Watch live here or on Youtube on Friday, September 14, starting at 9:30am ET.

Use the hashtag #AskCRP to join the conversation.

In celebration of the 80th Anniversary of FARA and the launch of new Foreign Lobby Watch tools, the Center for Responsive Politics is hosting a discussion on foreign influence featuring a demo of CRP’s newly released Foreign Lobby Watch database followed by a panel of experts.

Dan Auble and Anna Massoglia of the Center for Responsive Politics will introduce the event and demo the Foreign Lobby Watch tool.

The launch and demo will be followed by a discussion with our expert panel, featuring:

Eric Lipton, Investigative Reporter, The New York Times

Lydia Dennett, Investigator, Project on Government Oversight

Ben Freeman, Director, Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative, Center for International Policy

The panel of experts will discuss the challenges of tracking foreign influence, recent developments, and proposed reforms.

Events set in motion by a recent string of high profile cases regarding disclosure of agents acting on behalf of foreign interests have ignited increased scrutiny on foreign influence from federal law enforcement officials, the media and the public.

With the once obscure disclosure rule known as the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) implicating new faces in the Trump administration and lobbying stalwarts alike, activities of lobbyists and other operatives taking millions of dollars from foreign interests to conduct influence operations in the United States have catapulted into the national spotlight. Paul Manafort, whose second trial including charges related to FARA registration issues is scheduled to begin opening statements September 24, is not the only operative facing scrutiny for issues related to failure to register as a foreign agent.

FARA cases reportedly referred to New York federal prosecutors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller implicating lobbying powerhouse Tony Podesta and a former member of Congress start to show just how widespread disclosures issues have become in the foreign lobbying and influence industry – and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sam Patten, another lobbyist with ties to Manafort, pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent under FARA for his work lobbying on behalf of a Ukrainian political party in August.

In May 2018, a Maryland man pleaded guilty to failure to register as a foreign agent for the Government of Pakistan.

Even the case against President DonaldTrump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, included alleged FARA violations involving at least two different countries.

Also among recent cases is the indictment of alleged Russian agent Maria Butina, who is accused of acting as a foreign agent of Russia. Unlike the other recent cases in the news, however, Butina is charged under 18 U.S.C. § 951. This statute prohibits agents of foreign governments from operating in the United States without first notifying the attorney general, but is distinct from FARA.

Even many prosecutors and law enforcement agents are reported to misunderstand “what constitutes a ‘FARA case’” as opposed to a case under 18 U.S.C. § 951, according to findings in a 2016 Inspector General report.

Former campaign and administration officials haven’t exactly been bashful about cashing in on their ties in the foreign lobbying sphere either, with millions of dollars legally paid to influence U.S. policy and public opinion on behalf of foreign interests disclosed in FARA reports filed with the Justice Department.

Help us keep government accountable by making a donation today.

While the spotlight on FARA came as a surprise to many, the foreign influence activities and lack of disclosure surrounding those operations now grabbing headlines is hardly an anomaly.

Foreign influence and lobbying operations have a long but surreptitious history in the United States since the Foreign Agent Registration Act was passed in 1938.

Also known as the McCormack Act after the Massachusetts congressman who sponsored it, FARA was first passed by Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938. The goal was to inform American citizens about the source of information introduced into political discourse by outside sources such as through dissemination of Nazi and Communist propaganda in the United States during the lead up to World War II.

FARA has since undergone multiple amendments, with the most significant changes made in 1966 and 1995.

Since then, the law has only resulted in a handful of guilty pleas and convictions.

Resources

Following the money using FARA disclosures made available by the U.S. Department of Justice can be difficult. Here are a few tools that make learning about foreign interest spending on lobbying and influence more accessible.

The Center for Responsive Politics’ own Foreign Lobby Watch is a new searchable database of foreign lobbying and influence spending, the first time foreign lobbying and influence spending totals have been released for 2017 and 2018.

More than 300 FARA registrants have represented over 350 foreign clients and at least half a billion dollars have been spent by foreign governments, political parties and other foreign interests to influence U.S. policy or public opinion, according to the Center’s initial findings.

Read more about the Foreign Agents Registration Act, who is required to register as a foreign agent, the information in FARA reports, exceptions, and other information on Foreign Lobby Watch’s Background page.

When an operative isn’t sure if FARA registration is required for their work or if DOJ discovers an operative who should be registered under FARA but is not, DOJ can send an advisory opinion. These advisory opinions serve a number of purposes for the public including clarifying how the law is interpreted and ensuring public oversight of FARA registrations.

In June 2018, DOJ made these advisory opinions public for the first time.

Analysis of these opinions is available from Bloomberg Government and the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).

POGO has also analyzed and compared some of the proposed legislative reforms.

Foreign Lobby Watch is supported by the Democracy Fund, with additional funding from Mertz Gilmore Foundation



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]



