Former Trump inaugural committee chair Tom Barrack on Friday was released from federal lockup in California on a $250 million bond ahead of his scheduled arraignment in New York on charges that he acted as an agent of the United Arab Emirates and obstructed justice.
As part of the terms of his release, Barrack, 74, is subject to electronic monitoring and will have to foot the bill for his GPS ankle bracelet, Judge Patricia Donahue ordered, signing off on an agreement that had been worked out between the government and Barrack's attorneys.
Barrack, a private equity investor and founder of the investment firm Colony Capital, also had to surrender his passports and is barred from transferring funds overseas, the judge said. He cannot trade any securities without written permission from federal prosecutors and is not allowed to transfer more than $50,000, except for attorneys fees.
He's scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday. His spokesman said earlier this week that Barrack "is not guilty and will be pleading not guilty."
A longtime friend of former President Donald Trump, Barrack had been behind bars since his arrest Tuesday on charges that he and two co-defendants were "acting and conspiring to act as agents" of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018, but without registering as foreign agents.
Prosecutors said Barrack and the others acted "to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the United States at the direction of senior UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the campaign of a candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the U.S. government in the incoming administration."
Barrack was also charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements to federal law enforcement agents.
