When former adviser to Donald Trump, Tom Barrack, was indicted on charges of being an unregistered foreign agent, political pundits questioned how long it would be before he flipped on the former president. According to a CNN.com report Thursday, it doesn't appear to be coming any time soon.
Barrack has retained two top New York defense lawyers, indicating he intends to fight the Justice Department charges and refuse to cooperate with investigators. As a billionaire, CNN noted that he appears willing to spend it all to fight a very expensive trial.
Michael Schachter and Randall Jackson are the two new lawyers and they have a history of working with wealthy international businessmen. In 2019, they cleared Lebanese salesman Jean Boustani of money laundering and fraud.
Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade said after reading the indictment for Barrack that there is likely more to come. She noted how difficult the defense will be in part because Barrack put so much in writing that the DOJ has.
"It is what I would refer to as a speaking indictment in that the allegations are very detailed, so this is not some big allegation that just parrots the language of the statute," said McQuade. "It quotes from e-mail messages where it talks about how Tom Barrack was acting under the direction and control of foreign officials in the UAE."
