WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee
Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), along with committee members John
Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) are calling on the
Justice Department to detail steps being taken to ensure that the Brookings
Institution and other think tanks tied to foreign governments and enterprises
comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). In a letter to DOJ, the
senators outline a multi-million-dollar relationship between Brookings and
Qatar. FARA is a content-neutral transparency statute that requires the
disclosure of work to influence U.S. policy or public opinion on behalf of a
foreign government, political party or principal.
“FARA is an important statute that was designed not to prohibit
activity but rather to require individuals to register with the DOJ if they are
acting as an agent of a foreign government or enterprise to influence U.S.
policy or public opinion. This helps
ensure transparency and accountability in the public policy arena,” the
senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In 2007,
Brookings partnered with the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch the
Brookings Doha Center, making the center a foreign principal under FARA. The
Qatari government donated an initial $5 million to launch the center, and made
future funding contingent on a review of the center’s agenda for programs it developed.
The arrangement made Brookings an agent of a foreign principal under FARA.
The
center’s activities also appear to be aimed at influencing U.S. government
policy and public opinion. The Doha Center held annual meetings of the U.S.
Islamic World Forum with U.S. officials in attendance, and produced research,
press statements and educational programming that can influence both policy and
opinion.
“Based on the available evidence and the plain text of the
agreement between the Brookings Institution and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the State of Qatar, it is clear that a foreign principal had significant
control over the Center and the Center itself was a foreign principal, the
State of Qatar provided the Center with millions of dollars in financial
support, and the Center most likely engaged in activity that it either intended
or believed would influence the U.S. Government and public for the benefit of
the foreign principal.
The
Senators are seeking details on whether the Justice Department has taken any action
to assess Brookings’ compliance with FARA and whether Brookings sought an advisory
opinion from the department on its responsibilities and that of its affiliates
under the statute.
August 16, 2022
VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
The
Honorable Merrick Garland
Attorney
General
Department
of Justice
Dear
Attorney General Garland:
During the
Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, Congress has conducted oversight of the
Department of Justice’s (DOJ) enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration
Act (FARA).
[1] FARA is an important statute that was
designed not to prohibit activity but rather to require individuals to register
with the DOJ if they are acting as an agent of a foreign government or
enterprise to influence U.S. policy or public opinion. This helps ensure transparency and
accountability in the public policy arena.
Proper
enforcement of, and compliance with, FARA remains a top priority of ours as
foreign governments and enterprises continue to use agents within the United
States as conduits to lobby for policy changes and engage in public relations
activity for the benefit of foreign principals.
It is against that backdrop that we write to you about the close
relationship between the Brookings Institution and the State of Qatar.
In
January 2007, the Brookings Institution and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the State of Qatar entered into a multi-million dollar relationship to form the
“Brookings Doha Center” (hereinafter “the Center”) under the laws of the State
of Qatar.
[2] Thus, not only was Brookings associated with
a foreign principal, the State of Qatar, the Center was also a foreign
principal because it was organized under the laws of a foreign country and its
principal place of business was located in Doha, Qatar.
[3] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also had
significant financial power over the Center.
For example, according to the publicly released agreement between the
Brookings Institution and the State of Qatar, “[t]he Director of the Center
will engage in regular consultation with [the Ministry of Foreign Affairs],
regarding the development and ongoing operations of the Center.”
[4]
Additionally, “[t]he Director and other relevant Brookings personnel will
develop and submit to [the Ministry of Foreign Affairs]” an annual budget and
“an agenda for programs that will be developed by the Center.”
[5] The initial donation from the State of Qatar
to cover the first three years of the Center’s operation was $5,000,000.
[6] With respect to additional funding, “[a]t the
end of the first year, the parties agree to meet and review the center’s
activities, costs and projected budget….”
[7]
Thus,
the State of Qatar was able to exercise control, directly and indirectly, over
the Center via the funding scheme. This
structure places the Brookings Institution squarely within the definition of an
“agent of a foreign principal” which provides, in part, that agents are
entities that act “in any…capacity at the order, request, or under the
direction or control, of a foreign principal or of a person any of whose
activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled,
financed, or subsidized in whole or in major part by a foreign principal” and
engages in political activities or public relations within the United States.
[8]
The
Center’s activities also appear to fall outside the exemption covering “bona
fide religious, scholastic, academic or scientific pursuits or of the fine
arts,” as described in 22 U.S.C. § 613(e), because the Center’s conduct appears
to extend beyond scholastic or academic matters to influencing the U.S.
