In February, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached a settlement agreement with Syngenta Seeds LLC, a California company, to resolve violations of federal pesticide regulations. The fine reached from this settlement was dramatically lower than the fine that was imposed under the Obama Administration in 2016. Observers of the EPA noted that Jeff Sands, who was a top EPA agricultural adviser at the time of the reduced fine settlement, was previously a lobbyist for Syngenta.
The EPA’s decision to dramatically reduce the fine has raised concern about the ethical land mines of an administration filled with former lobbyist and business executives.
Rosenstein commented on the ethical dilemma:
“I think the optics are not particularly great, as become an apparent pattern with this administration,” said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, a partner at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock.
“There is a lot of lip service given to following ethical restrictions,” he continued, “but report after report seems to indicate that there is very little commitment to ensuring compliance. I think this feeds into an overall picture that the administration doesn’t take these issues very seriously at all.”
Last week, President Trump tapped former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to join his legal team and assist in negotiating an end to Robert Mueller’s probe into 2016 election meddling. Vice News explores the possible connection between Rudy Giuliani and Robert Mueller’s investigation and explores the possibility that Guiliani may be joining the legal team to avoid being a witness for investigators.
On the topic, Rosenstein states:
“The investigation has so many moving parts that it’s hard to contemplate a way in which Giuliani would not have evidence that is relevant to Mr. Mueller’s investigation,” said Washington, D.C.-based attorney Josh Rosenstein, an expert in foreign lobbying regulation.
Last month, a pro-Saudi tabloid was distributed in the United States that raised questions about the magazine’s origins. It is speculated that the magazine, produced by American Media Inc., may have been shared with officials at the Saudi embassy in Washington three weeks before its distribution.
While sharing an advance copy with the Saudis is not legally problematic for AMI, the unusual circumstances and mystery of the magazine’s origins could present a separate issue with federal lobbying law. If the Saudis did direct or pay any company to produce such a magazine, that company would be required to register with the government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
“There are lots of things that warrant answers,” political law attorney Josh Rosenstein said about the pro-Saudi magazine.
The Federal Election Commission first approved bitcoin contributions for political campaigns in 2014. However, many lawmakers still question the transparency of bitcoin contributions given bitcoins pseudonymous nature. Joe Birkenstock comments on the debate:
“If the interest is in transparency, we really want to make sure we know exactly who is donating these funds and that distinction around anonymity or pseudonymity can start to make that challenging.”
You can read the article and watch the full interview here.
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.