Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
New: DOJ says Saudi Aramco lobbyists don't have to register under the FARA.
NEW: The DOJ recently issued a legal opinion that exempts a Saudi Aramco lobbyists from registering under the FARA.
This new loophole means that details of Saudi Arabia’s US influence efforts can remain hidden.
This new loophole means that details of Saudi Arabia’s US influence efforts can remain hidden.
Link to tweet
New Disclosure Loophole Allows Saudi Aramco Lobbyists Not to Register Under FARA
November 18, 2019
In a rule that could have wide-reaching consequences, the Department of Justice recently issued a legal opinion that appears to exempt a Saudi-owned oil company’s lobbyists from registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), according to a CREW analysis of lobbying disclosures and DOJ records. The lobbyists have instead been permitted to disclose their work under the less rigorous Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA).
As a result, information that would have been disclosed under FARA—including detailed lists of the lobbyists’ meetings with government officials—has effectively been withheld from the government and the public, thus hiding details of a lobbying campaign that could be considered part of Saudi Arabia’s U.S. influence efforts.
More broadly, the DOJ’s legal opinion appears to establish a general loophole in FARA that allows corporations that are wholly owned by a foreign state-owned company to obscure the full extent of their influence efforts in the United States. This is a highly concerning policy, especially since it seems to have been put in place in response to a request from a company owned by the Saudi Arabian government, which has a long history of seeking to influence the U.S. government through both open and covert means.
The opinion appears to have prompted a direct rebuke from the House Appropriations Committee, which has stated its belief that the DOJ’s current guidance allows state-owned entities to avoid FARA registration even while promoting their foreign owners’ interests.
More: https://www.citizensforethics.org/loophole-saudi-aramco-lobbyists-fara/
November 18, 2019
In a rule that could have wide-reaching consequences, the Department of Justice recently issued a legal opinion that appears to exempt a Saudi-owned oil company’s lobbyists from registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), according to a CREW analysis of lobbying disclosures and DOJ records. The lobbyists have instead been permitted to disclose their work under the less rigorous Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA).
As a result, information that would have been disclosed under FARA—including detailed lists of the lobbyists’ meetings with government officials—has effectively been withheld from the government and the public, thus hiding details of a lobbying campaign that could be considered part of Saudi Arabia’s U.S. influence efforts.
More broadly, the DOJ’s legal opinion appears to establish a general loophole in FARA that allows corporations that are wholly owned by a foreign state-owned company to obscure the full extent of their influence efforts in the United States. This is a highly concerning policy, especially since it seems to have been put in place in response to a request from a company owned by the Saudi Arabian government, which has a long history of seeking to influence the U.S. government through both open and covert means.
The opinion appears to have prompted a direct rebuke from the House Appropriations Committee, which has stated its belief that the DOJ’s current guidance allows state-owned entities to avoid FARA registration even while promoting their foreign owners’ interests.
More: https://www.citizensforethics.org/loophole-saudi-aramco-lobbyists-fara/
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
And we thought "1984" was an awful portrait of our potential dissociative relationship to reality!
