www.FARA.us

Two federal cases charging violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) by Russian companies and individuals alleged to have acted as unregistered foreign agents to interfere in the 2016 and 2018 elections are still pending. The cases are part of a larger effort by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to more aggressively enforce FARA.

Internet Research Agency

In February 2018, a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an eight-count indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies, among them the Internet Research Agency, alleging that ...

On July 23, 2019, a federal jury convicted Bijan Rafiekian (also known as Bijan Kian), a former business partner of Michael Flynn, of conspiring to file a materially false statement under FARA and of violating a statute that is similar to FARA at 18 U.S.C. § 951. The conviction represents a key victory for the Department of Justice (DOJ) as it seeks to more aggressively enforce FARA. As Assistant Attorney General John Demers stated following the verdict, “Through misrepresentations in his FARA filing, Mr. Rafiekian attempted to deceive the public and influence key leaders on behalf ...

As part of a continuing push to address foreign influence in the United States, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) enacted on August 13, 2018, includes new disclosure requirements for foreign-affiliated media companies operating in the United States. A public notice issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on September 4, 2018, explained that the NDAA amends the Communications Act to add language requiring these outlets to submit to the FCC a report containing its name and relationship to its foreign principal.

The new law requires that U.S.-based ...

Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of the 1990s musical group The Fugees, was indicted earlier this month for violating federal campaign finance and tax laws.  The charges stemmed from Pras allegedly making $865,000 worth of illegal “straw donations” through a network of 20 people to the 2012 Obama presidential campaign on behalf of disgraced Malaysian financier Jho Low.  Pras also allegedly gave more than $1 million of Mr. Low’s money to an independent expenditure committee in his name and in the name of his company.  The effort was, according to the indictment, intended to ...

On May 6, 2019, the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida ruled in favor of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in a proceeding that involved a Florida broadcasting company named RM Broadcasting, which contended it should not be required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) as a result of its involvement in the U.S. distribution of the Russian radio channel Sputnik. The Sputnik radio channel is owned and produced by the Russian state-owned media corporation Rossiya Segodnya.

This case is the first civil enforcement case that DOJ has pursued since ...

A Florida-based broadcasting company filed suit last year against the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), claiming it should not be required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”). The company, RM Broadcasting, broadcasts the radio channel Sputnik, whose parent company, Rossiya Segodnya, is owned and operated by the Russian government. Sputnik registered as a foreign agent under FARA in 2017. RM Broadcasting has a deal with a D.C.-area radio station to broadcast Sputnik twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

In June 2018, DOJ advised RM ...

The Justice Department (DOJ) has stepped up enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) in recent years and has put much of its more recent focus on pressing Chinese and Russian state-run media companies to register as foreign agents under the Act.

FARA requires an “agent of a foreign principal” to register under the Act. While FARA excludes from the definition of “agent of a foreign principal” any news or press service, this exemption applies only if the company is at least 80% owned by U.S. citizens and is not owned, directed, supervised, controlled, or ...

DOJ National Security Division Announces Significant Appointment and Shift on FARA Enforcement

U.S. Department of Justice official John C. Demers, who heads the Department’s National Security Division, announced yesterday that Brandon Van Grack will now lead the team that enforces the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”).  Mr. Demers described the appointment as signaling a shift “from treating FARA as an administrative obligation and regulatory obligation to one that is increasingly an enforcement priority.”

This announcement is the prosecutorial ...

Michael Cohen’s testimony on February 27, 2018 before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform featured several heated exchanges, including one particular line of questioning about the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) from Mark Meadows (R-NC). Congressman Meadows suggested during the hearing that Mr. Cohen’s work for several foreign companies obligated him to register under FARA, which he then followed-up with a criminal referral to the Department of Justice that reportedly asserted Mr. Cohen should have registered his representations under FARA ...

Amid high-profile cases involving the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), some Members of Congress have expressed increased interest in improving transparency and enforcement of FARA. Their efforts have thus far stalled, but the landscape could be shifting toward reform.  Here are notable pieces of legislation and other congressional actions to watch:

• Disclosing Foreign Influence Act: This legislation, introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), repeals an exemption in FARA that allows lobbyists for foreign corporations and nonprofits to register under the ...