Spying & Spies in the USA (merged thread)

[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