Covington & Burling LLP today released new data showing that the Department of Justice has maintained an increased level of Foreign Agents Registration Act audits,and settled into a consistent pattern of conducting 15 audits of FARA registrants each fiscal year.

In each of the last four years, the Department of Justice’s FARA office has conducted 15 audits of FARA registrants, we reported at Covington’s Corporate Political Activity & Government Affairs Compliance Conference held in Washington today.  The new data are based on information that Covington obtained from our work with the Department of Justice’s FARA office.

FARA audits have increased precipitously in the last few years.  The Department conducted no audits in 2004 through 2007, but then 13 in 2008, 14 in 2009, and 15 from 2010 through 2013.  The new data reported today supplement information obtained by the Project on Government Oversight in 2011 under a Freedom of Information Act request.

The number of FARA registrants fluctuates with time, but there are usually around 400 active FARA registrants.  With 15 audits conducted each year, each FARA registrant faces about a 4% chance of an audit each year.

Tags: FARA
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Photo of Brian D. Smith Brian D. Smith

Brian Smith assists clients with challenging public policy matters that combine legal and political risks and opportunities.

Brian represents companies and individuals facing high-profile and high-risk congressional investigations and hearings, and other criminal, civil, and internal investigations that present legal, political, and public…

Brian Smith assists clients with challenging public policy matters that combine legal and political risks and opportunities.

Brian represents companies and individuals facing high-profile and high-risk congressional investigations and hearings, and other criminal, civil, and internal investigations that present legal, political, and public relations risks. He assists companies and executives responding to formal and informal inquiries from Congress and executive branch agencies for documents, information, and testimony. He has extensive experience preparing CEOs and other senior executives to testify before challenging congressional oversight hearings.

Brian develops and executes government relations initiatives for clients seeking actions by Congress and the executive branch. He has led strategic efforts resulting in legislation enacted by Congress and official actions and public engagement at the most senior levels of the U.S. government. He has significant experience in legislative drafting and has prepared multiple bills enacted by Congress and legislation passed in nearly every state legislature.

Prior to joining Covington, Brian served in the White House as Assistant to the Special Counsel to President Clinton. He handled matters related to the White House’s response to investigations, including four independent counsel investigations, a Justice Department task force investigation, two major oversight investigations by the House of Representatives and the Senate, and several other congressional oversight investigations.

Brian is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School.

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