Allawi Uses Loophole to Keep Backers Secret

[L. Coyote]

Allawi Uses Loophole to Keep Backers Secret
By Spencer Ackerman - September 5, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004080.php


It's official: Ayad Allawi is no longer represented by Barbour Griffith & Rogers, the White House-connected lobbying firm he retained to sell the U.S. government on his "parliamentary coup" (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-allawi._slysep01,1,1802063.story)to become Iraq's next prime minister. Well, sort of.

Allawi doesn't want to disclose who's paying BGR's $300,000 fee. But since Allawi admitted on CNN that he's not paying the bill himself, BGR has to either disclose to the Justice Department which "agent of a foreign principal" it receives money from or violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

..............

[Kagemusha]

1. Innocent question: why does this actually exempt them from disclosure?

BG&R had Maliki as a client. It no longer has Maliki as a client. Why would BG&R be exempted from disclosing who paid the $300,000 fee of a former client? What am I missing here? $300,000 is not chump change and surely falls under some kind of reporting requirement.

[L. Coyote]

2. "political parties aren't required to disclose their sources of funding under FARA"

I guess the law allows for a change of mind!

Ridiculous, it seems, not to mention a cover up!

[Kagemusha]

3. Well obviously if the DoJ doesn't wanna push it, the law is irrelevant

but I do find that 'change of mind' rather... curious...