U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C. Jan. 10, 2012. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ

A top U.S. Justice Department official on Wednesday said the U.S. government's crackdown on covert foreign influence has remained a "top priority" following recent court setbacks, including the acquittal of prominent Washington lawyer Greg Craig on a charge connected to his past work for Ukraine.

Speaking at a conference in Washington, Justice Department attorney Brandon Van Grack dismissed the suggestion that the U.S. government was throttling down its enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, a decades-old law requiring the disclosure of lobbying and other advocacy activities for overseas powers.

In recent weeks, the Justice Department has stumbled in prosecutions that were viewed as early tests of its stepped-up enforcement of FARA.

In August, a jury in Washington found Craig not guilty of deceiving the Justice Department about a project he took on for the Russia-aligned government of Ukraine in 2012, when he was a partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Prosecutors had alleged Craig, a former Obama White House counsel, misled the Justice Department to avoid registering as a foreign agent. The jury cleared Craig after less than five hours of deliberations, vindicating the venerated lawyer's decision to stand trial and testify in his own defense.

Former Obama White House Counsel Gregory Craig leaves federal court in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 22. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi /NLJ

Skadden in January agreed to pay $4.6 million to resolve allegations that it failed to register as a foreign agent in connection with Craig's review of the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former Ukrainian prime minister whose prosecution was widely criticized as politically motivated.

And in Alexandria, Virginia, federal court, a judge on Tuesday threw out the conviction of Bijan Kian, a one-time business associate of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The judge concluded that prosecutors, despite securing a guilty verdict, had not presented sufficient evidence to sustain charges that Kian secretly lobbied for Turkey.

John Demers, the assistant attorney general in charge of DOJ's national security division, said Wednesday that prosecutors were considering next steps in the Kian case.

Van Grack questioned whether leading FARA lawyers had changed their advice to clients in light of the court setbacks. "I suspect the answer is no," he said.

After serving on Special Counsel Robert Mueller III's team, Van Grack was named earlier this year as the new chief of the Justice Department unit tasked with enforcing the foreign agents law. His appointment was seen as a harbinger of more aggressive enforcement.

FARA regulations came to renewed prominence as the special counsel's office prosecuted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on charges linked to his past work for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort and his longtime deputy, Rick Gates, eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges that swept in allegations that they failed to register as foreign agents, along with accusations of financial misdeeds.

On Wednesday, Van Grack trumpeted the growth in new registrations, attributing the totals, in part, to increased awareness of FARA. Nearly 700 individuals have registered as foreign agents so far this year, according to the Justice Department, which projects that the total will rise to about 1,000 by the end of 2019. About 550 individuals registered for the first time as foreign agents in 2016.

"The numbers are clear that many foreign agents are registering and are complying," Van Grack said.

Van Grack said the Justice Department has conducted a record number of inspections this year—"30% more than any year prior"—to determine whether foreign agents have adequately disclosed their activities. Under FARA, foreign agents are required to maintain "books and records" related to their influence activities and make those records open to review by the Justice Department.

Between 2010 and 2018, the Justice Department conducted about 15 inspections a year. It has conducted 20 so far this year.

"That's a trend that will continue," Van Grack said. "We're bringing more persons and dedicating more time to inspections, so that we can review and process more information."

Van Grack's remarks came the same day Demers announced the Justice Department had revamped its online system for receiving FARA filings.

The revamp included a technical change that aims to standardize filings and ensure that all of the required fields in the disclosure forms are completed. For years, disclosures have varied widely in their level of detail, with some including detailed logs of lobbying activities while others have given only cursory overviews of influence efforts.

Demers, who oversees the Justice Department's national security division, said the changes will allow for the public to deepen its understanding of foreign influence in the U.S.

"FARA helps protect the integrity of American democracy by combating covert foreign government influence in our political process. Improving the FARA filing system is part of the department's commitment to improving transparency of foreign influence activities," Demers said. "This new system will make it easier for registrants to comply with their obligations and for the public to remain informed of their activities. The more accessible we made information on foreign political activities to the public, the better we accomplish our mission."

 

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