Since the unrest in the Middle East began a month ago the Sunlight Foundation has shone a unique spotlight on the lobbying efforts by the governments now facing massive protests and upheaval.
Continue readingEgypt’s Lobbyists Worked To Block Pro-Human Rights, Democracy Resolution
New disclosures filed in the past few weeks by Egypt’s lobbying team in Washington shine a light on the activity... View Article
Continue readingEgypt’s Washington Lobbying Operation Continues
On February 2, 2011, in the midst of the revolution in Egypt, the PLM Group, filed a disclosure report with... View Article
Continue readingConflict minerals comment period delayed under corporate and congressional pressure
After a powerful committee chairman and several corporate interests wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting an extension of the comment period for the agency’s proposed regulations requiring that companies disclose when they use “conflict minerals,” the agency granted the request.
The new regulations are mandated under a little-noticed provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act calling for companies using conflict minerals to disclose whether they were mined by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or neighboring countries, where metals such as gold are mined under inhumane conditions and fund war ...
Continue readingEgypt’s Washington lobby helped country’s military and U.S. defense firms
At the Atlantic, Chris Good identifies some of the U.S. lobbyists who have registered to work for the Egyptian government. Filings required by the Foreign Agent Registration Act, and digitized and made searchable by Sunlight's joint project with ProPublica, the Foreign Lobbyist Influence Tracker, show that among foreign governments, Egypt has been one of the most prolific spenders. FARA filings show that the U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relation benefits American military contractors. The United States ships aid dollars to the Egyptian government, which in turn buys pricey items from American contractors, with deals often arranged with the help ...
Continue readingMake Lobbying for Foreign Interests More Transparent
Sunlight will be making a big push in the 112th Congress for improvements to lobbying disclosure. As part of that effort, we will also call for amendments to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the law that requires anyone who lobbies the U.S. government on behalf of a foreign interest to register and report his or her activities with the Justice Department. FARA requires fairly detailed information from lobbyists, including the names of the government employees or Members of Congress contacted and the dates of each contact. (This fundamental information is not required by the Lobbyist Disclosure Act and is a reporting loophole Sunlight aims to close.) Unfortunately, many details regarding the work of foreign agents is hidden from public view because it is buried in unsearchable PDF documents. Sunlight and ProPublica have teamed up to put some of the FARA data in electronic form, but full transparency demands that FARA forms be electronically filed and all data reported made publicly available in searchable, sortable, downloadable databases.
Continue readingForeign agents lobbied on issues raised in Wikileaks cables
As the cache of internal State Department cables released by Julian Assange and Wikileaks.org amply demonstrates, U.S. government officials offer frank opinions about the leaders, policies and political developments in other countries. Another treasure trove of documents, disclosure of which is required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, shows how foreign governments use Washington lobbyists to challenge those judgments and plead their case in Washington. The Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, thanks to a grant from ProPublica.org, has digitized and made searchable data from FARA filings. To see all the data, click here.
Disclosures filed in 2009 show ...
International influence: Agents of foreign clients report thousands of lobbying contacts, millions in fees
In 2009, lobbying, public relations and other firms that represent some 328 clients —foreign governments, political parties and government-controlled entities including some for-profit corporations—reported receiving more than $60 million in fees—down by about $25 million from the total in the previous year, an analysis of disclosures required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) shows. The Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group has digitized and made searchable data from FARA disclosures.
While some countries continued their lobbying efforts from previous years, including a group of African nations working towards receiving better trade benefits, others pushed for earmarks or attempted to ...
Continue readingCoups, nuclear deals and Gitmo detainees featured in 2009 FARA filings
Denounced by their Latin American neighbors, the Obama administration and world opinion following the removal from power and immediate exile of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, the acting Honduran government turned to Washington lobbyists to launch a media and lobbying campaign on Sept. 19, 2009, to regain legitimacy in the United States.
Two months earlier, President Manuel Zelaya, who was democratically elected, was deported after the country’s Supreme Court endorsed a lower court order finding a referendum Zelaya called for would violate the country’s constitution. The Supreme Court ordered the military to remove Zelaya, and Roberto Micheletti, the next ...
Continue readingHouse passes bill to ban ‘state sponsors of terrorism’ from lobbying
The House of Representatives passed a bill earlier this month that would prohibit countries deemed “state sponsors of terrorism” by... View Article
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