Foreign Agents Registration Act

January 11, 2021, Inside Political Law

Last week, the Department of Justice’s FARA Unit released a curious advisory opinion.  The new opinion stated that it replaced an advisory opinion released by the Department in December 2019, and it revised the Department’s guidance on the scope of the lawyers’ exemption to FARA.  As far as we can tell, this is the first...… Continue Reading The post A Curious ...

December 21, 2020, Inside Political Law

On Wednesday, December 16, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sought, and failed to achieve, unanimous consent to pass legislation that would have granted significant new powers to the Department of Justice to enforce compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act.  In objecting to passage, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said that the Senate should “take a ...

July 27, 2020, Covington Alert

On 21 July 2020, the UK Intelligence and Security Committee (the “Committee”) published a long-awaited report regarding evidence of Russian threats against the United Kingdom. In addition to setting out the nature and extent of what the Committee considered to be hostile activities on the part of operatives with ties to Russia, the report addressed the powers ...

June 2, 2020, Inside Political Law

The Department of Justice’s FARA Unit has publicly posted, for the first time, a set of FARA determination letters.  A determination letter is the Unit’s formal opinion on whether an entity under scrutiny by the Department is required to register under FARA.  As far as we can tell, the release was done quietly, without public...… Continue Reading The post DOJ ...

May 28, 2020, Inside Political Law

Following the Department of Justice’s announcement in March 2019 of an initiative to increase enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), the Department began rolling out a new electronic filing system for FARA registrations in September 2019. At that time, as Covington reported, the new system applied only to new registrants, and the ...

Updated July 2019, Covington Guide

In 1938, Congress enacted the Foreign Agents Registration Act ("FARA"), requiring "foreign agents" to register with the Attorney General. As amended over the years, it applies broadly to anyone who acts on behalf of a "foreign principal" to, among other things, influence U.S. policy or public opinion. Until recently, it was a backwater of American law—and a ...

March 24, 2020, Inside Political Law

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are reverberating in every sector of the global economy, from life sciences to transportation, retail to manufacturing, financial services to sports and entertainment. As federal, state, and local governments attempt to blunt the pandemic’s public health and economic effects, many companies are frantically working with ...

October 29, 2019, Covington Alert

Following the Department of Justice’s announcement in March of an initiative to increase enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), the Department has rolled out a new e-file system for FARA registrations. Notably, the new system only applies to new registrants, although the Department indicated that it will transition existing registrants to ...

October 28, 2019, Inside Political Law

Following the Department of Justice’s announcement in March of an initiative to increase enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), the Department has rolled out a new e-file system for FARA registrations.  Notably, the new system only applies to new registrants, although the Department indicated that it will transition existing registrants to ...

June 5, 2019, Inside Political Law

On May 7, 2019, a federal District Court in the Southern District of Florida ruled that an American company, RM Broadcasting, must register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) for its agreement to broadcast radio programming from Rossiya Segodnya (meaning “Russia Today”), a Russian state-owned news agency.  Although the ...

May 28, 2019, Inside Political Law

The House Appropriations Committee has quietly directed the Department of Justice to issue new guidance on the commercial exemption to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) with respect to state-owned companies.  The directive came in a Committee report accompanying legislation that provides funding for the Department for fiscal year 2020.  The report was ...

March 25, 2019, Inside Political Law

The Department of Justice’s FARA Unit appears to have signaled a significant narrowing in the scope of a major FARA exemption that is especially important to private sector companies, including U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations.  The apparent narrowing of FARA’s exemption for those who register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”) appeared in an ...

March 11, 2019, Covington Alert

Covington issued several client alerts in recent years warning of a rising tide of enforcement of the once-obscure Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (“FARA”). Signs of this trend emerged long before the recent, high-profile Special Counsel’s Office investigation.

March 10, 2019, Inside Political Law

Covington issued several client alerts in recent years warning of a rising tide of enforcement of the once-obscure Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (“FARA”). Signs of this trend emerged long before the recent, high-profile Special Counsel’s Office investigation. Nonetheless, there was persistent skepticism abroad in the land, particularly among businesses ...

Spring 2019, PLI Current: The Journal of PLI Press

February 6, 2019, Briefing Call

Following the recent surge in Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) enforcement by the U.S. Department of Justice, Robert Kelner and Brian Smith held a briefing call to discuss the updates on FARA, which included: an overview of FARA registration, reporting, and compliance requirements; discussion of key, recently released DOJ FARA advisory opinions ...

