Rex Tillerson takes stand in Trump ally trial
BROOKLYN (CN) — Prosecutors called former Secretary of Defense Rex Tillerson as a witness Monday in the federal trial against Donald Trump’s former inaugural committee chair Tom Barrack, who stands accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent during Trump’s candidacy and time as president-elect.
Barrack, a longtime Trump ally, is charged with working on behalf of the United Arab Emirates as well as obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI while under investigation. The 75-year-old became the “eyes, ears and voice” of the UAE, all in the “corrupt pursuit of money and power,” prosecutors say.
Before accepting Trump’s nomination, Tillerson — now 70 and sporting a white mustache — was a few months shy of retirement from his role as chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, rounding out more than four decades at the energy giant.
Barrack’s attorneys attempted to draw a parallel between their client’s work and Tillerson’s. The former oil executive said he had briefed former presidents and vice presidents before being called to the Trump Tower in New York City to do the same for Trump, and he described meetings of his own with foreign officials and traveling to, by his estimate, 40 or 50 countries, including at least a dozen trips to the UAE.
Yet he hadn’t registered as a foreign agent, noted attorney Randall Jackson of the New York City-based firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, seeking confirmation from Tillerson that the thought had “never even crossed your mind.”
Not so, Tillerson responded.
https://www.courthousenews.com/rex-tillerson-takes-stand-in-trump-ally-trial/
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