiterate that Hong Kong is China’s Special Administrative Region and its affairs are an integral part of China’s internal affairs,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a statement. “Any attempt by outside forces to interfere in Hong Kong affairs would be as futile as an ant trying to shake a large tree.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a press conference Friday that the US is aware of China’s latest sanctions.

“We will not be deterred by these measures and remain determined to implement all relevant US sanctions against the authorities,” said Psaki at the briefing. “These actions are the latest example of how Beijing is punishing individuals, businesses and civil society organizations for sending political signals and highlighting the deteriorating investment climate and increasing political risks in the PRC.”

Psaki said it was following China’s “baseless sanctions” of two commissioners from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in March, 28 US officials in January, and sanctions against US officials and organizations in July 2020.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The State Department did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Lijian said Friday that China “strongly opposes and strongly condemns” the Biden government’s release of the Hong Kong Business Advisory last week, which warns US firms are exposed to multiple risks posed by China’s extensive national security law in Hong Kong develop.

“These acts seriously violate international law and basic norms of international relations, and severely interfere with China’s internal affairs,” Lijian said in the statement.

China’s national security law was passed and condemned by Washington in June 2020 for aiming to restrict Hong Kong’s autonomy and banning critical literature by the Chinese Communist Party.

A guidebook published by the Biden administration jointly by the ministries for state, finance, trade and homeland security states that companies are exposed to the risk of electronic surveillance without guarantee, the disclosure of data to authorities and “limited access to information”.

It also sanctioned several Chinese officials with the Beijing Liaison Office in Hong Kong for restricting autonomy on the territory.

“Beijing has damaged Hong Kong’s reputation for accountable, transparent governance and respect for individual freedoms and has broken its promise to leave Hong Kong’s high level of autonomy unchanged for 50 years,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said in a statement on the advisory.

The Hong Kong warning came days after the Biden government issued a similar recommendation for businesses with businesses and operations in Xinjiang province, where there is growing evidence that the Chinese government has committed genocide and other human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities committed.

Relations between Beijing and Washington became even more strained under the Trump administration, sparking a trade war and working to ban Chinese tech companies from doing business in the United States

Biden previously said his approach would be different from that of his predecessor, saying he would work closely with allies to push back on Beijing.

The Chinese sanctions against Ross came shortly after the Justice Department refused to prosecute him for allegedly misleading Congress on census citizenship issues.

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McCarthy threatens to drag GOP members from Home Jan. 6 committee after Pelosi rejects Trump allies Jordan and Banks

McCarthy threatens to pull GOP members from House Jan. 6 committee after Pelosi rejects Trump allies Jordan and Banks

U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol July 1, 2021 in Washington, D.C.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened Wednesday to withdraw all his picks for the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol invasion unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reinstates the two Republicans she rejected.

Less than an hour earlier, Pelosi announced that she had vetoed GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana, two of McCarthy’s five picks, from participating in the House probe of the deadly attempted insurrection by a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement she made that decision “with respect for the integrity of the investigation” and “with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members.”

On the same day of the Jan. 6 invasion, in which hundreds of Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol to try to stop President Joe Biden’s election certification, both Jordan and Banks had voted to object to the results of the election.

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McCarthy, R-Calif., in a statement called Pelosi’s move “an egregious abuse of power” and accused her of being “more interested in playing politics than seeking the truth.”

“Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts,” McCarthy said.

Jordan, a staunch Trump ally and the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, in a brief statement said Pelosi’s actions show that her Jan. 6 probe “is nothing more than a partisan political charade.”

Banks in his own statement said Pelosi “is afraid of the facts.”

“We said all along that this was a purely partisan exercise by the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of me and Jim Jordan shows once again she is the most partisan figure in America today,” Banks said.

But Pelosi earlier this month had picked a Republican — Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — one of her eight members on the panel. 

The Democratic-led House set up the select committee after Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have created an independent commission to investigate the attack. Six GOP senators voted to move forward with the legislation.

Pelosi’s statement Wednesday said she told McCarthy that she would appoint the other three Republican nominees to the panel, and “requested that he recommend two other Members” to replace Jordan and Banks.

When asked at the Capitol why she rejected the two Republicans, Pelosi told NBC News, “January 6th.”

McCarthy had selected Banks to serve as the top Republican on the 13-member panel.

McCarthy’s other picks included Reps. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelley Armstrong of North Dakota and Texas freshman Troy Nehls. 

