FARA
Definition
The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a 1938 law requiring anyone acting as an agent of a foreign government, party, or entity for political or public relations purposes in the US to publicly register with the Department of Justice and disclose the relationship, payments, and activities.
Why it matters
FARA is meant to let the public and policymakers see when a lobbyist, consultant, or official's efforts are actually paid for by a foreign power rather than a domestic interest. Enforcement was historically light and mostly civil, but DOJ has shifted toward criminal charges in the past decade as foreign influence operations have grown more common.
Seen in the wild
In 2024, DOJ indicted Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife for allegedly acting as unregistered agents for Azerbaijan's state oil company in exchange for roughly $600,000 in bribes, and indicted former New York state official Linda Sun for acting on behalf of the Chinese government without registering.1 Senator Robert Menendez was convicted in 2024 on related corruption and foreign agent charges after accepting gold bars and cash tied to Egyptian government interests.2