Think Tanks May Soon Have to File As Foreign Agents Under FARA

It it possible that think tanks that accept foreign funds may soon need to file as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law requiring organizations advocating interests of foreign powers to disclose their relationship with those foreign governments.

In recent months, the Department of Justice (DOJ), which administers FARA, has taken an increasingly broad view of FARA's scope, making many organizations wonder whether their work may trigger FARA registration.

Here is more from Foreign Lobby Report:

The Department of Justice is sending shock waves across the advocacy community by treating certain grant-funded non-governmental organizations as agents of foreign governments.

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) registered as a foreign agent of Norway earlier this month after being told that it was “obligated” to that country’s government because it had received money from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). The Washington-based nonprofit is the recipient of a five-year, almost $6 million grant from the agency to combat deforestation in Indonesia and South America.

The new requirement has clearly rankled a widely respected nonprofit that prides itself on its independence, and other nonprofits could soon find themselves in similar straits.

Foreign Lobby also notes that lobbying firm Waxman Strategies registered as a foreign agent for Norwegian-funded projects with the Center for International Policy (CIP), a think tank based in Washington, DC.

Nearly every major US think tank receives money from foreign governments as well as foreign businesses.

In its "FARA Guide for the Perplexed," the law firm of Covington & Burling LPP notes that FARA is written so broadly that it could potentially require registration even for some routine business activities at think tanks.

A number of foreign governments hire US-based lobbying firm to do outreach to think tanks.  One example is DiNino Associates, LLC, which provides government relations assistance and outreach to think tanks on behalf of the Indian Embassy in the US.

Another example is Gotham Government Relations, which assists Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) which outreach to think tanks.

Here is a previous Think Tank Watch piece about FARA entitled "When Think Tanking Becomes Illegal."

"Think Tank" With Qatari Ties Registers as Foreign Agent

Here is more from Foreign Lobby Report:

A Washington nonprofit that describes itself as an “independent research institute” has registered as a foreign agent of Qatar after coming under scrutiny from the Department of Justice.

The Qatar-America Institute (QAI) registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in late May, according to a lobbying filing made public this afternoon. In the 51-page filing, the institute reveals that it received a $5.2 million pledge from the Qatari Embassy in Washington, plus another $1 million from the embassy, the Qatar National Tourism Council and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy through March 2019.

The institute was formed in September 2017 to promote US ties with Qatar after rival Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with Doha and launched multi-million-dollar US public relations campaigns against the country. Those countries’ attempts to influence US policy via think-tanks have also come under scrutiny.

Here is QAI's hompepage.  Qatar is considered a top funder to US think tanks, with a recent study showing that it gave US think tanks at least $8.5 million from 2014-2018.

Update: Qatar-funded think tank moves to drop "lobbyist" label.

When Think Tanking Becomes Illegal

When most people think of think tanks, they may picture soporific talks on the minutiae of energy policy or foreign affairs, men in suits pontificating about esoteric executive branch regulations, or 100-page policy proposals to update the Merchant Marine Act of 1920.

While all that exists, a much darker side lies just under the surface, one that involves PR gurus, lobbyists, foreign governments, spy agencies, embassies, corporations, trade associations, political hacks, shady consultants, and various categories of movers and shakers all trying to gather information and influence ideas and the thousands of scholars that live in and around Washington.

Here is a recent example from Reuters:

A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to register as a foreign agent in connection with lobbying work he did for the Pakistani government in an effort to shape U.S. foreign policy, the Justice Department said on Monday.

The newly unsealed case against Nisar Ahmed Chaudhry, a Pakistani national and U.S. permanent resident, marks a rare instance in which the Justice Department has pursued a prosecution under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people who lobby on behalf of foreign governments or political parties to register with the United States.

In Chaudhry’s case, filed April 19 and unsealed on Monday, the government said he worked to influence U.S. officials on foreign policies toward Pakistan from 2012 through 2018 without disclosing it.

The Justice Department said he represented that his activities were merely educational and not affiliated with Pakistan’s government when he met with think tank scholars and current and former U.S. government officials, including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents who interviewed Chaudhry when he returned to the United States from travels to Pakistan. 

