Foreign Agents Registration Act
Encyclopedia
The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a United States
law ( et seq.) passed in 1938 requiring that agents representing the interests of foreign powers
be properly identified to the American public. The act was passed in response to German propaganda in the lead-up to World War II
. The FARA Registration Unit of the of the Counterespionage Section (CES) within the National Security Division
(NSD) of the United States Department of Justice
is charged with handling the enforcement of the law.
when acting on behalf of foreign interests. This law defines the agent of a foreign principal as someone who:
The Department of Justice has found that most violations of this law are unintentional and is attempting to work out problems without legal action.
According to disclosures under the Act, organizations lobbying on behalf of foreign governments include
An agent of a foreign principal is defined as “any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee or servant, or any person who acts in any other capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control of a foreign principal…whose activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized in whole or in major part by a foreign principal.”
The term "political activities" means any activity that the person engaging in believes will, or that the person intends to, in any way influence any agency or official of the Government of the United States or any section of the public within the United States with reference to formulating, adopting, or changing the domestic or foreign policies of the United States or with reference to the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party;
The definition was removed following the 1987 Supreme Court case, Meese v. Keene, in which a California State Senator wanted to distribute three films from Canada about acid rain and nuclear war, but felt his reputation would be harmed if he distributed films that had been officially classified “political propaganda”.
In the 1960s, the American Zionist Council
was found to be engaged in massive violations of FARA by being funded by and acting on behalf of Israel
and was ordered by Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy
to register as a foreign agent. The DOJ reversed those enforcement efforts under pressure from both the pro-Israel lobby and the Johnson administration during its reelection bid. Controversy regarding lobbying on behalf of Israel continued after the American Zionist Council was reorganized as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), with former Senator
William Fulbright and former senior CIA
official Victor Marchetti
calling for registering the lobby. The issue was renewed in 2004 by the AIPAC espionage scandal
.
Even though both AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations lobby for the government of Israel, they still have not been forced to register at the DOJ.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
law ( et seq.) passed in 1938 requiring that agents representing the interests of foreign powers
Foreign agent
A foreign agent is anyone who actively carries out the interests of a foreign country while located in another host country, but generally outside the protections offered to those working in their official capacity for a diplomatic mission. Foreign agents may be citizens of the host country...
be properly identified to the American public. The act was passed in response to German propaganda in the lead-up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The FARA Registration Unit of the of the Counterespionage Section (CES) within the National Security Division
United States Department of Justice National Security Division
The United States Department of Justice National Security Division is the division of the DOJ that handles all national security functions of the Department. Created by the 2005 USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization, the Division consolidated all of the Department's national security and intelligence...
(NSD) of the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
is charged with handling the enforcement of the law.
Scope of the Act
The act requires people and organizations that are under foreign control ("agents of a foreign principal") to register with the Department of JusticeUnited States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
when acting on behalf of foreign interests. This law defines the agent of a foreign principal as someone who:
- Engages in political activities for or in the interests of a foreign principal;
- Acts in a public relations capacity for a foreign principal;
- Solicits or dispenses any thing of value within the United States for a foreign principal;
- Represents the interests of a foreign principal before any agency or official of the U.S. government.
The Department of Justice has found that most violations of this law are unintentional and is attempting to work out problems without legal action.
According to disclosures under the Act, organizations lobbying on behalf of foreign governments include
- DLA PiperDLA PiperDLA Piper is a global law firm with 76 offices across 30 countries and more than 4,200 lawyers. As of May 2011, it was the largest law firm in the world by number of attorneys. The firm's global revenues were $1.92 billion in 2009-2010. The firm is composed of two partnerships, DLA Piper...
- Dickens & Madson Canada
- Invest Northern IrelandInvest Northern IrelandInvest Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland's regional economic development agency. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment...
