Joshua Rosenstein, partner, comments on the legality of Washington State Senator lobbying for Cambodia with The Diplomat.
“The legislator can’t take on a job that is impacted by his or her official duties in Washington [state]. It has to be a legitimate arms-length contract. It can’t count as a prohibited gift, and it generally can’t involve a contract with the state,” explains Joshua Rosenstein, a lawyer who focuses on the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
“In most places, ethics restrictions only apply to lobbying representatives of their own chambers.”
Senior Associate David Mitanri shared his thoughts on what campaign finance enforcement might look like in 2020 with Campaigns and Elections.
“The takeaway that I’ll always give to clients is that even before the FEC lost a quorum, the Department of Justice has really been watching this space more closely than they have in a very long time,” said David Mitrani, a senior associate at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C.
As a result, campaign finance attorneys like Mitrani are working to guard clients against violations at a more granular level. “Things that might not have entered into our heads to flag for clients are right at the forefront,” he said. “The well-prepared candidate has not only counsel but also a compliance firm, in addition to that.”
The Ukranian scandal has been getting a lot of attention lately and partners Joe Sandler and Josh Rosenstein share their expert thoughts.
If Livingston was working for Ukrainian clients he disclosed, “he should have reported those contacts … no question about that,” said Joseph Sandler, an expert on the law that governs U.S. lobbying for foreign clients. Sandler is a partner at the Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock law firm in Washington, D.C., and a former general counsel for the Democratic National Committee.
“If it was for another foreign entity, then he needed to register for them” and disclose the lobbying, Sandler said.
“This would seem to be a case that would be ripe for the DOJ to at least ask questions,” said Josh Rosenstein, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who advises clients on FARA.
The Department of Justice has recently added new emphasis on its Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Partner Josh Rosenstein discusses this new emphasis with The Washington Diplomat.
As Joshua Ian Rosenstein, a FARA specialist at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C., put it, “DoJ’s new emphasis on FARA is a warning shot to foreign companies and their U.S. consultants, who are forced to grapple with a criminal law that is broad and complicated. Now is the time for foreign companies and their U.S. consultants to re-examine their FARA compliance.”
Dark-money has existed in the political realm for years. Americans for Job Security was founded by a Republican political operative and acted as cover-up for wealthy donors. Wealthy donors contributed to Americans for Job Security and had their identities kept secret, while the “organization” donated millions to ensure Republicans across the country were elected.
Neil Reiff, a campaign finance lawyer who represents candidates and nonprofit groups, says he expects CREW’s legal victory over Americans for Job Security to serve as a cautionary tale for other dark-money outfits. “If the courts are moving the goalposts, I think people running outside groups are going to take notice — absolutely,” Reiff says.
There has been much controversy surrounding Rudy Giuliani and his involvement with the Trump-Ukraine scandal. Josh Rosenstein shared his thoughts with The New Republic and the Washington Post.
“Giuliani’s defense has been that…he was acting at the behest of the president,” Joshua Ian Rosenstein, a partner at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock P.C., which specializes in lobbying compliance, tells The New Republic. “I don’t know what to say about that. I think it’s sort of astonishing, in a way, that we have sort of an unauthorized [person], not even a special government employee, who’s conducting diplomacy… Just saying you’re not a lobbyist ain’t gonna cut it.”
One possibility is that Giuliani “was actually representing these two individuals sort of as conduits for some foreign source of money, and making arrangements for them, for example, to participate in the political process—which as we know was an FEC violation,” Rosenstein says. “But if he knowingly facilitated an FEC violation, that’s problem number one. Problem number two is that’s pretty clearly a FARA violation, also.”
Partner Josh Rosenstein discusses Rudy Giuliani’s ties to the Trump-Ukraine scandal with USA Today.
“I think at the very least, the Department of Justice would be justified in taking a very close look at the arrangements that (Giuliani) has with these foreign principals. … Given the backdrop, given the new changes in enforcement priorities, this would seem to be a case that would be ripe for the DOJ to at least ask questions,” said Josh Rosenstein, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who advises clients on FARA.