Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Loopholes, Filing Failures, and Lax Enforcement: How the Foreign Agents Registration Act Falls Short

Topics: Government Accountability
Related Content: Foreign Lobbying

December 16, 2014 | By: Ben Freeman, Ph. D., Lydia Dennett

Why This Matters

The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires American lobbyists working on behalf of foreign clients to disclose significantly more information about their activities than what is required of domestic lobbyists. This includes the actual documents used to influence policy makers, called informational materials. These materials include draft legislation, speeches, press releases and more, all created to influence U.S. policy. But the lobbyists do not always follow the letter of the law and enforcement by the Justice Department has been lax in recent years. Furthermore, the law itself seems to have loopholes that make enforcement difficult if not impossible. The Foreign Agents Registration Act is intended to bring transparency into the world of foreign lobbying. But when American lobbyists working on behalf of foreign interests fail to follow the law, or the Justice Department fails to enforce it, the American people are left in the dark.

Contributions to research and writing by Ben Freeman, Lydia Dennett, Neil Gordon, and Angela Canterbury. Edited by Danni Downing, David Hilzenrath, and Michael Smallberg.

Table of Contents .. http://www.pogo.org/our-work/reports/2014/loopholes-filing-failures-lax-enforcement-how-the-foreign-agents-registration-act-falls-short.html

---

Tracking foreign influence peddling in America: Tip sheet

It’s important to note that FARA depends on voluntary compliance and the Justice Department rarely pursues foreign agents who have not submitted their reports. Agents are required to submit reports biannually (the dates depend on the original registration date) and any informational materials (except some involving tourism) within 48 hours.
http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/congress/tracking-foreign-influence-peddling-america-tip-sheet

Manafort has been involved in lobbying American government for foreign clients (including countries
high on the 'abuse of human rights' list) for so long he's have his ass well covered. You'd guess.