- Japan National Tourism Organization
- Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions
Foreign Principals and Political Activities
Subsection 611 defines the term foreign principal as (1) a government of a foreign country and a foreign political party; (2) a person outside of the United States; or (3) a partnership, association, corporation, organization… organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country.An agent of a foreign principal is defined as “any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee or servant, or any person who acts in any other capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control of a foreign principal…whose activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized in whole or in major part by a foreign principal.”
The term "political activities" means any activity that the person engaging in believes will, or that the person intends to, in any way influence any agency or official of the Government of the United States or any section of the public within the United States with reference to formulating, adopting, or changing the domestic or foreign policies of the United States or with reference to the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party;
Amendments
In 1995, the term “political propaganda” was removed from Subsection 611. The original definition stated:The definition was removed following the 1987 Supreme Court case, Meese v. Keene, in which a California State Senator wanted to distribute three films from Canada about acid rain and nuclear war, but felt his reputation would be harmed if he distributed films that had been officially classified “political propaganda”.
Selective enforcement
Although the act was designed to broadly apply to any foreign agent (and was first used against German Nazi and Soviet propagandists), in practice FARA is frequently used to target countries out of favor with an administration.In the 1960s, the American Zionist Council
American Zionist Council
The American Zionist Council was a group formed in 1949, which represented nine nation-wide Zionist organizations in matters related specifically to Zionism, following the independence of Israel...
was found to be engaged in massive violations of FARA by being funded by and acting on behalf of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and was ordered by Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
to register as a foreign agent. The DOJ reversed those enforcement efforts under pressure from both the pro-Israel lobby and the Johnson administration during its reelection bid. Controversy regarding lobbying on behalf of Israel continued after the American Zionist Council was reorganized as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States...
(AIPAC), with former Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
William Fulbright and former senior CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
official Victor Marchetti
Victor Marchetti
Victor Marchetti is a former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a prominent paleoconservative critic of the United States Intelligence Community and the Israel lobby in the United States....
calling for registering the lobby. The issue was renewed in 2004 by the AIPAC espionage scandal
AIPAC espionage scandal
The Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal refers to Lawrence Franklin's scandal of passing classified documents regarding United States policy towards Iran to Israel through American Israel Public Affairs Committee...
.
Even though both AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations lobby for the government of Israel, they still have not been forced to register at the DOJ.
Prominent cases
Samir Vincent, an Iraqi-American businessman who admitted helping Saddam Hussein's government in the oil-for-food scandal was fined $300,000 and sentenced to probation. He was charged, among other counts, with conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.Criminal
- United States v John Joseph Frank, (D.D.C. 1959). This criminal case cited that the lack of registration was worsened by the fact that the defendant had been notified by letter of his burden to register under the act prior to the case.
- United States v Park Tong-Sun (D.D.C. 1977), a Food for PeaceFood for PeacePublic Law 480 also known as Food for Peace is a funding avenue by which U.S. food can be used for overseas aid....
case involving bribery and lobbyingLobbyingLobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
, was ended by a plea bargainPlea bargainA plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
. - United States v McGoff: 831 F.2d 1071 (D.C. Cir. 1987). This criminal case shortened the statute of limitations for agents who refuse to register, contrary to the express language in Section 8(e) of the Act.
- Since 1966 there have been no successful criminal prosecutions under FARA and only 3 indictments returned or informations filed charging FARA violations.
- Syed Ghulam Nabi FaiSyed Ghulam Nabi FaiSyed Ghulam Nabi Fai is an American citizen of Kashmiri origin, from Indian-administered Kashmir, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on July 19, 2011 for allegedly working secretly for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence to lobby and influence the U.S. government on the...
, a PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
from KashmirKashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
on July 19, 2011 for working secretly for PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's secret policeInter-Services IntelligenceThe Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
to lobby and influence the U.S. government on the Kashmir conflict.
Civil
- "Canadian films cases," Meese v Keene, 481 U.S. 465 (1987), and Block v Meese, 793 F.2d 1303 (D.C. Cir.), cert. den. 478 U.S. 1021, reh. den. 481 U.S 1043 (1987).