Spying & Spies in the USA (merged thread)

[jmm99]

Here is the US v Soueid indictment; and the DoJ Press Release explaining it (snip of what crimes are charged):

Soueid, aka “Alex Soueid” or “Anas Alswaid,” a Syrian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was charged by a federal grand jury on Oct. 5, 2011, in a six-count indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia. Soueid is charged with conspiring to act and acting as an agent of the Syrian government in the United States without notifying the Attorney General as required by law; two counts of providing false statements on a firearms purchase form; and two counts of providing false statements to federal law enforcement.

As this is an indictment released by DoJ in the wake of "Fast and Furious", I do take to heart the obligatory disclaimer at the Press Release's end:

The public is reminded that an indictment contains mere allegations and that a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The crimes charged are not based on "new laws" - nor, on any novel interpretations of old laws (from the indictment):

Count 1 - 18 U.S.C. § 371: Conspiracy to Act in the United States as an Agent of a Foreign Government

Count 2 - 18 U.S.C. § 951: Acting in the United States as an Agent of a Foreign Government

Count 3 - 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(a)(6): Material False Statement on a Firearms Purchase Application

Count 4 - 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A): False Statement on a Firearms Purchase Application

Counts 5 and 6 -18 U.S.C. § 1001: False Statements

Whether the evidence will back up the indictment's factual allegations remains to be seen.

This seems a probably questionable statement:

from Fuchs
Strange accusations. ....I'd be at a loss to name any German law that he'd have violated if it happened in Germany.

but it's not worth for me an email to Germany to find out.

Regards

Mike

[bourbon]

Count 1 - 18 U.S.C. § 371: Conspiracy to Act in the United States as an Agent of a Foreign Government

Count 2 - 18 U.S.C. § 951: Acting in the United States as an Agent of a Foreign Government

Since when has our government started taking these crimes seriously?

Cough, cough – Jane Harman, AIPAC, Steve Rosen, Keith Weissman, Michael Ledeen, Doug Feith, & many more – cough

[davidbfpo]

Zenpundit adds, in a comment on the other plot:

By some miraculous deus ex machina, the cultish, 1970’s era Iranian Marxoid terrorist group, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MeK) have spent a wealth of funds to buy the lobbying services of a glittering array of former top US national security officials and general officers - despite being on the State Department’s official terrorist list.

….Among the new faces: (edited) General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA from 2006 to 2009...

In what should be a national scandal, those names are not even a comprehensive list of the very influential former politicians, K Street lobbyists and Beltway law firms accepting payments to whisper in the ears of current officials in the national security community, regarding Iran, on behalf of the MeK. Not sure how it is legal to do so either, since aiding a group on the State Department’s list by providing services normally can get you hauled into Federal court pronto, if you are an ordinary American citizen. A most curious situation….

I have no brief for Iran, the regime is a dedicated enemy of the United States, but a group of exiled Iranian Marxist-terrorists who used to work for Saddam Hussein hardly have our best interests at heart.

Link:http://zenpundit.com/?p=4390

T'is a topsy-turvy world and we can trust the law to look equally on all.

[Fuchs]

I did some questioning and it appears that we have no law that forbids foreign agents to spy on private persons in Germany, but there's an interpretation of the law by lawyers that suggests this could nevertheless be criminal under § 99 StGB if said private persons are aligned with our country (~ if we oppose the Syrian government and support the Syrian opposition publicly).

The forging stuff is illegal here, too - but that wasn't mentioned in the article.

[jmm99]

German media may be different on legal cases; but US media often gives an incomplete - and therefore misleading - reading of the charges.

So, it's better to get the name from the Wash Post or the NYT; and then start Googling for the indictment or complaint, and other charging documents.

The "foreign agent registration" provisions (Counts 1 and 2) belong less to espionage law than to lobbyist law.

For the more general act - see Foreign Lobbying in the United States; and more particularly, Foreign Agents Registration Act .

According to the US Attorneys' Manual, 2062 Foreign Agents Registration Act Enforcement:

Since 1966 there have been no successful criminal prosecutions under FARA and only 3 indictments returned or informations filed charging FARA violations. ...

But, the Manual goes on:

FARA does not exhaust the federal government's response to perceived problems in this area. There are numerous other federal statutes aimed at persons loosely called foreign agents (See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 951; Public Law 893, 50 U.S.C. §§ 851-857; and 18 U.S.C. § 2386 (the Voorhis Act)).

18 USC 951(b) states:

b) The Attorney General shall promulgate rules and regulations establishing requirements for notification.

and, indeed, the Code of Federal Regulations, 28 CFR 73, so provides:

73.1—Definition of terms.
73.2—Exceptions.
73.3—Form of notification.
73.4—Partial compliance not deemed compliance.
73.5—Termination of notification.
73.6—Relation to other statutes.

Authority: 18 U.S.C. 951, 28 U.S.C. 509, 510.
Source: Order No. 1373-89, 54 FR 46608, Nov. 6, 1989, unless otherwise noted.

The last reg (73.6) provides that:

The filing of a notification under this section shall not be deemed compliance with the requirements of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended, 22 U.S.C. 611, et seq., nor compliance with any other statute.

The net result is at least two possible "foreign agent" enforcement paths.

Regards

Mike

[davidbfpo]

Prompted by a new report, posted separately for visibility, I have merged four threads on spying and spies within the USA.