A onetime campaign adviser to former President Trump is set to go back to court on Friday for a bail hearing.
Thomas Barrack will appear in front of a federal magistrate judge in Los Angeles to determine if he will receive bail after he was charged with multiple counts for allegedly working as an undisclosed foreign lobbyist on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, Bloomberg reported.
After his arrest Tuesday, prosecutors told the judge that Barrack was a flight risk and should not receive bail.
The prosecutors said he is “an extremely wealthy and powerful individual with substantial ties to Lebanon, the UAE, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” who could leave on on his private plane.
They said Barrack has “deep and longstanding ties to countries that do not have extradition treaties with the United States.”
Barrack was part of Trump’s 2016 campaign and later pushed for policies that would benefit the UAE. At one point, Barrack talked to Trump about appointing himself as an ambassador to the country.
Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi and Matthew Grimes, friends of Barrack, were also accused of undisclosed foreign lobbying.
Barrack and Grimes have both been arrested, while Alshahhi remains to be found.
“The defendants repeatedly capitalized on Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected President, high-ranking campaign and government officials, and the American media to advance the policy goals of a foreign government without disclosing their true allegiances,” Mark Lesko, the acting head of the Justice Department’s national security division, said in a statement.