Hi, I'm Dan Pramak, and welcome to Axios Recap, where we dig into one big story.

Today is Wednesday, July 21st.

Stocks are up.

U.S. life expectancy is down, and we're focused on the arrest of a Trump confidante.

Tom Barak is many things. An extraordinarily successful real estate investor who created a

multi-billion dollar private equity firm that bought everything from hotels to telecom towers

to data centers.

He's also been referred to as one of Donald Trump's closest personal friends, even chairing

the former president's 2017 inaugural committee. In some circles,

kind of Wall Street and media circles, Barak is the guy who almost bought Harvey Weinstein's

production company until the PR heat got way too hot. Now though, Tom Barak is best known for being

in federal custody, arrested yesterday for acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates.

He also was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators. And all of it

relates to his position inside of Trump's orbit. Three things to know. First, Barak wasn't charged

under the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Instead, he was charged under the same foreign agent

statute that was used to charge Russian agent Maria Boutina and other alleged spies. In other words,

this is very serious business, which likely is why Barak isn't yet out on bail. Two, the Department

of Justice alleges, among other things, that Barak inserted language praising UAE into a speech by then candidate Trump.

He also is said to have, quote, acted at the direction of UAE officials to influence the foreign

policy positions of the incoming administration, end quote.

Number three, there's been some social media chatter this morning that all of this is about

Joe Biden politicizing the Justice Department.

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