As President Barack Obama prepares to welcome the sometimes controversial Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the White House on Wednesday, U.S. officials are quietly preparing to release some $1.6 billion in aid for the south Asian nation that had been frozen ever since U.S. forces captured and killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden living in comfort not far from the Pakistani capital.
That raid -- which resulted in widespread anger in Pakistan against the U.S. and suspicion in the U.S. against Pakistan -- is just one of a number of thorny issues between the two ...
Continue readingVolunteer watchdogs wanted: Help us track foreign influence!
The Sunlight Foundation is looking for intrepid volunteers willing to wade, ever so meticulously, through records on foreign influence in... View Article
Continue readingAs Middle East boils, Jordan press crackdown may be strategically ignored
With much of the Middle East a cauldron, seemingly stable allies in the region can get free passes from Washington. Consider longtime U.S. ally Jordan.
The Hashemite Kingdom blocked access to perhaps as many as 300 "unregistered" media websites without any public comment from Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who has more pressing human rights issues: trying to prevent a "complete and total Syrian implosion."
To that end, the U.S. is weighing an extended stay for Patriot missile batteries and F-16 combat aircraft currently in Jordan for military exercises.
And that's not the only American assistance that the government of King Abdullah II is anticipating: there is a total $670 million in U.S. aid promised to Jordan this year, according to foreignassistance.gov. The greatest share, $310 million, goes to “peace and security” programs, most of which go to counter-terrorism efforts.
Sunshine Week 2013: A Recap
Last week was busy and exciting here at Sunlight as we marked another successful Sunshine Week. It was a great... View Article
Continue readingMexico’s president-elect hires DC lobbyists
Mexico’s President-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, who takes office December 1, has hired lobbying firm Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates to represent him in Washington. According to documents filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the contract focuses on U.S. outreach and “monitoring of news and policy developments related to Mexico-U.S. interests.”
So far, six lobbyists with the firm have filed paperwork confirming they will work as part of the Peña Nieto account.
The question is whether Peña Nieto, seen at right, should have filed sooner. This may not even be the first U.S. media ...
Continue readingMitt Romney makes an early appearance in lobbying filings
It's not surprising that a Republican stalwart like Bob Dole, the party's 1996 presidential candidate and, prior to that, the Senate Majority Leader, would have occasion to speak with current GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. But the context is: Dole's firm, Alston and Bird, disclosed that he's started to lobby Mitt Romney on behalf of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office of the United States (TECRO), the diplomatic mission of Taiwan to the United States.
Filings made to the Justice Dept. under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show that Dole has reached out to many ...
Continue readingBrazil-U.S. trip part of larger PR strategy
Warming up for a summit of hemispheric leaders in Colombia later this week, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff today wraps up a brief visit to the United States, where she met President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and leaders of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Despite the high-profile dance card, Reuters quoted some Brazilian officials as complaining that their president didn't get quite the reception she and her country deserves. "There's a feeling that most people in Washington don't appreciate what's happening in Brazil," the news agency reported one official close to Rousseff as saying ...
Continue readingOn eve of Netanyahu visit, a look at Israel’s lobbying
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday begins a visit to the United States amid tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program and a report President Obama will urge his Israeli counterpart to postpone a preemptive strike. In addition to Obama, Netanyahu will call on another U.S. power political player, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
AIPAC, which has been sounding the alarm on Iran, is the largest pro-Israeli lobbying operation, with $2.8 million in lobbying expenditures last year, according to Senate reports, AIPAC will draw top politicians from both countries to its 2012 Policy Conference. Besides Obama ...
Continue readingArab Spring Data
| Location | Lobbying and PR totals 2010 | Recent events | U.S. lobbying summary |
| Algeria | $205,000 | President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has remained in power since, 1999. In March, the government boosted wages of government employees to soothe protesters. Spring protests were dispersed by riot police. Small-scale protests against housing shortages and unemployment continue. | Algeria has hired Foley and Hoag since 2007. Lobbying efforts focused on reducing Morocco's influence in Western Sahara. |
| Bahrain | $63,000 | Bahrain began to crackdown on protests mid March. Protests left 30 dead, the state of emergency was lifted June 1. Negations were set up between the government ... |
Arab Spring: One Year Later
International lobbying is the hidden story to come out of the Arab Spring, which hits a major landmark Saturday, the first anniversary of ex-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation. Lobbying represents a vital puzzle piece in an international structure of power that propped up dictators and oppressed millions of people. The Sunlight Foundation has been tracking these developments using the Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker, a searchable database of international lobbying records gleaned from the Department of Justice that we've just updated.
The project started in partnership with ProPublica, aiming to make this treasure trove of information accessible to the ...
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