Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at making it harder for foreign agents to avoid registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
His bill comes just a day after President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was indicted on 12 counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent who was helping Ukrainian clients.
While Grassley said he supported the tougher enforcement of FARA against Trump’s former team members, he has also warned that FARA needs to be enforced fairly to members of both parties, and said FARA enforcement has been lackluster for years.
“Policymakers are here to serve the interests of the American people, so we need to know when someone is pushing the priorities of a foreign interest,” Grassley said. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen time and again how lobbyists of foreign principals skirt existing disclosure laws to conceal their clients’ identities and agendas. Congress passed the Foreign Agents Registration Act to prevent inappropriate influence in domestic policy, but my oversight work has uncovered rampant disregard by foreign agents and lackluster enforcement by federal authorities.”
The Foreign Agents Registration Act was passed in 1938, and aims to help Americans have a clearer picture of when and how foreign interest groups are pushing political agendas in the U.S., either to affect legislation or to influence public opinion.
Grassley’s bill is aimed at solving three current problems with the law. First, officials note that there are no “compulsory investigative tools” in the law that they can use to improve enforcement and compliance.
To fix that, Grassley’s bill would give the U.S. Attorney General “investigative demand authority” to investigate people who fail to register as foreign agents.
Secondly, Grassley says the Lobbying Disclosure Act amended FARA in a way that created an exemption from registering under FARA, which many have used to avoid filing. His bill would eliminate that exemption.
Last, a watchdog report said there is no FARA enforcement strategy within the Department of Justice, and Grassley’s bill would require the department to develop one.
After Manafort’s failure to register under FARA, he retroactively filed as someone working for Ukrainian interests.
FARA problems also touched Tony Podesta, the brother to John Podesta, who served as Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager. Podesta announced he’s stepping down from his position in the Podesta Group, a D.C. lobbying firm.
Podesta’s firm worked with Manafort’s on a public relations campaign for a non-profit in Ukraine. Like Manafort, Podesta retroactively filed FARA registration, but only after media reports highlighted the potential problems.