Government and the public, which is “political activity” as defined in 22
U.S.C. § 611(o).
[9] Indeed, as part of the U.S.-Islamic World
Forum, with which the Center is closely associated, U.S. Government officials
have been listed as participants.
[10]
Based on
the agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Brookings
Institution, it appears the Center’s activities were intended to impact
policy-makers in the United States for the benefit of its multi-million dollar
funder and foreign principal, the State of Qatar. According to the text of the agreement, the
Center would focus its activities within the State of Qatar. The Center’s founding documents explicitly
mention only one country where forums would take place – Qatar. The Center would “host various regional
forums” in “Doha, Qatar and other places,” and “develop relationships with the
public and the private sectors in the State of Qatar” and “Gulf countries.”
[11] The Center would “[p]rovide its audience in
Qatar and the Gulf region with research and analysis generated by Brookings.”
[12]
In addition, it would “[f]acilitate partnerships with Qatari and international
corporations and firms….”
[13]
The
Center would effectuate its goals by,
[e]stablish[ing] a structure
linking policy-makers and opinion leaders in both the United States in [sic]
the Islamic world in the realm of independent public policy research and
outreach to provide a model for other independent research organizations in the
region, while at the same time serving to improve the output of the Saban
Center’s Washington-based programming[.]
[14]
The Center
would also be involved in “convening of the annual meeting of the U.S.-Islamic
World Forum.”
[15] In the past, U.S. Government officials have
attended that very event, which would serve the purpose of the Center, which
was to create a bridge between U.S. policy-makers and their foreign
counterparts and to
[p]romote ongoing dialogue
between the U.S. and the Islamic world through the U.S.-Islamic World Forum,
and to promote independent, policy-relevant research on policy issues related
to the Islamic World, including relations with the U.S.
[16]
At its
core, the Center would
function as a center for
research, study and dissemination of information as a part of the Brookings
Institution and in cooperation with Saban Center with the purpose of enhancing
American relations with Muslim states and communities through policy research
and outreach activities, and to undertake research related to the geopolitical
and socioeconomic issues in the Muslim world.
[17]
The
Center would also produce research to “disseminate ideas and information about
relations between the United States in particular, and the West, more
generally, and the Islamic World.”
[18] The Center also agreed to engage in “outreach
activities” for “leaders and the public” to understand and solve issues relating
to “U.S.-Islamic World relations.”
[19] Finally, in addition to organizing research
forums and producing research and analysis “generated by scholars in the
region,” the Center would provide public press statements and “other
educational programs.”
[20]
The
Center’s defined purpose, mission and activities constitute policy activities
that can be reasonably viewed as intending to influence U.S. policy-makers and
the public to be positively disposed toward the State of Qatar. Even when viewed in the most favorable light,
these activities appear to be “political activities” under the FARA statute
because they include activities that a person “believes will, or that the
person intends to, in any way to influence…any section of the public within the
United States with reference to formulating, adopting, or changing the domestic
or foreign policies of the United States[.]”
[21] That intent is clear with respect to the
Center’s goal to “establish a structure linking policy-makers and opinion
leaders in both the United States and the Islamic world…” and the fact that
U.S. Government officials have attended meetings in Qatar associated with the
Center for discussions related to those very issues.
[22]
Based on
the available evidence and the plain text of the agreement between the
Brookings Institution and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of
Qatar, it is clear that a foreign principal had significant control over the
Center and the Center itself was a foreign principal, the State of Qatar
provided the Center with millions of dollars in financial support, and the
Center most likely engaged in activity that it either intended or believed
would influence the U.S. Government and public for the benefit of the foreign
principal. These factors indicate that
the Brookings Institution’s conduct with the State of Qatar falls outside the
exemption covering “bona fide religious, scholastic, academic or scientific
pursuits or of the fine arts,” as described in 22 U.S.C. § 613(e). Accordingly, the Brookings Institution
appears to be a foreign agent for the State of Qatar for purposes of FARA and
should register as such with DOJ.
DOJ
issued a press release when it required RT, a Russian state-owned broadcasting
network, to register as a foreign agent and said the following:
Americans have a right to
know who is acting in the United States to influence the U.S. government or
public on behalf of foreign principals.
The Department of Justice is committed to enforcing FARA and expects
compliance with the law by all entities engaged in specified activities on
behalf of any foreign principal, regardless of its nationality.
[23]
Further,
that same press release said:
Congress passed FARA in 1938,
intending to ensure that the American public and our lawmakers know the source
of information that is provided at the behest of a foreign principal, where
that information may be intended to influence U.S. public opinion, policy and
laws.
