Rep. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Mike Johnson have introduced new legislation that would reform the way lobbying works in Washington, D.C. The bill would require more reporting requirements for lobbyists who work on behalf of foreign interests. Of the bill, Joe Sandler states,
“It is potentially helpful in allowing the Department of Justice to investigate noncompliance…it doesn’t address the major problem, which is the ambiguity,”
Sandler comments that the bill is overly broad and in some respects leaves the law murky.
Joshua Rosenstein shares his opinions of the Manafort indictment and its relation to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in Vice News. On the topic, he shares:
“This is sort of like a FARA lawyer’s dream and nightmare,” said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, partner at Sandler Reiff, a Washington, D.C.-based political law firm specializing in the regulation of advocacy. “Even though criminal prosecutions are extraordinary, I have never seen an indictment that relies so heavily on FARA.”
You can read more of Josh Rosenstein’s thoughts on FARA, Manafort’s Indictment, and Sen. Grassley’s bill to reform FARA at the following links:
Joe Sandler and Josh Rosenstein co-authored an op-ed in Politico on Manafort’s indictment and what it means for the advocacy industry. Sandler and Rosenstein discuss how Manafort’s indictment is a wake up call for K Street and a signal that things are about to change for the advocacy community and their work for foreign clients. Sandler and Rosenstein believe that the indictment likely means that after years of lax enforcement of FARA, the law will finally be taken more seriously by law firms, lobbying shops, and media companies that fall under its purview.
Josh Rosenstein was quoted in an article on CNN.com regarding the Russian Times and their registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The Russian television network was given a deadline by the Department of Justice to register under FARA by October 17th. Josh Rosenstein discusses this deadline and what it means for both the Department of Justice and Russian Times.
“The department takes a much more aggressive stance when they think voluntary compliance will not happen,” said FARA expert Joshua Ian Rosenstein, a member of the law firm Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock.
Joe Birkenstock was quoted in an article in Politico on an investigation into Congressional aides conflicts with stock trades. The investigation narrows in on whether senior staffers buy and sell shares in companies that benefit from legislation in their committees. On the role of the House Ethics Committee amidst these allegations, Joe Birkenstock shares:
“They genuinely don’t want to see the body brought into scandal, controversy or disrepute,” said Joseph Birkenstock, a former chief counsel for the Democratic National Committee. “That includes things like, is your boss twisting your arm? Are you doing things because you’re under some job pressure? Or is there any credible forum where someone could claim that your actions or your boss’ actions are connected in any way to the commercial success of this business?”
Joshua Rosenstein was quoted in a Washington Examiner article about the Justice Department’s move towards forcing Russia-funded news outlets to label themselves as propaganda and publicly disclose their funding and editorial processes. Rosenstein discusses the probability and consequences of these organizations challenging the Justice Department in court.
“Fighting a FARA registration demand is risky and an uphill battle,” Rosenstein said. If the outlet argues it deserves a statutory exemption as a news organization, he said, “the regulations place the burden for proving the exemption squarely on the purported foreign agent.”
Rosenstein doubts a First Amendment challenge would prevail, likening FARA disclosures to campaign donation reporting the courts have upheld. He added that resisting the Justice Department may increase the risk of criminal prosecution for not registering.
Josh Rosenstein was quoted in a Washington Examiner article on whether the Sputnik news outlet is illegally spreading propaganda without disclosure under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. On the issue, Rosenstein shared:
Attorney Joshua Rosenstein, an expert on FARA, said it’s too soon to tell where the probe will go, and that governance and control of news outlets are significant factors in determining if it must register.
“All of this is a fact-specific inquiry. You have to look at the ownership structure, the control, the amount of discretion reporters have on the ground — whether they are serving a legitimate news-gathering function or they are just propagandists for a foreign government,” he said.
Criminal charges are possible for FARA violators, Rosenstein said, but once an organization is registered “FARA does not generally prohibit you from doing this work, it just requires that it be disclosed,” likening it to required disclosure of campaign donations allowable under the First Amendment.
“Whether they have enough to bring Sputnik up on individual charges remains to be seen,” Rosenstein said. “I would imagine they would have to do a significant amount of fact gathering and actually have the goods before they go after a news agency.”
David Mitrani was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article discussing the legality of the Facebook ads purchased by a Russian company during the 2016 election. On the topic, he explains:
Political activity by foreign nations or foreign government to influence U.S. elections in broadly prohibited by campaign finance law. U.S. law also tightly restricts propaganda material produced by foreign governments for domestic audiences. Content that doesn’t mention political candidates falls into a grey area.
“Foreign nationals are prohibited from giving money to federal, state and local politicians and are prohibited from spending money to influence American elections, directly or indirectly, but the reality of the restriction is that it’s very complicated,” said Dave Mitrani, a attorney with Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock who advises Democratic candidate and campaigns on campaign finance law.