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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Trump pal Tom Barrack’s arrest places the highlight on United Arab Emirates

Trump friend Tom Barrack's arrest puts the spotlight on United Arab Emirates

The arrest on Tuesday of a key Trump ally accused of illegally lobbying the United Arab Emirates shows just how much the oil-rich Middle Eastern country ingratiated itself with the United States during the Trump administration.

Between arms deals and diplomatic deals, the UAE, a relatively small spit of land between Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, played an important role in former President Donald Trump’s policies in the region.

An indictment filed in New York federal court on Tuesday alleges that Tom Barrack, a longtime friend and business associate of Trump, worked for years to develop that relationship by secretly advancing the interests of the UAE through his influence on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and administration promoted.

Barrack, a 74-year-old private equity billionaire who was president of Trump’s founding fund in 2017, was arrested Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.

The seven-point indictment also accuses Barrack of obstructing the judiciary and making several false statements in an interview with federal authorities in 2019. The indictment also includes Matthew Grimes, 27, of Aspen, Colorado; and a 43 year old UAE citizen, Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi.

A judge ordered the arrest of Barrack and Grimes, with the bail hearing scheduled for Monday.

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“Mr. Barrack volunteered to help investigators from the start. He is not guilty and will plead not guilty,” a Barrack spokesman told CNBC in a statement.

The indictment states that Barrack advised American officials informally on Middle East policy and sought a leadership role in the US government, including serving as special envoy for the Middle East.

A Trump spokeswoman did not respond to CNBC’s request to comment on Barrack’s arrest.

The United Arab Emirates – an amalgamation of seven Arab monarchies with just under 10 million inhabitants – are home to several sovereign wealth funds such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which has a weight of almost 700 billion US dollars. According to the fund’s website, between 35% and 50% of the ADIA’s investments are parked in North America.

Barrack is not the first person in Trump’s circle whose ties to the United Arab Emirates have been put to the test.

While serving as an advisor to the United Arab Emirates, George Nader, who later pleaded guilty to indicting child sex and porn in a case that emerged from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, had $ 2.5 million Transferred to the Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, the Associated Press reported in 2018.

Nader paid the money to Broidy, sources told the AP, to fund efforts to convince Washington to harden its stance on Qatar, a U.S. ally but a bitter rival of the UAE.

The New York Times also reported in 2018, citing hundreds of pages of correspondence between the two men, a campaign by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to influence Trump’s White House.

Broidy pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent in October 2020.

A U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter approaches Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.

A dealmaker

The United Arab Emirates, in which Trump established business relationships before taking office, established itself as an important partner of the United States in the region during the Trump administration.

The UAE signed the 2020 Abraham Agreement, which took steps to normalize diplomatic relations between Arab nations and Israel. The pact made the United Arab Emirates the first state on the Persian Gulf to normalize relations with Israel and the third Arab country after Egypt and Jordan.

Last November, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Trump administration would sell more than $ 23 billion worth of military equipment to the UAE “in recognition of our deepening relationship” and “in recognition of the nation’s need for advanced equipment Defense skills to deter and defend against ”. increased threats from Iran. “

In April, President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly notified Congress that it would continue selling weapons from the Trump era. The deal includes dozens of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets, America’s most expensive weapons platform, as well as General Atomics-armed MQ-9 Reaper drones.

The United States, the world’s largest arms exporter, sends half of its arms to the Middle East, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Arms imports to the Middle East were 25% higher from 2016 to 2020 than from 2011 to 2015.

After Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the United Arab Emirates is the second largest buyer of US arms in the Middle East.

– Amanda Macias reported from Washington. Kevin Breuninger reported from New York.

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Trump good friend Tom Barrack arrested on UAE lobbying fees

Trump friend Tom Barrack arrested on UAE lobbying charges

Thomas Barrack, a private equity investor who is a close friend of former President Donald Trump, was arrested Tuesday morning in Los Angeles on federal charges of illegally operating Trump on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

Barrack, who was charged with two other men in a seven-fold indictment in Brooklyn, New York federal court, served as chairman of Trump’s 2017 charter fund.

The Santa Monica, California resident, along with the other defendants, is charged with secretly advancing the interests of the United Arab Emirates, on the direction of senior officials in that country, by influencing the foreign policy positions of Trump’s 2016 election campaign and then the positions of the US government during the campaign Advance Trump’s presidency through April 2018.

