On September 6th, Partner and FARA expert Josh Rosenstein was quoted in The Washington Post regarding a lobbying campaign to reduce U.S. support for Ukraine, framed as a defense of religious freedom. The article, titled “D.C. lobbyists battle over future of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” highlights Robert Amsterdam’s efforts, funded by Russian-linked interests, to challenge Ukraine’s law banning Russian-affiliated churches. Amsterdam initially did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) citing a religious exemption, but Rosenstein notes this exemption may not apply.

“’The exemption generally does not apply unless your activities are purely religious and do not also involve what the law calls political activities. The definition of political activity includes any attempt to influence the U.S. government with reference to U.S. policy or to influence any segment of the U.S. public with reference to the public or political interests of any foreign nation,’ said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, a partner at the Sandler Reiff law firm, which specializes in FARA and other lobbying-registration questions. ‘I think they would have an uphill battle demonstrating it is purely religious and nonpolitical as defined by the law.’”

“Rosenstein said the validity of these exemption claims would depend largely on the specifics of the engagement, such as the ‘content and messaging of the lobbying activities’ and the extent to which the activities are directed by a foreign government. ‘All of those are factual questions,’ he said.”

Find the full article here.