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Donald Trump's billionaire buddy real estate financier Tom Barrack said that his friendship with the incredibly divisive former President has had a terrible impact on his business during his criminal trial on Monday.
Barrack, who was chair of Trump's inaugural committee, testified in his own defense and, when questioned by his attorney, had one word for how his relationship with Trump impacted his global investment business:
"Disastrous."
But he wasn't done there. When his attorney asked him:
"Would it have been better to support someone else?"
Barrack responded:
"In hindsight, unquestionably."
Barrack said that he didn't think Trump would continue with the awful and offensive rhetoric, instead expecting him to grow more reasonable after the election.
"I thought he would transition, this rhetoric. [...] The style was something that I and others didn’t appreciate. I thought he would just change."
Trump didn't transition his rhetoric though. If anything, it got worse.
Barrack, who had previously called Trump "smart, instinctively brilliant and more resilient than anybody I ever knew.", testified that Trump's continued crusade of crassness was extremely detrimental to his publicly traded company, Colony Capital.
"Owners of public shares vote with their feet. It was a nightmare."
Twitter users definitely felt some schadenfreude when seeing Barrack's trial.
\u201c@thedailybeast \ud83d\udd36I watched Tom Barrack use his friendship with the sleeze Trump to make even more money for both of them! I've waited years for him to be fined or jailed!\u201d— The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast) 1666645207
\u201c@thedailybeast\u201d— The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast) 1666645207
\u201c@thedailybeast HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA \n\nYour friendly reminder that whatever Donald Trump touches dies.\n\n#VoteBlueForDemocracy\u201d— The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast) 1666645207
\u201c@PoliticsVerse He\u2019s tryna convince the jury \u201cwhy would I do business with trump illegally for other countries he\u2019s terrible at business\u201d\nThey won\u2019t fall for that even though the terrible part is true he still did his illegally\u201d— PoliticsVerse \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PoliticsVerse \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1666663798
Some just wholeheartedly agreed with Barrack's assessment that Trump was a disaster.
\u201c@AlisonKateCartr @thedailybeast @gtconway3d More like the entire free world.\u201d— The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast) 1666645207
\u201c@thedailybeast @gtconway3d Why in heaven\u2019s name would anyone want to follow biggest conman knowing fully everything near him is one giant criminal cesspool? \n\nTrump\u2019s name is at junk status. As POTUS he was atrocious beyond inhumane. So why go down this gutter with this off-broadway, no talent, evil?\u201d— The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast) 1666645207
\u201c@thedailybeast He tanked every business he ever touched, of course he's bad for business.\u201d— The Daily Beast (@The Daily Beast) 1666645207
\u201c@PoliticsVerse ...And guest starring Tom Barack as Captain Obvious\u201d— PoliticsVerse \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PoliticsVerse \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1666663798
\u201c@PoliticsVerse He was disastrous as president too!\u201d— PoliticsVerse \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PoliticsVerse \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1666663798
According to a Justice Department release from last year, Barrack is on trial for alleged illegal lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates and putting U.S. national security at risk.
"Barrack is alleged to have abused his access to government officials to illegally advance the interests of foreign governments. The FBI stands in concert with our external partners to ensure all who seek to wield illegal influence are charged for their crimes."
Barrack's case is a rare example of the ultra rich facing the possibility of real consequences for their actions, possibly including prison time.