Tom Barrack released on a $250 million bond in illegal foreign lobbying case

Tom Barrack, a longtime Donald Trump aid who was indicted on
charges of illegal foreign lobbying,  was
released from jail pending trial by a federal judge on Friday on a bail package
that includes a $250 million bond secured by $5 million in cash.

Barrack will also need to wear a GPS location monitoring
bracelet. He has been barred from transferring any funds overseas and his travel
to parts of Southern California and New York will be restricted.

The Trump aide was arrested in Los Angeles on Tuesday, where
he appeared in the court of US Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue and has been
in custody since then.

The Justice Department had requested the court that he
should be held in custody while he is moved to New York for his arraignment,
calling him a serious risk of flight due to his “vast wealth,”
foreign connections and access to private aircraft, CNN reported quoting court
filings.

The DOJ cited the example of Rashid Sultan Rashid Al-Malik
Alshahhi, the co-defendant in the case who had fled the country three days
after the FBI questioned him in 2018. He is still on the run.

The prosecutors fear that due to Barrack’s connections
to senior leaders in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, countries without
extradition treaties with the United States, he could have “the assistance” of those
countries’ “highest leaders” if he were able to flee to those
countries via his private aircraft.

Barrack is charged in a seven-count indictment with acting as an agent of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018. He is also charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal law enforcement agents.

The 74-year-old, who is the founder and executive chairman of publicly traded REIT (CLNY) Colony Capital Inc, was a senior adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign.