Tom Barrack Wore Many Hats. Now an Indictment Hangs Over His Head

Leading up to and during the presidency of Donald Trump, Tom Barrack, founder of investment firm Colony Capital Inc., sold Trump to skeptical Wall Street titans, lauded him at the Republican National Convention, helped lead his transition team, and raised $107 million as chairman of the inaugural committee that organized the celebrations marking Trump’s ascendance. He was also, according to federal prosecutors, an unregistered agent for the United Arab Emirates.

His arrest on Tuesday is the latest blow in a long comedown for Barrack, who at 74 still radiates the tanned good health of a man who plays polo and makes wine. He lent decades of credibility built on Wall Street to Trump’s campaign and presidency, a deal that has now gone bad. Much of the trouble stems from his proclivity for comity even when there’s little room for it, as well as blindness to the failings of the royals and magnates with whom he fraternized.