Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testifies in trial of Trump confidant Thomas Barrack
CBSN
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took the stand Monday as a witness in the New York trial of Thomas Barrack, a billionaire friend of former President Donald Trump accused of unlawfully lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
Tillerson is the first member of the Trump administration to testify in the trial of Barrack, an adviser to the 2016 Trump campaign and chair of the presidential inaugural committee. Barrack is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI about his dealings. Federal prosecutors say that from 2016 to 2018, Barrack sought to advance a UAE "wish list" of foreign policy positions. Tillerson served as secretary of state from February 2017 through March 2018.
Barrack was charged in July 2021 and has pleaded not guilty. At the time, he was executive chairman of investment firm Colony Capital, which is now known as DigitalBridge. Also charged was a Colony Capital employee named Matthew Grimes, and Rashid Al Malik, an Emirati citizen then living in California.
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