WASHINGTON – A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to charges that he failedto register as a foreign agent in connection with lobbying work he did forthe Pakistani government in an effort to shape U.S. foreign policy, theJustice Department said on Monday.
The newly unsealed case against Nisar Ahmed Chaudhry, a Pakistani nationaland U.S. permanent resident, marks a rare instance in which the JusticeDepartment has pursued a prosecution under the Foreign Agents RegistrationAct, which requires people who lobby on behalf of foreign governments orpolitical parties to register with the United States.
A critical 2016 report by the Justice Department’s inspector general foundthat the department lacked a comprehensive enforcement strategy to penalizepeople who failed to file FARA statements.
That report found that between 1966 and 2015, the department only broughtseven prosecutions for FARA violations.
Violations of FARA have gained greater attention since 2016, when U.S.intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the presidentialelection. Russian has denied those findings.
The often unenforced FARA law was thrust into the spotlight by SpecialCounsel Robert Mueller, who last October charged President Donald Trump’sformer campaign manager, Paul Manafort, with failing to register as aforeign agent for Ukraine’s pro-Russia government. Manafort has pleaded notguilty to the charges.
Less than a month later, the Justice Department also pressured theKremlin-backed television station RT America to register as a foreign agent.
The television station obliged, saying it would rather register with theU.S. government and disclose certain financial information than facepossible criminal prosecution.
In Chaudhry’s case, filed April 19 and unsealed on Monday, the governmentsaid he worked to influence U.S. officials on foreign policies towardsPakistan from 2012 through 2018 without disclosing it.
The Justice Department said he represented that his activities were merelyeducational and not affiliated with Pakistan’s government when he met withthink tank scholars and current and former U.S. government officials,including U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents who interviewed Chaudhrywhen he returned to the United States from travels to Pakistan.
The Justice Department said he cultivated relationships to gather insightson the government’s policies towards Pakistan, and then sought to”neutralise unfavourable views of Pakistan” during roundtable discussionsand other interactions by trying to manipulate the discussion.
Federal public defenders representing Chaudhry could not be immediatelyreached for comment.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 30. He faces a maximum five years inprison, a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised release uponcompletion of the prison term. – Agencies