Amid a presidential campaign rife with stories about undue foreign influence, the Justice Department is asking Congress to enhance its legal authority to investigate those violating foreign lobbying disclosure laws.
The department’s National Security Division “is currently pursuing civil investigative demand (CID) authority from Congress,” according to an inspector general report published Wednesday, specifically to subpoena those believed to be violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
“With regard to potential legislative improvements, NSD officials stated that a major difficulty is a lack of authority to compel the production of information from persons who may be agents,” the report also stated.
The Justice Department Inspector General noted that subpoena power “could be a useful tool” for FARA investigations, but warned “there are important competing considerations at stake.”
“[W]e believe that any expansion of such authority must also include appropriate controls and oversight to ensure it is used appropriately,” the report said.
Influential consultants and lobbyists in both major parties have come under fire for their past work with Viktor Yanukovich—the Moscow-friendly, former Ukrainian President who was ousted in 2014, amid heated demonstrations in Kiev.
Former top aide to Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, in particular, has been heavily scrutinized for ties to Yanukovich. In August, The New York Times revealed undisclosed records showing he had received over $12 million in payments from Yanukovich’s party, between 2007 and 2012.
Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign shortly after, amid other problems in the billionaire’s camp—including Trump’s decision to engage in a drawn-out public spat with the Golden Star Khan family.
Awkwardly for the Hillary Clinton campaign, however, previous reporting on Manafort had also implicated a prominent influence-peddler friendly to the former Secretary of State.
The Associated Press noted last month, before the Times’ report, that in 2012, Manafort helped Yanukovich’s political party “secretly route at least $2.2 million in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms.”
One of those firms was the Podesta Group, which is chaired by Tony Podesta—the brother of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta. Tony Podesta is also a major fundraiser for Clinton.
Though the report and the possibility of enhanced DOJ investigatory powers have taken on new significance amid the ongoing presidential contest, the investigation was ordered by Congress long before the primaries–in a 2015 appropriations bill that originated in the House Judiciary Committee.
“The report should take into account FARA filing trends and foreign government tactics to engage in public advocacy in the United States while avoiding FARA registration,” the committee stated.
According to the inspector general, FARA filings declined after the passage of the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) in 1996. Those who do direct lobbying of Congress for foreign governments are exempt from FARA if they file under the LDA, though the disclosure requirements in the case of the latter are less demanding.
Some of the activities that linked Yanukovich and Manafort—and the Podesta Group—had, in fact, been disclosed under the LDA, as The Hill report.
Wednesday’s investigation also noted that there have only been seven criminal FARA cases since 1966: “one resulted in a conviction at trial for conspiracy to violate FARA and other statutes, two pleaded guilty to violating FARA, two others pleaded guilty to non-FARA charges, and the remaining two cases were dismissed.”
“Some investigators believed that NSD has a clear preference toward pursuing registration for alleged FARA violators rather than seeking prosecution, which in their opinion, leaves an important counterintelligence tool underutilized,” the report also said.
FARA was signed into law in 1938, amid fears that Nazi Germany was attempting to influence US politics. Those found guilty can be subjected to a five-year prison sentence.
