In “US Lawmakers Push for Crackdown on Foreign Companies”, the Financial Times explores the new Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) bill introduced by Rep. Johnson and Sen. Grassley. The bill would strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act and would heap new disclosure requirements on the staff of any non-US company meeting federal officials; on American lobbyists providing services to foreign companies; and on US businesses lobbying for their own foreign affiliates.
Joseph Birkenstock, a Sandler Reiff lawyer who advises the OFII trade group, said: “If you subject every company to FARA for the sake of addressing these rare cases, the cure is far worse than the illness.”
Since the indictment of former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Richard Gates public attention to FARA has surged leading to a record number of registrations. On the recent surge, Rosenstein commented in PR Week,
The indictments of Manafort and Gates and accusations that Flynn failed to disclose his work for a foreign government have caused anxiety among agencies that work for foreign countries, said Joshua Rosenstein, attorney at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock. Clients have asked Rosenstein to look at their activities and determine whether they should register as foreign agents or ensure they have not made inadvertent misrepresentations, he added.
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.