House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) recently announced that the Committee is conducting oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) administration and enforcement of the...more
Aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) continued last year, and that trend shows no signs of receding in 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2023 filed its first affirmative civil...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) started 2024 off with a major Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) enforcement announcement. Just last week, Barry Bennett and Douglas Watts, two longtime political consultants with deep...more
WHAT: On December 13, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) proposed amendments to the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) that seek to address the public comments it received in response to its...more
Last week, a group of Republican Senators sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland expressing concern over the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its influence among student groups at American universities....more
On October 3, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) FARA Unit published a number of new advisory opinions (AOs) offering guidance and further insight on the Department’s interpretation of certain FARA registration triggers and...more
10/26/2023
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exemptions ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Governments ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Lobbying Disclosure Act ,
NGOs ,
Registration Requirement ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US State Departments
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, faces a superseding indictment filed in federal district court in New York alleging his involvement in acting as a foreign agent of Egypt and...more
10/16/2023
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Egypt ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Indictments ,
Lobbying
On July 11, 2023, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced the Retroactive Foreign Agents Registration Act (RFARA) in a continuing effort to bolster the transparency and accountability of foreign...more
On July 10, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of an eight-count indictment against dual U.S.-Israeli citizen and Hunter Biden whistleblower Gal Luft, for allegedly...more
On April 27, 2023, a bipartisan group of senators led by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reintroduced the Foreign Agents Disclosure and Registration Enhancement Act in the 118th Congress. The bill attempts to reform the Foreign...more
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its filing of a complaint charging Russian national Vladimirovich Cherkasov with several counts, including conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian...more
On March 28, 2023, The Honorable Lisa O. Monaco, Deputy Attorney General of the United States, provided remarks on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) forthcoming efforts to bolster national security in connection with the 2023...more
On March 1, 2023, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) implemented updated procedures for facility clearance (FCL) sponsorship and FCL package submissions.
Under the new procedures, government...more
On February 15, 2023, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Preventing Adversary Influence, Disinformation and Obscured Foreign Financing (PAID OFF) Act of 2023 in an effort to close registration loopholes in the Foreign...more
On January 24, 2023, a bipartisan group of senators reintroduced the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act in the 118th Congress. The group is led by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a longtime proponent of the Foreign...more
The trend in aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) enforcement continued in 2022 with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) first affirmative civil enforcement lawsuit in over 20 years and a number...more
1/20/2023
/ China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Lobbying ,
Lobbying Disclosure Act ,
Notification Requirements ,
Registration Requirement ,
Russia ,
Transparency
Please join us in a discussion on current developments regarding FARA, where we will cover:
- An overview of FARA, including reporting requirements and exemptions;
- Recent DOJ enforcement efforts and legislative...more
In recent weeks, several proposals to increase the reporting requirements for foreign agents have been introduced that would address perceived exemption “loopholes” in the Foreign Registration Act (FARA) and promote greater...more
On June 16, 2022, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Fighting Foreign Influence Act, which would impose a range of new disclosure requirements and limitations on think tanks,...more
On June 7, 2022, an affidavit inadvertently made public details of an investigation into retired General John R. Allen for allegedly failing to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) after acting as an agent...more
On May 17, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued in U.S. District Court in D.C. to compel Stephen A. Wynn to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)....more
On March 8, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its filing of a Complaint charging dual Russian and U.S. citizen Elena Branson with several counts, including conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government...more
WHAT: As previewed in our prior alert, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council on March 7, 2022 issued a final rule aimed at strengthening Buy American rules applicable to federal procurement. The final rule, which...more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has set jury selection to begin September 7, 2022, in regard to the prosecution of Thomas Barrack, a friend and former key adviser to ex-U.S. President Donald...more
1/12/2022
/ Attorney General ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FBI ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Governments ,
Foreign Policy ,
Grand Juries ,
Indictments ,
National Security ,
Notification Requirements ,
Trump Administration ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) continued to make headlines in 2021 as enforcement and modernization of the law remained a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) priority. DOJ maintained its focus on enforcement,...more
1/6/2022
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Consultants ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Governments ,
Political Contributions ,
Public Comment ,
Registration ,
Registration Requirement ,
Transparency