Barrack kept ties to firm in Iraq-Syria pipeline plan, Reuters reports; State Dept denies role

Right · 2Thomas Barrack, a top US diplomat in the Middle East, advocated for a firm run by his business partner to take part in developing an oil pipeline from Iraq to Syria, three people told Reuters, in activities the agency says appear to violate federal ethics rules. 1 2 Right · 2In July, Iraq and Syria signed memorandums of understanding with a consortium of the Californian investment group TI Capital, Chevron and Qatar's UCC Holding to carry out technical and financial studies for rehabilitating the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, which would skirt the Strait of Hormuz. 1 2 Right · 1Barrack is US presidential special envoy to Iraq and Syria and Ambassador to Turkey. He has a longstanding business relationship with TI Capital and its founder and chief executive Ziad Ghandour. 1

Right · 2Two of the sources, who have direct knowledge of the discussions, said Barrack pressed Syrian and Iraqi officials to include Ghandour's firm after the war in Iran began, and a third said he raised the idea in May on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. 1 2 Right · 2On June 16, a month before the consortium agreement, Barrack and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi issued a joint statement commending Iraq's decision to advance a memorandum of understanding with TI Capital to rehabilitate the pipeline; it did not mention Chevron or UCC. 1 2 Right · 2In a March 2025 filing with the US Office of Government Ethics, Barrack declared an equity stake in ACD-TI Oakley Investment LLC, a San Francisco-area housing venture managed by TI Capital, entitling him to 20% of profits once earnings reach a minimum, plus a paid 2024 consulting role. In a March 7, 2025 ethics agreement he listed it among assets he would retain, and he committed to recuse himself from matters directly affecting the venture's financial interests unless he first obtained a waiver. 1 2

Right · 1Reuters said a records request showed Barrack has filed no conflict-of-interest waiver with the Office of Government Ethics regarding TI Capital's role in the project. 1 Right · 2Reuters found no evidence that Barrack stands to profit from the pipeline or other projects, and two ethics lawyers said the ties would not be a criminal conflict of interest unless he stood to profit directly from the pipeline itself. 1 2 Right · 2Richard Painter, a former chief White House ethics lawyer, called such advocacy "a serious problem" under the non-criminal impartiality rule, which a business associate's involvement can trigger regardless of the official's own financial interest, and said Barrack should have recused completely. Don Fox, a former acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, said promoting TI Capital would also violate a rule against using office for the private gain of affiliated people. 1 2

Right · 1A fourth ethics lawyer said it was for the State Department to decide whether an employee's holdings create a potential conflict. 1 Right · 2A State Department spokesperson said Barrack "has no affiliation with, role in, or financial interest in the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline project", while acknowledging his relationship with the TI Capital real-estate venture. The spokesperson said his comments reflect long-standing US policy interest in regional energy integration and that he was certified as compliant with ethics rules. 1 2 Right · 2Barrack's office and Chevron declined to comment; TI Capital, Ghandour and UCC did not respond; and the White House referred questions to the State Department. 1 2

Right · 2The pipeline carried Iraqi crude to Syria's Mediterranean coast for decades but has been out of action since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Revival plans gained impetus this year when Iran, under US attack, restricted traffic through Hormuz; people told Reuters in August it would take at least four years and cost $15 billion. 1 2 Right · 2Barrack and Ghandour have done business since at least 2020, when they created a $250 million blank-check SPAC that was dissolved after Barrack's 2021 arrest on charges of acting as an unregistered agent of the UAE; he was acquitted in 2022. A person close to Barrack said Ghandour was "Hand-picked by Barrack". 1 2