Here is what the US Justice Department said:

Chaudhry interacted on a routine basis with representatives of the Government of Pakistan, at their Embassy in Washington, D.C. and consular office in New York City.  Chaudhry also interacted with numerous institutes, foundations and organizations operating in and around Washington, D.C., commonly referred to as "think tanks," that played a role in shaping and influencing U.S. foreign policy.  Chaudhry organized roundtable discussions in Washington, D.C. and Maryland metropolitan areas between his American government and think tank contacts and visiting Pakistan government officials to influence United States foreign policy in a direction favorable to Pakistan’s interests.   Chaudhry cultivated contacts within these entities and the U.S. government in order to obtain in-depth information regarding the U.S. government's policies towards Pakistan.  Chaudhry then sought to neutralize unfavorable views of Pakistan held by current and former U.S. government officials by employing certain methods of discussion with these individuals during personal interactions with them and/or by controlling and manipulating discussion at the roundtable events he organized or attended.

In order to be more effective in obtaining information of interest to Pakistan, and to gain a strategic advantage in acquiring information that might not otherwise be divulged to official representatives of the Government of Pakistan, Chaudhry falsely represented that his activities were solely educational in nature and not affiliated with the Pakistan government.  These representations were made not only to American think tank scholars, but also to current and former U.S. government officials, including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents who interviewed Chaudhry upon entry into the United States from his travels to Pakistan.

According to his plea agreement, Chaudhry regularly traveled to Pakistan to brief high-level Pakistan government officials on information obtained from his American government and think tank contacts.

It has not been publicly disclosed which think tanks Chaudhry frequented, but a link from the Embassy of Pakistan shows that the government of Pakistan has embraced a number of think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Atlantic Council, Wilson Center, New America, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Even with all of those interactions, US-Pakistan relations have taken a nosedive in recent months.  Most recently, the US and Pakistani governments formally imposed mutual curbs on the travel and movements of each other's diplomats.  Now, Pakistani diplomats and their families cannot travel more than 25 miles from Washington without prior permission.  In other words, they are essentially stuck riding the think tank circuit in DC and nearby environs.  The good news?  There are about 500 think tanks to choose from.

Here is a recent Think Tank Watch piece about fake think tanking.

New FARA Bill to Force Think Tanks to Register as Foreign Agents?

Here is more from Foreign Policy:

A new draft proposal in the House of Representatives seeks to require China’s cultural outposts in the United States, the Confucius Institutes, to register as foreign agents.

The effort, spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), targets any foreign funding at U.S. universities that aims to promote the agenda of a foreign government.

The draft bill does not single out Confucius Institutes by name, but according to Wilson it will apply to the Chinese government-run programs, which offer language and culture classes on more than 100 American college and university campuses. The institutes have come under increasing scrutiny in recent months due to their sometimes heavy-handed attempts to censor discussion of topics that the Chinese Communist Party deems off-limits, leading to growing concerns about academic freedom.

Wilson’s initiative would clarify language in the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a Nazi-era law intended to combat foreign propaganda. FARA requires organizations and individuals engaged in lobbying or public discourse on behalf of a foreign government to register with the Department of Justice, and to disclose their funding and the scope of their activities. FARA does not prohibit such funding or activities but rather seeks to provide transparency about the true source of the messaging.

As currently written, FARA includes an exemption for “bona fide” academic and scholastic pursuits, but what is meant by “bona fide” is not clearly spelled out. The draft proposal would redefine what is meant by a bona fide academic pursuit to exclude any foreign-funded endeavor that promotes the agenda of a foreign government. If enacted, the legislation would, in turn, trigger mandatory registration for the institutes, though it would not interfere with their activities.

As some have noted, think tanks and universities often look to FARA's academic exemption to avoid registration.

PR/Lobby Firms Lawyer Up After Entanglements With EU Think Tank

Here is more from Politico:

K Street powerhouses Mercury and the Podesta Group recently hired outside lawyers after the Associated Press reported that their work for a European think tank was secretly overseen by [Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul] Manafort and one of his associates working for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. Manafort and his company never registered their activities under FARA.

The IG report noted ambiguity about whether exemptions apply to representing foreign entities like college campus groups and think thanks that receive government funding but claim to act independently.

FARA registrations peaked in 1987 and fell sharply since the 1990s, probably because people started registering under the 1995 domestic lobbying law instead, which requires less detailed disclosures.

The "think tank" mentioned above is European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECFMU), based in Brussels, Belgium.  Here is more about that organization, which was founded in 2012.