The ongoing probe into Russian collusion has torn back the veil on foreign lobbying.
Several powerful lobbyists and operatives have run into charges they violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that was implemented in 1938 to cope with the spread of Nazi propaganda. The purpose of FARA was to require that people lobbying on behalf of foreign interests be transparent about whose interests they’re representing. Failure to file with the Justice Department within 10 days of entering into an agreement is a felony, albeit one that has historically been prosecuted on a very rare basis.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are caught up in questions about whether they properly disclosed their lobbying on behalf of pro-Russia forces in Ukraine’s government. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has admitted to lying in retroactively filed FARA disclosures about his work on behalf of Turkish interests. But the problem is bipartisan. The now-shuttered firm of high-powered Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta, who bundled for Hillary Clinton’s campaign (of which his brother was the chairman), was involved in the same Ukrainian campaign as Manafort and Gates, and also failed to properly disclose its work. Just this week, reports revealed former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., and Democratic attorney Greg Craig were under investigation for FARA violations.
As a consequence of this increased attention, FARA filings are on the rise.
A New York Times report published Tuesday explored how the wave of FARA probes is impacting Washington’s foreign lobbying industry. “The number of new primary FARA registrations grew to 102 in 2017 from 69 in 2016, and was on pace to rise again in 2018, according to figures from the Justice Department published by the law firm Holland & Knight,” the report noted.
On its website, Holland & Knight says, “The statistics for 2018 already suggest another year of growth. According to the DOJ, in the first five months alone, there were 52 new primary registrations and 383 short form registration statements filed.”
Giving FARA some teeth isn’t draining the swamp so much as exposing it. An outcome of the special counsel investigation may be that a clearer picture of the money foreign interests pour into Washington emerges, as wealthy lobbyists are forced to come clean about whose cash is helping them buy their ostrich jackets.
