Former trustee Thomas Barrack pleads not guilty to seven-count indictment


By
 in ,
A low angle image of a various windowed tower on a red and brown bricked building. Tree branches and leaves surround the frame.
Former Board of Trustee Thomas Barrack, alongside two other men, faces federal charges alleging he acted as a United Arab Emirates agent to advance the foreign country’s policy agendas. (Charlie McCollum | Daily Trojan) 

In his first court appearance Monday, former USC Trustee and alumnus Thomas Barrack pleaded not guilty to federal charges that allege he was tasked to influence public opinion and foreign policy positions to benefit the United Arab Emirates through his role in the Trump campaign and administration. 

“I am innocent and I will prove that in court,” said Barrack in a statement.

In the seven-count indictment issued and filed by the United States District Court’s Eastern District of New York July 16, Barrack was accused of conspiring as a UAE agent in the United States, obstructing justice and creating false statements in a 2019 FBI interview. 

Barrack’s plea comes after he was released from jail on a $250 million bond and agreed not to flee the country to avoid prosecution. Per the terms of his release, Barrack also surrendered his passports and travel documents and agreed to comply with a GPS monitoring bracelet and refrain from transferring funds or engaging in transactions overseas.

Barrack, who graduated from USC in 1969 and served as a member of the USC Board of Trustees since 2012, was indicted alongside Matthew Grimes, who works under Barrack at a global investment firm, and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, a UAE national. The indictment alleges the men acted, aided and abetted each other in acting as UAE agents in the United States and developed plans to increase the UAE’s political influence and promote its foreign policy preferences. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, Barrack had taken over 75 international trips on his private jet over the last five years, including a trip to the UAE as recently as March. Prosecutors also sought to keep Barrack in custody, deeming him a “flight risk” as “an extremely wealthy and powerful man” with ties and assets overseas, according to court documents filed July 20.

Following his arrest, Barrack resigned from his roles on the USC Board of Trustees, the First Republic Bank and DigitalBridge — the latter a company he founded.  

Barrack will appear in court on Sept. 2.