Barrack, who never registered with the US government as an agent for the UAE, is also charged with obstruction of justice and providing several false claims during an interview with federal police officers in June 2019.

The indictment states that Barrack, 74, was informally advising American officials on Middle East policy during the indictment period and was also seeking appointment to a senior role in the U.S. government, including serving as special envoy for the Middle East.

The evidence against Barrack includes thousands of emails, text messages, iCloud recordings, flight records and social media records, prosecutors said separately on a sticky note.

Prosecutors said the “evidence for [Barrack’s] Guilt is overwhelming in this case. “

Prosecutors also said that Barrack met and assisted senior leaders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is a close ally of the UAE, and that he provided “UAE government officials” with sensitive, non-public information about developments within the government , including information on the positions of several senior US government officials in relation to the blockade of Qatar carried out by the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries. ‘”

Charged with Barrack are Matthew Grimes, 27, of Aspen, Colorado, and a 43-year-old UAE citizen, Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, who remains at large.

Grimes, who worked directly for Barrack at Barrack-founded private equity firm Colony Capital, was arrested Tuesday in California.

Grimes has a “close personal relationship” with Barrack, has made more than 50 international trips in Barrack’s private plane and lists Barrack’s $ 15 million home in Aspen as his primary residence, prosecutors said in a court filing.

“Mentioned Barrack several times [Al Malik] as the UAE’s “secret weapon” to advance its foreign policy agenda in the United States, “a Justice Department press release said.

“To promote suspected criminal conspiracy and conduct, Barrack and Grimes, with the assistance of [Al Malik], purchased a dedicated mobile phone and installed a secure messaging application to facilitate Barrack’s communications with senior UAE officials, “the department said.

Deputy Attorney General Mark Lesko, Department of National Security, Department of Justice said: “The defendants repeatedly used Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected president, senior election and government officials, and the American media to advance politics A foreign government aims without revealing its true loyalty. “

Thomas Barrack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Colony Capital Inc., gestures during the closing reception at the Milken Institute Japan Symposium in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, March 25, 2019. The conference brings together business leaders and government officials to discuss geopolitical, economic and social problems faced by Japan. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“The conduct alleged in the indictment is nothing less than betrayal of these officials in the United States, including the former president,” Lesko said in a statement.

Prosecutors in a memo requesting Barracks detention in Los Angeles pending his later bail hearing in Brooklyn said that in communicating with Al Malik, Barrack “designed his efforts to obtain an official position within the government to do it would enable it to serve the interests of the United Arab Emirates and not the interests of the United States. “

“When seeking a position as US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates or Special Envoy for the Middle East, the defendant informed Al Malik that such an appointment would” give ABU DHABI more power! “The memo states with reference to the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

“Al Malik agreed that if the defendant were successfully appointed to such an official position, it would result in the defendant delivering ‘more’ for the UAE and its efforts[v]very effective operation. ‘ The defendant agreed. “

Prosecutors found that Barrack, who is a Lebanese citizen, is extremely wealthy, has access to a private jet he flew to the UAE in March, and “has deep and longstanding ties to countries that do not have extradition treaties with the United States has “Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

A Trump spokeswoman did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Barrack’s arrest.

Matthew Herrington, an attorney for Barrack, told CNBC that his client was arrested in Los Angeles “although we cooperated with this investigation from the start.”

A Barrack spokesman said: “Mr. Barrack volunteered to investigate from the start. He is not guilty and will plead not guilty.”

Barrack stepped down as CEO of Colony Capital in 2020. In April he stepped down as Executive Chairman of the company.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating Barracks’ alleged work on behalf of the UAE for at least two years.

One of the events that caught their attention was an energy policy speech given by Trump as a presidential candidate in May 2016.

The indictment accuses Barrack of “including a language in which the UAE is praised” and “emailing a preliminary draft of the speech.” [Al Malik] for extradition to senior UAE officials. “

For the next two years, prosecutors claim that Barrack “sought and received instruction and feedback, including topics for discussion, from senior UAE officials in connection with national press appearances that Barrack has used to advance the interests of the UAE.”

“During that time, Barrack never registered as a lobbyist for the UAE as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” the indictment said.

The indictment states that in December 2016, one month after Trump’s election, Barrack attended a meeting with Grimes, Al Malik and senior UAE government officials to advise them to create a “wish list” of US foreign policy, which the UAE wished to be carried out in different periods of time in the new administration.

