Tom Barrack, a billionaire and friend of U.S. President Donald Trump, pursued a plan to buy Westinghouse Electric Corp. from Toshiba Corp. even as he lobbied Trump to become a special envoy to promote the building by the firm of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia, said a congressional report released on Monday.

While Barrack failed in both efforts, the report provides fresh evidence of the ease with which some corporate and foreign interests have gained access to Trump and other senior members of his administration.

Documents obtained by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee raise "serious questions about whether the White House is willing to place the potential profits of the President's friends above the national security of the American people and the universal objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons," the report said.