ISTANBUL (Dispatches) – U.S. 
envoy Thomas Barrack violated American “ethics” rules by advocating for a firm run by his business partner to help develop an oil pipeline from Iraq to Syria, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
In July, Iraq and Syria signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with a consortium made up of TI Capital, run by Barack’s business partner Ziad Ghandour, along with Chevron and Qatar’s UCC Holding.
The documents authorized the consortium to conduct technical and financial studies to prepare to rehabilitate the pipeline between oil-rich Kirkuk in northern Iraq and Baniyas on the Syrian coast.
Baghdad and Damascus seek to revive the pipeline, which was shuttered after the illegal U.S. invasion in 2003, as part of a broader effort to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Barrack, who serves as President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Iraq and Syria and as Ambassador to Turkiye, has a longstanding business relationship with TI Capital and its founder, Ghandour.
In 2025, Barak held a stake in TI Capital that entitled him to 20 percent of profits from a real-estate development near San Francisco, California.
After the terrorist war on Iran began, Barrack lobbied Iraqi and Syrian officials to include Ghandour’s TI Capital in the Kirkuk-Baghdad pipeline project, which is expected to cost $15 billion and take four years to complete.
In June, one month before the consortium agreement was signed, Barrack and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi issued a joint statement announcing Iraq’s decision to sign the MoU with TI Capital to participate in the pipeline project.
Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer and University of Minnesota Law School professor, says advocating for TI Capital’s inclusion violated U.S. “ethics” rules because of his relationship with Ghandour.
Barack’s actions violate the impartiality rule, which applies regardless of whether a U.S. official stands to gain financially.
His promotion of TI Capital violates a regulation prohibiting officials from using their office to endorse any enterprise or the benefit people with whom they are affiliated, Don Fox, a former general counsel and acting director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, explained.
Barrack discussed the idea of bringing TI Capital into the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline project during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles in May, one of the sources speaking with Reuters stated.
Barrack and Ghandour participated in an invite-only panel at the conference, where they discussed the need for new energy supply lines in West Asia amid the ongoing closure of Hormuz.
Iraqi officials have said TI Capital will join another consortium with UCC Holding and ConocoPhillips to assess the Akkas gas field, one of Iraq’s largest undeveloped reserves.
The firm also states on its website that it is involved in projects at Syria’s Tartous port, without providing details.
A person close to Barrack said Ghandour is playing a key role in implementing Trump’s regional strategy of bringing Iraq and Syria closer to the U.S. “Ziad is the chosen man. Hand-picked by Barrack,” the person said.