The indictment also states that the following March Barrack and the other two men agreed to promote the candidacy of a person preferred by senior UAE officials for the post of US ambassador to that country.

And in September 2017, “Al Malik communicated with Barrack about the United Arab Emirates’ resistance to a planned summit at Camp David to resolve an ongoing dispute between the State of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern governments against the President of the United States the holding of the Camp David Summit, “stated the Justice Department in its press release.” The summit never took place. “

The United Arab Emirates, which Trump did business in before he became president, established an important relationship with the United States during the Trump administration.

The UAE signed the 2020 Abraham Agreement, which took steps to normalize relations between a handful of Middle East nations, including Israel.

Last November, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Trump administration would sell more than $ 23 billion in military equipment to the UAE “in recognition of our deepened relationships” and “in recognition of the nation’s need for advanced defense capabilities to deter and defend oneself ”. against increased threats from Iran. “

A friend of Trump for decades, Barrack appeared as an early supporter of Trump’s presidential run long before many on Wall Street viewed the property developer as a serious contender for the White House.

In the spring of 2016, when Trump started sweeping primaries, Barracks and Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump convinced him that he needed to hire a real campaign manager.

Barrack urged Trump to bring in Paul Manafort, a longtime Washington and Republican lobbyist.

Manafort eventually rose to campaign chairman for Trump before resigning in August 2016 after reports of foreign lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian politicians. Both Manafort and Barrack hoped their collaboration in 2016 would be to the benefit of every man.

Barrack wanted to be appointed Middle East envoy in a future Trump administration. But after Trump won the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner intervened, and Barrack didn’t get the job.

Manafort, meanwhile, had hoped that Barracks connections in the Middle East would lead to lucrative deals for Manafort’s lobbying practice.

But the years of investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller put an end to Barrack and Manafort’s hopes of attaining prominent positions in Trump’s White House.

According to prosecutors, questions about Barrack’s foreign lobbyism first came to light during the investigation into Mueller.

By the end of his investigation, Müller had referred a total of 14 criminal cases to the public prosecutor, most of which are still sealed today.

In 2018, Manafort was found guilty by a jury of eight crimes related to foreign lobbying and tax evasion. He was imprisoned for almost two years and was released in June last year.

Trump later pardoned Manafort just before he left the White House.

Correction: Paul Manafort was convicted of eight crimes in 2018. In an earlier version, the year was incorrectly specified.

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Trump ally Jim Jordan amongst Republicans on Jan. 6 Capitol riot committee

Trump ally Jim Jordan among Republicans on Jan. 6 Capitol riot committee

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during his weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol on February 27, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Mark Wilson | Getty Images

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday picked five House Republicans to serve on the select committee that will investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

The California Republican named five out of the 13 members of the select House committee, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the final say over which lawmakers McCarthy can appoint. 

McCarthy’s picks include Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who will serve as the ranking member of the panel. The other members include Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Illinois., Rep. Kelley Armstrong, R-N.D. and freshman Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas. 

The most well known of the five lawmakers is likely Jordan, who is a committed supporter of former President Donald Trump and is the founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers. In January, Jordan helped lead an unsuccessful effort to prevent the House of Representatives from impeaching Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection.

McCarthy’s picks come just a day before the committee is set to hold its first hearing, which will feature witnesses from the U.S. Capitol Police Department and Metropolitan Police Department. It also comes days after McCarthy met with Trump at the former president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

In a piece published Monday, Trump is quoted as saying that he wanted the same thing the rioters wanted: to overturn President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

The committee hearings come more than six months after the violent insurrection in which supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of Biden’s win. 

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The five Republicans picked by McCarthy are not the only GOP members of the panel. Earlier this month, Pelosi appointed Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. as one of her eight choices. 

Cheney was one of the two GOP representatives who had voted to create the committee last month. She was also one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January.

The decision to choose Cheney was notable, especially as McCarthy reportedly threatened to strip GOP representatives’ committee seats if they accepted an appointment to the panel from Pelosi, according to NBC news. 

Pelosi also appointed Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who will lead the panel. The other members include Democratic Reps. Pete Aguilar, Adam Schiff, and Zoe Lofgren of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Elaine Luria of Virginia and Stephanie Murphy of Florida. 

The formation of the panel has been a flashpoint of debate between Democrats and Republicans. 

