WASHINGTON — FBI agents and federal prosecutors are in disagreement over the intent of a foreign lobbying disclosure law, creating confusion within the Justice Department and complicating enforcement, according to a government watchdog report released Wednesday.
An audit from the department’s inspector general focuses on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a 1938 law that requires lobbyists to register if they represent foreign leaders or their political parties.
The report says agents and prosecutors don’t appear to agree on how best to enforce the law or on what constitutes a prosecutable case. Though violations of the statute carry up to five years in prison, only seven cases have been brought in 50 years, the audit said.
Investigators interviewed for the complaint said Justice Department prosecutors were slow in reviewing possible cases and reluctant to approve charges, while prosecutors said the primary purpose of the law was to ensure registration and public disclosure.
In addition, the number of registrations began falling sharply in the mid-1990s after peaking at 916 in 1987. There were only 360 active registrations at the end of 2014. Justice Department officials say they think the decline may be tied to filing fees first imposed in 1993 as well as the passage of the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which imposes less stringent requirements and carved out an exemption to the law, known as FARA.
The inspector general made several recommendations, including that the Justice Department improve its oversight of FARA registrations. The review found 62 percent of registrations were submitted late, and 50 percent of registrants filed at least one supplemental statement late.
The Associated Press reported last month that a firm run by Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling political party. However, Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, never disclosed the work under FARA. Manafort and Gates said the registration was not necessary, but Manafort resigned his position with the campaign.
