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Donald Trump’s billionaire friend Tom Barrack was found not guilty on Friday, after a trial that went on for weeks couldn’t apparently convince jurors that Barrack had illegally acted as an unregistered foreign lobbyist for the United Arab Emirates.
The five-week trial in New York City was a rare sight, with federal prosecutors aggressively attacking a modern day real estate baron. The uber wealthy investor was acquitted of being an unregistered lobbyist for a foreign government. He was also found not guilty of lying to the FBI about his interactions with UAE royals and spy agency personnel.
Barrack, 75, faced up to 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice, given the way he misled FBI special agents about his secret second phone, which he used to have encrypted chats with spy-connected Emiratis about the ways he was looking out for their interests. Those communications happened as Barrack advised Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.