Today, Congress announced the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year 2024. The NDAA is an annual bill that contains important provisions related to the Department of Defense and international security, among other things. An earlier version of the bill contained two key provisions related
Continue Reading Congress Removes Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”)-Related Provisions from Final NDAA
Congress Introduces Retroactive Foreign Agents Registration Act in Response to Wynn Decision
Last week, a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators introduced the Retroactive Foreign Agents Registration Act (“RFARA”) in the U.S. Congress. Led by Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the bill would amend the Foreign Agents
Continue Reading Congress Introduces Retroactive Foreign Agents Registration Act in Response to Wynn DecisionSenate Passes Two FARA-Related Bills
On Thursday, the Senate passed two bills — The Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act (S. 264) and Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act (S. 289) — that attempt to increase disclosure of Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) activity through amendments to the Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”). The
Continue Reading Senate Passes Two FARA-Related BillsDOJ Releases New FARA Advisory Opinions Affecting Digital Media Platforms
The Department of Justice’s FARA Unit released several new advisory opinions in recent weeks that interpret the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) and its regulations. While the newly published opinions addressed a number of topics, the FARA Unit’s broad reading of the FARA triggers and the jurisdictional scope of the
Continue Reading DOJ Releases New FARA Advisory Opinions Affecting Digital Media PlatformsInflation Hits the FEC: Contribution Limits for 2023-2024 Raised in the Largest Periodic Increase Ever
The Federal Election Commission has announced contribution limits for 2023-2024. The new “per election” limits are effective for the 2023-2024 election cycle (November 9, 2022 – November 5, 2024), and the calendar year limits are effective January 1, 2023. The new limits represent the largest election cycle increase since the
Continue Reading Inflation Hits the FEC: Contribution Limits for 2023-2024 Raised in the Largest Periodic Increase EverCovington Releases Updated Version of “FARA: A Guide for the Perplexed”
In 2018, Covington published the original version of its widely read primer on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, “FARA: A Guide for the Perplexed.” We have updated this primer periodically. Today, the firm released the latest edition of the primer, featuring new analysis of recent Department of Justice guidance
Continue Reading Covington Releases Updated Version of “FARA: A Guide for the Perplexed”Ranking of Companies on PoliticalDisclosure Now Expanded to Russell 1000
The CPA-Zicklin Index, which ranks companies’ political disclosure practices, has issued a new
report ranking companies in the Russell 1000 Index. This is a significant expansion of the Index,
which previously only covered companies from the S&P 500. The expansion will impact many
public companies that have not previously been
House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Foreign Agents Registration Act Reform
The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing on Tuesday on potential reform of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), the first FARA hearing by the House Judiciary Committee in over 30 years.
FARA is an arcane statute that requires “agents of
Continue Reading House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Foreign Agents Registration Act Reform
DOJ Releases FARA Advisory Opinions that Scrutinize Nonprofit Activity
The Department of Justice’s FARA Unit released several new advisory opinions today interpreting the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) and its regulations. While the newly published opinions addressed a number of topics, the FARA Unit’s scrutiny of the activity of nonprofits was a prominent and recurring theme.
Many nonprofits, think
Continue Reading DOJ Releases FARA Advisory Opinions that Scrutinize Nonprofit Activity
A Curious Advisory Opinion Reinterprets the FARA Exemption for Lawyers (and Resolves a FARA Mystery)
Last week, the Department of Justice’s FARA Unit released a curious advisory opinion. The new opinion stated that it replaced an advisory opinion released by the Department in December 2019, and it revised the Department’s guidance on the scope of the lawyers’ exemption to FARA. As far as we can
Continue Reading A Curious Advisory Opinion Reinterprets the FARA Exemption for Lawyers (and Resolves a FARA Mystery)