A strong ally of former President Donald Trump accused of using his connections to promote foreign interests was fully acquitted Friday by a federal court.
A federal court jury found billionaire Tom Barrack not guilty of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
The jury deliberated for three days before delivering their verdict.
Barrack is a longtime ally of Trump and chaired the former president's 2017 committee.
In closing arguments on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Harris told jurors that Barrack schemed to become the "eyes, ears and the voice" for the Emirates as part of a criminal conspiracy to manipulate Trump’s foreign policy.
FORMER TRUMP ADVISER TOM BARRACK PLEADING 'NOT GUILTY' TO ACTING AS UAE AGENT: ATTORNEY
At the same time, he leveraged his back-channel connections to get the UAE to funnel tens of millions of dollars into an office building he was developing and into one of his investment funds, Harris had claimed.
Defense attorney Randall Jackson argued Barrack made no attempt to conceal his relationships with Al Malik, someone in a network of business connections he had cultivated throughout the Middle East.
Jackson also said it "makes no sense" that his client would try to infiltrate the Trump campaign on the behalf of the UAE at a time when Trump’s chances of winning the presidency were considered a longshot.
The jury also found Barrack not guilty on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
