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Prosecutors have charged Barrack, 75, with using his influence
between 2016 and 2018 to advance United Arab Emirates foreign
policy goals without notifying the U.S. attorney general of his
involvement as required by law.
Barrack, who supported Trump's successful 2016 White House run
and directed his inaugural committee, has pleaded not guilty and
faces a Sept. 19 trial in Brooklyn federal court.
In a court filing, Barrack's lawyers accused prosecutors of
seeking to introduce evidence that would improperly appeal to
jurors' "class bias" against wealthy people.
While the specific disputed evidence concerning Barrack was
redacted, Barrack's lawyers said "photographs of his personal
property" and other details were "unduly prejudicial" and "have
no place in this trial."
"Evidence of too many summer homes would be highly relevant if
Mr. Barrack were on trial for his success, but he is not," they
wrote.
Barrack's lawyers cited a 2007 Forbes report listing his net
worth at $2.3 billion as proof he was wealthy long before he
allegedly worked on behalf of the UAE.
"If anything, the level of success Mr. Barrack attained through
a lifetime of laborious efforts cuts against the government's
contention that he would abruptly risk it all, at seventy years
old, to become an agent of a foreign power," they added.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn declined
to comment.
Barrack was arrested in 2021 and released on $250 million bond.
He has stepped down from being chief executive and executive
chairman of digital infrastructure-focused private equity firm
DigitalBridge Group Inc, formerly known as Colony Capital.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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