Grassley: We Shouldn’t Have to Rely on Public Pressure for Compliance with Foreign Agent Registration Law
Reports: Amid public scrutiny, Manafort, Podesta Group finally file as foreign agents; Justice Dept. lax on enforcement of Foreign Agents Registration Act
WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman
Chuck Grassley today made the following statement regarding reports that Paul
Manafort and the Podesta Group are voluntarily registering as U.S. lobbyists
for foreign entities after news reports indicated that they worked to influence
U.S. policies on behalf of governments.
“We ought to know who is working to meddle in our government and influence policy decisions on behalf of foreign governments. Foreign lobbyists should be transparent about their work, and they should be subjected to the proper oversight. That’s exactly why Congress passed the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Unfortunately, this case and many others highlight the Justice Department’s institutional failures to enforce this law in a timely manner. Voluntarily registering only after bad publicity because the law was not enforced sooner is not acceptable,” Grassley said.
For years, Grassley has expressed concerns with the
Justice Department’s (DOJ) apparent lack of enforcement of the Foreign
Agents Registration Act (FARA). In 2015, Grassley inquired
about DOJ’s efforts to enforce FARA against Sidney Blumenthal, a self-described
“advisor” to the Clinton Foundation and John Kornblum, a lawyer working for the
opposition party in Georgia attempting influence then-Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton. The case received little attention in the media, and
Blumenthal and Kornblum never registered under the law.
Last week, Grassley
raised similar questions about Manafort and business associate Rick Gates,
as well as lobbying firms the Podesta Group and Mercury LLC, following news
reports that Manafort and Gates hired the firms to lobby the U.S.
government on behalf of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his
pro-Russian political party. According to those reports, Manafort and Gates
secured payment of 1 million dollars to each firm from the European Centre for
a Modern Ukraine, which Gates allegedly described to a Podesta Group employee
as a front group for Ukrainian politicians who were paying Manafort and Gates.
A September 2016 Inspector General audit
of FARA enforcement found a lack of statutory understanding within the DOJ
and a lack of coherent enforcement strategy. The DOJ has relied
primarily on public reporting and voluntary registration to enforce FARA.
Further, the DOJ has failed
to adequately respond to previous inquiries about failures to enforce FARA
requirements.
-30-
