Tom Barrack and Donald Trump have been friends and confidants for more than three decades — the two men are so close, for instance, that Barrack comforted Trump during the funeral of his father, Fred.
“The president was really surprised to read all about the inauguration and who was trying to buy access and how, because the president doesn’t get any of that money,” said the official. Story continuesBut that advice has not always been stellar. According to the Mueller report, Barrack recommended that Trump hire his old friend Paul Manafort, who was initially brought onto the campaign to smooth Trump’s path at the Republican convention. Manafort went on to assume a larger role in the campaign after the firing of Corey Lewandowski, only to be ousted himself amid media scrutiny of his business dealings in Ukraine -- and later to be indicted for those activities.
All the money raised for the convention, a record $107 million, was for the specific purpose of covering inauguration costs, but it came from a number of people and companies Barrack couldn’t convince to give money to the campaign or to outside groups when he was raising money for Trump during the 2016 campaign, according to the senior administration official.
“The relationship between Mr. Barrack and the president remains unchanged,” he said in a statement. “They have been friends for 40 years and Tom has great respect for President Trump and the incredibly daunting task of executing the job of president of the United States. Just as the president has worked 24/7 to lead the strongest economy in the last 50 years, Mr. Barrack also has a 24/7 responsibility leading a business he created 26 years ago.
A report recently released by Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee showed that Barrack worked with well-connected UAE businessman Rashid Al-Malik to make suggestions for an energy speech Trump gave in 2016 to be more favorable toward the Middle East and urged Manafort to get Trump to mention Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
Barrack’s spokesman said that Barrack has fully cooperated with the investigation and that his counsel reached out to the Justice Department, which the spokesman said had confirmed that it had no further questions for Barrack. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment.
Because Trump is losing his mind, it's so painfully obvious 🤦
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