The select committee passed in a mostly 222-190 party-line vote last month, after Senate Republicans blocked a previous bill that would have created an independent commission to investigate the insurrection.

Many GOP leaders asserted that the select committee would only duplicate existing efforts by the Justice Department and standing congressional committees to probe the attack on the Capitol.

The committee will investigate what caused the attack on the Capitol, which includes examining activities of law enforcement agencies and technological factors that may have prompted the event. It will also issue a report on its findings and how to prevent another attempt to disrupt the transfer of power.

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Trump says he and Capitol rioters needed similar factor: Overturning Biden win

Trump says he and Capitol rioters wanted same thing: Overturning Biden win

Trump supporters near the U.S Capitol, on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Shay Horse | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump told reporters he wanted the same thing that members of the mob during the violent Jan. 6 Capitol riot wanted: overturning the election of President Joe Biden.

“Personally, what I wanted is what they wanted,” Trump said of the rioters, according to an article Monday in Vanity Fair that excerpts the new book “I Alone Can Fix It,” by Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker.

The former president downplayed the deadly violence at the Capitol that day, while repeating several lies and erroneous claims about the integrity of the election, according to the article.

“They showed up just to show support because I happen to believe the election was rigged at a level like nothing has ever been rigged before,” Trump told the two reporters during an interview in late March at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“There’s tremendous proof. There’s tremendous proof. Statistically, it wasn’t even possible that [Biden] won. Things such as, if you win Florida and Ohio and Iowa, there’s never been a loss,” he said.

Trump also claimed in the interview that Capitol Police welcomed members of the mob that day into the halls of Congress, and warmly greeted them after thousands of his supporters marched from a rally outside the White House, where he had urged them to fight against the confirmation of Biden’s win by Congress.

“In all fairness, the Capitol Police were ushering people in,” Trump said.

“The Capitol Police were very friendly. They were hugging and kissing. You don’t see that. There’s plenty of tape on that,” he said in the article, headlined: “‘I’m Getting the Word Out’: Inside the Feverish Mind of Donald Trump Two Months After Leaving the White House.”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

The article notes that “Trump didn’t mention the countless accounts of horrific violence — that of a riotous mob shoving a police officer to the ground, later threatening to shoot him with his own gun, or that of an insurrectionist bashing a flagpole into another police officer’s chest, or that of yet another officer howling in pain as he was compressed in a closing door.”

However, Trump did allude, obliquely, to the violence, albeit after he talked about the “loving crowd” at his rally before the riot at the Capitol.

“There was a lot of love. I’ve heard that from everybody. Many, many people have told me that was a loving crowd,” Trump said, before adding: “It was too bad, it was too bad that they did that.”

More than 500 people have been arrested in connection with the riot, which invaded the Senate chamber, caused then-Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress to hide in secure locations, and disrupted for hours a joint session of Congress that was in the process of confirming Biden’s win.

Five people died in connection with the riot, among them Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. More than 100 other cops were injured in the melee.

Members of U.S. Capitol Police try to fend off a mob of supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump as one of them tries to use a flag like a spear as the supporters storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, January 6, 2021.

Leah Millis | Reuters

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Trump griped during his interview with the Post reporters about the failure of Pence and Barr to follow through on his claims, and take steps to keep him in office. Pence oversaw the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6.

“The greatest fraud ever perpetrated in this country was this last election,” Trump said in the interview. “It was rigged and it was stolen. It was both. It was a combination, and Bill Barr didn’t do anything about it.”

D.C. Police Officer Daniel Hodges

Source: D.C. Police Dept.

“Had Mike Pence had the courage to send it back to the legislatures, you would have had a different outcome, in my opinion,” the former president said.

Trump also faulted the U.S. Supreme Court, which has three justices whom he appointed, for failing to take up his campaign’s election claims.

“I needed better judges. The Supreme Court was afraid to take it,” Trump said. “It [Biden’s win] should have been reversed by the Supreme Court. I’m very disappointed in the Supreme Court because they did a very bad thing for the country.”

Trump also trashed other Republicans, as well as members of his own administration in the interview, among them Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Debora Birx, the late Sen. John McCain, Sen, Mitt Romney, Sen. Ben Sasse and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

Trump called McConnell, whose wife Elaine Chao served as Trump’s Transportation secretary, “a stupid person” for refusing to eliminate the Senate’s filibuster and for not convincing Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, to become a Republican.

