DOJ Charges Individual for Evasion of FARA and Serving as a Russian Agent
Commentary by Ilan T. Graff
The DOJ charged a dual U.S. and Russian national for evading requirements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and for other illegal conduct while serving as an agent for the Russian government.
In a Complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the DOJ stated that beginning in at least 2011, the individual worked illegally on behalf of the Russian government and Russian officials to advance Russian interests in the United States. The DOJ alleged that, among other things, the individual:
- organized meetings between Russian officials and U.S. political officials and businesspersons;
- used Russian funding to establish entities in the U.S. that publicly sponsored Russian policy;
- evaded Foreign Agents Registration Act ("FARA") requirements by, among other things, failing to register under FARA;
- took part in a plot to get Russian officials and their associates fraudulent U.S. visas; and
- lied to the FBI when questioned in 2020 about these acts.
The individual left the U.S. for Russia in 2020 and remains at large.
Commentary
After decades of relative dormancy, FARA has re-emerged as a DOJ enforcement priority in the last five years. This latest charge in the Southern District of New York shows that DOJ continues to regard the statute as a potent tool for combatting foreign influence, even as it contemplates issuing new rules, which would amount to the most substantial revisiting of FARA’s scope since the 1990s.