Rudy Giuliani has worked on behalf of clients in Brazil and Colombia, and has represented Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, an Iranian resistance group, according to reports. | Charles Krupa/AP Photo Democratic senators ask DOJ to examine Giuliani’s foreign work

Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and six fellow Democratic senators asked the Justice Department on Wednesday to review whether President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is complying with federal foreign lobbying laws.

“We request that the Department of Justice review whether he is in compliance with [the Foreign Agents Registration Act], including whether he has an obligation to register any undisclosed political activities, has any delinquent filings, or has any deficiencies or abnormalities in his registration statements,” the senators wrote in the letter, addressed to Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers.


In addition to Udall, the letter was signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

In response to the letter, Giuliani told POLITICO in a text "nothing done to influence U.S. government ever. Do they think I'm a fool like them. All of it security and law enforcement." Giuliani added that none of his work "implicates FARA."

The letter comes after POLITICO and other news outlets reported last week that Giuliani received a fee from Freeh Group International Solutions, run by Clinton FBI Director Louis Freeh, for a letter he sent to the president of Romania in August that criticized the country’s anti-corruption measures. Giuliani’s position in his letter contradicted that of the State Department.

“This activity raises both the question of whether Mr. Giuliani may have attempted to influence U.S. policy and what the U.S. government's true position is, given his role as the President’s personal attorney and public spokesman,” the senators wrote, in reference to the letter to the Romanian president.

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Giuliani said his work for Freeh was "clearly outside of FARA" because the firm is an American entity and was the one that paid him. It’s unclear who the Freeh Group is working for.

In addition to his work for the Freeh Group, Giuliani has also worked on behalf of clients in Brazil and Colombia, and has represented Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, an Iranian resistance group, according to The Washington Post. In Wednesday’s letter, the senators write that Giuliani is mentioned “in nearly every article” describing MEK’s lobbying effort to be removed from the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list.

“Given Mr. Giuliani’s receipt of significant payment from the MEK and simultaneous advocacy on behalf of that group and its objectives, his actions may require registration under FARA,” the senators wrote.

The letter comes at a time when there is substantial scrutiny around foreign lobbying, as former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort goes to trial this month for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent for lobbying work he did on behalf of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his political allies, among other allegations.

Members of Congress have also recently introduced legislation to crack down on foreign lobbying. Warren introduced a bill in August that would stop Americans from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments and companies. In addition, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) introduced legislation last year intended to toughen up requirements for foreign lobbying.

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