He also boasted about the seaside location of Mar-a-Lago, the size of one of its window panes and his four years in office. His press secretary handed the reporters copies of a bound document titled “1,000 Accomplishments of President Donald J. Trump: Highlights of the First Term,” the article said.

Trump also suggested that he was — and remains — unbeatable in an election against any other live candidate.

“I think it would be hard if George Washington came back from the dead and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president, I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me,” Trump said.

Correction: Trump’s press secretary handed the reporters copies of a bound document titled “1,000 Accomplishments of President Donald J. Trump: Highlights of the First Term,” the article said. An earlier version misidentified the parties involved.

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Matt Gaetz’s marketing campaign paid $20,000 to Trump crony Roger Stone’s firm

Matt Gaetz's campaign paid $20,000 to Trump crony Roger Stone's company

Florida Republican Republican Matt Gaetz’s campaign committee paid at least $ 20,000 to a company the Justice Department claims was used by GOP politician Roger Stone and his wife to avoid taxes, such as campaign funding reports showed.

Gaetz’s campaign paid Drake Ventures LLC for three months for “Strategic Campaign Consulting,” according to the quarterly filings of the Federal Electoral Commission committee, the latest of which was released Thursday.

That filing showed that the campaign raised approximately $ 1.45 million and spent more than $ 1.9 million between April and June, and also revealed that more than $ 825,000 was spent on the Logan Circle Group , who hired PR firm Gaetz when news surfaced that he was involved in a federal investigation into sex trafficking. Gaetz is not charged with criminal law and denies any wrongdoing.

The Logan Circle Group is run by Harlan Hill, who was banned from appearing on Fox News after tweeting that Vice President Kamala Harris “comes across as such an unbearable lie.”

Gaetz’s campaign also paid $ 50,000 in legal fees for the quarter, half of which went to the law firm of Marc Fernich, the defense attorney whose notable clients include the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and the long-dead belong gang boss John Gotti.

The Gaetz campaign paid Stone’s company in four separate portions of $ 5,000, the documents showed. The FEC filings list a Fort Lauderdale address for Drake Ventures associated with Stone, who lives near the coastal city of Florida.

The first of those rates came in late March, less than a week before the New York Times first reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and was paying for her travel with him. Three days after the news broke, a second payment of $ 5,000 was made to Stone.

Gaetz’s friend, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to a number of crimes in May in the case that reportedly led to the investigation of Gaetz. Greenberg cooperates with the federal prosecutor’s office.

The other two payments to Drake Ventures came after the DOJ filed a civil lawsuit against Stone and his wife, Nydia Stone, in mid-April alleging the couple used the company as an “alter ego” to “get their personal income off the ground.” protect”. forced collection and finance a lavish lifestyle. “

“They used Drake Ventures to obtain payments to be made to Roger Stone personally to pay for their personal expenses, protect their assets and avoid reporting taxable income to the IRS,” the DOJ wrote in its appeal .

The Stones owe nearly $ 2 million in unpaid federal taxes and other fees, the DOJ alleged in the lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale federal district court.

Federal prosecutors also accused the Stones of “defrauding the United States” by using assets in Drake Ventures’ accounts to buy their home on behalf of a separate trust.

Stone has described the lawsuit as “politically motivated”.

“Our FEC filings speak for themselves,” said a Gaetz spokesman on Thursday evening in an email to CNBC. “Despite an endless barrage of lies from the media, Congressman Gaetz continues to be one of the greatest fundraisers in Congress and the only Republican not to accept donations from federal lobbyists or PACs. He thanks his tens of thousands of donors and pledges “to always fight for them.”

Hardly any information was given about the company’s “strategic campaign advice” for the Gaetz campaign.

“I’m not interested in talking about the case or anything on record,” said Brian Harris, an attorney representing Stone and Drake Ventures on the DOJ lawsuit, in a brief phone call with CNBC before hanging up .

Stone did not respond to CNBC’s inquiries about Gaetz’s campaign committee payments. Two other attorneys representing the Stones and Drake Ventures, Derick Vollrath and Jeffrey Neiman, made no comment.

Stone and Gaetz are both Florida based and both are loyal to former President Donald Trump, who has lived at his Palm Beach golf club since leaving office in January.

In late December, Trump pardoned 68-year-old Stone, who had been convicted of lying to Congress under oath.

– CNBC’s Brian Schwartz contributed to this report.