© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Rex Tillerson, former chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil and former U.S. Secretary of State, leaves New York State Supreme Court docket within the Manhattan borough of New York Metropolis, U.S., October 30, 2019. REUTERS/Jefferson Siegel
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shall be known as as a witness by federal prosecutors within the trial of Tom Barrack, a one-time fundraiser for former President Donald Trump, on prices of illegally performing as a overseas agent for the United Arab Emirates, a courtroom submitting confirmed on Saturday.
Barrack’s protection revealed the plans in a letter to U.S. District Choose Brian Cogan through which it requested that Tillerson take the stand on Monday. The protection stated prosecutors had confirmed that they’d be calling Tillerson, however knowledgeable the protection he can be unavailable after Oct. 4 attributable to “private plans.”
Having Tillerson testify on Monday would be sure that the protection has sufficient time to cross-examine him, Barrack’s attorneys stated.
Barrack’s attorneys have stated the U.S. State Division, and Trump himself, knew of his contacts with Center East officers, displaying that Barrack didn’t intend to be a overseas agent.
Tillerson couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
A spokesman for the U.S. Lawyer’s workplace in Brooklyn, the place Barrack is being tried, declined to remark.
Barrack has pleaded not responsible. His attorneys have stated his interactions with Emirati officers had been a part of his position operating personal fairness agency Colony Capital, now often called DigitalBridge Group Inc (N:), and that there was no proof he agreed to behave on the UAE’s route.
Tillerson, the previous chief govt of ExxonMobil (NYSE:), served as Trump’s secretary of state for barely greater than a yr from 2017 to 2018.
The trial started with jury choice on Sept. 19. Throughout the first week, prosecutors offered emails and textual content messages from Barrack and an affiliate that confirmed UAE officers offered enter on what then-candidate Trump ought to say in a 2016 power coverage speech.
Prosecutors have stated Barrack by no means informed the U.S. legal professional basic he was performing as UAE brokers, as required beneath federal regulation.
In opening statements, Barrack’s lawyer Michael Schachter stated there was no proof that Barrack agreed to behave beneath the UAE’s route. The protection has not but had the prospect to cross-examine the FBI agent who learn the emails and texts to the jury.
