Trump Ally Thomas Barrack Wants Trump Critics Off Jury In His BK Trial

NEW YORK CITY — He is "divisive, ignorant, racist, misogynistic, and dislikable in every way." He's also an "absolute degenerate" who disregards democracy. "He's a crook."

Dozens of jurors in billionaire investor Thomas Barrack's upcoming federal trial in Brooklyn had those harsh words — and more — to say not about Barrack, but his longtime friend and ally: former President Donald Trump.

Barrack's lawyers argued in a recent court filing those people should be excluded from the jury, in large part because the Sept. 19 trial will hinge on whether Barrack tried to unlawfully lobby the Trump administration on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

"It is difficult to imagine a situation that more clearly demonstrates both express and relevant implied bias than jurors who express that President Trump is their least favorite person in the entire world," wrote Randall Jackson, one of Barrack's attorneys.

"In no normal case would a juror be kept on who expressed that a key figure in the case was their least favorite person in the world."

Barrack is a longtime Trump friend who chaired his 2017 inaugural committee.

But federal authorities accused Barrack, along with two other men, of acting as agents for the United Arab Emirates and influencing the Trump administration's foreign policy decisions.

After Barrack's arrest in 2021, a judge set a $250 million bond in the case.

Prospective jurors were asked to fill out questionnaires that covered, in part, their feelings about Trump — and some didn't hold back.

"Juror 15 indicated that Trump was their 'least admired' person because he is 'self-centered and hatred filled and childish leadership,'" is just one example, according to court documents.

Juror 290, in another example, responded that Trump was their least admired person for "stroking division and conflict, targeting marginalized groups.”

Barrack's attorneys argued that even bringing those prospective jurors in for questioning could taint the final jury who would be listening.

"That the Government wishes to actually bring in such jurors for lengthy individual questioning to try to get to the root of the psychology behind their hatred of the Trump Administration displays a focus on winning disconnected from the pursuit of justice," Jackson, Barrack's attorney, wrote.