September 27, 2018, The National Law Journal

Robert Kelner is quoted in The National Law Journal regarding the Justice Department’s aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and the reaction from lawyers. Mr. Kelner says, “The problem with FARA is that it’s a woefully vague statute. It’s arguably unconstitutionally vague.”

Summer 2018, PLI Current: The Journal of PLI Press

July 31, 2018, Roll Call

Robert Kelner is quoted in Roll Call regarding legislation to overhaul the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Mr. Kelner says, “They [lawmakers] are all are focused on ‘toughening’ the statute, which is a political approach, but not an approach that will make it more effective. FARA has been in need of a major overhaul for decades. It’s an extremely vague statute, ...

June 12, 2018, The National Law Journal

Robert Kelner is quoted by The National Law Journal in an article regarding the release of FARA advisory opinions by the Justice Department. “In general, I would say this is not quite the Rosetta Stone for interpreting DOJ’s position on FARA that some might have hoped for,” says Kelner. “The opinions cover a lot of ground but they do it in some cases at a fairly ...

June 11, 2018, Columbia Journalism Review

Brian Smith is quoted in a Columbia Journalism Review article regarding the Foreign Agents Registration Act. According to Smith, “The statute is so broadly worded, you can capture a lot of activities."

June 8, 2018, Politico

Robert Kelner is quoted in a Politico article regarding the Justice Department's release of FARA advisory opinions. Kelner describes the decision as "a long time coming.” “FARA practitioners have been asking for years to see DOJ's secret trove of FARA advisory opinions,” Kelner says. “This isn't by any means all of them, but it's a good start. DOJ is beginning ...

May 30, 2018, Law.com

Robert Kelner is quoted in Law.com's "Compliance Hot Spots" briefing. Commenting on the Justice Department's decision to release FARA advisory opinions, Kelner says, "I think this could make a big difference in how firms advise clients on FARA compliance because, up until now, we’ve all had to do a great deal of reading the tea leaves rather than having actual ...

May 25, 2018, The National Law Journal

Robert Kelner is quoted by The National Law Journal in an article regarding the Justice Department's plan to publish FARA advisory opinions. “I think this could make a big difference in how firms advise clients on FARA compliance because, up until now, we’ve all had to do a great deal of reading the tea leaves rather than having actual legal precedents to look ...

March 28, 2018, Politico

Politico highlights a recent Covington alert examining how lobbying on aluminum and steel tariffs may have FARA implications. "Companies that are engaging with Congress and the executive branch on trade issues may be surprised to find that their advocacy could have FARA implications," the alert reads. "FARA is a notoriously tricky statute, with broadly worded ...

March 15, 2018, Covington Alert

In recent months, Congress’s efforts to reform dramatically the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) have picked up steam.

March 1, 2018, CQ News

Robert Kelner is quoted in a CQ News article regarding the current status of foreign lobbying bills. According to Kelner, the bills take a “blunt” approach to foreign lobbying that could inadvertently sweep in even U.S.-based companies as foreign agents.

January 17, 2018, Roll Call

Robert Kelner is quoted in a Roll Call article regarding steps taken by House Republicans to overhaul the nation’s foreign lobbying disclosure regulations. “DOJ’s career staff have long wanted the authority to investigate FARA violations more aggressively, and the Democratic-aligned government reform community has generally agreed,” says Kelner. “So it was a bit ...

January 16, 2018, Financial Times

The Financial Times highlights a Covington alert in an article regarding the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

November 17, 2017, NPR

Robert Kelner is quoted in an NPR article regarding enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). According to Kelner, the cases that have been prosecuted "usually are prosecuted because they involve something other than a FARA violation occurring at the same time." He adds, "The statute itself is extremely vague: It contains a number of terms that ...

November 8, 2017, Politico

Politico highlights a recent Covington alert examining the reforms to the Foreign Agents Registration Act proposed by Senator Chuck Grassley. As stated in the alert, the bill “would have a sweeping effect for a number of private sector companies.”

November 7, 2017, Covington Alert

With the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) in the news and public awareness of this formerly obscure statute at an all-time high, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the influential chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation last week to revise the statute significantly, including reversing a decision Congress made in 1995 to remove ...