[24]
The
American public deserves to know when foreign entities are operating in and
attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion. Moreover, Congress must be made aware of
foreign support provided to think tanks which often provide policy advice to
Congress that impacts legislation and its potential passage into law. The sanctity of the legislative process must
be free from foreign influence because members answer to the American people,
not a foreign power.
Accordingly,
please answer the following no later than August 29, 2022:
- What actions has DOJ
taken to assess whether the Brookings Institution and its affiliates such
as the Center and Saban Center (hereinafter “affiliates”), or other think
tanks, should have registered under FARA for work on behalf of the State
of Qatar or other foreign governments?
- Has the DOJ sent a
letter of inquiry or letter of determination to the Brookings Institution
and its affiliates relating to their activity on behalf of the State of
Qatar? If so, please provide a
copy. If not, why not?
- Did the Brookings
Institution or any of their employees or affiliates ever request an
advisory opinion from DOJ on whether they would be required to register as
foreign agents under FARA based on their activity related to the State of
Qatar, or with any other foreign entity?
If so, please provide a copy of the request and opinion.
We
anticipate that your written reply and most responsive documents will be
unclassified. Please send all
unclassified material directly to the Committee. In keeping with the requirements of Executive
Order 13526, if any of the responsive documents do contain classified
information, please segregate all unclassified material within the classified
documents, provide all unclassified information directly to the Committee, and
provide a classified addendum to the Office of Senate Security. Although the Committee complies with all laws
and regulations governing the handling of classified information, it is not
bound, absent its prior agreement, by any handling restrictions.
Sincerely,
-30-
[1] The FARA requires
individuals to register with the Department of Justice (DOJ) if they act, even
through an intermediary, “as an agent, representative, employee, or servant” or
“in any other capacity” at the behest of a foreign principal, including a
foreign political party, government, or corporation, for purposes of engagement
with a United States official to influence U.S. policy or the public. The registration applies to anyone who
attempts to influence a U.S. government official on behalf of a foreign
principal in an effort to “formulat[e], adopt[], or chang[e] the domestic or
foreign policies of the United States.”
Likewise, an individual whose activities are subject to registration
under FARA and who sends informational material “for or in the interest of [a]
foreign principal” with the intent or belief that such material will be
circulated among at least two persons must transmit the material to the
Attorney General no later than 48 hours after actual transmission. Notably, an ongoing failure to register with
the DOJ is a continuing offense.
See
22 U.S.C. § 611;
see also “The term
“foreign principal” includes - (1) a government of a foreign country and a
foreign political party; (2) a person outside of the United States, unless it
is established that such person is an individual and a citizen of and domiciled
within the United States, or that such person is not an individual and is
organized under or created by the laws of the United States or of any State or
other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and has its
principal place of business within the United States; and (3) a partnership,
association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons
organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a
foreign country.”
[2] See Brookings Doha Ctr., Establishment
Agreement & Memorandum of Ass’n,
Politico
(2007),
[3] According to
Brookings, it ended its “affiliation” with the Center and the Center is now the
“Middle East Council on Global Affairs.”
The same questions raised with respect to FARA’s application to the
Center could still apply to the new entity.
[4] See Brookings Doha Ctr., Establishment
Agreement & Memorandum of Ass’n,
Politico
(2007),
[9] The Act defines
“political activity” as “any activity that the person engaging in believes
will, or that the person
intends to, in any way influence any
agency or official of the Government of the United States or any section of the
public within the United States with
reference to formulating, adopting, or changing the domestic or foreign
policies
of the United States or with
reference to the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a
government of a
foreign
country or a foreign political party.” See
22 U.S.C. § 611(o). The regulations
implementing FARA provide that the terms “formulating, adopting, or changing,”
as used in the definition of “political activities” include “any activity which
seeks to maintain any existing domestic or foreign policy of the United
States.” 28 C.F.R. § 5.100(e).
[11] See Brookings Doha Ctr., Establishment
Agreement & Memorandum of Ass’n,
Politico
(2007),
[14] Id. Past
directors of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy (now the Center for Middle
East Policy) include Martin Indyk, Kenneth Pollack and Tamara Cofman
Wittes. The Center is currently led by
Natan Sachs.
[21] FARA defines
“political activities” as any activity that the person engaging in “believes
will, or that the person intends to, in any way influence any agency or
official of the Government of the United States or any section of the public
within the United States with reference to formulating, adopting, or changing
the domestic or foreign policies of the United States or with reference to the
political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a
foreign country or a foreign political party.”
See 22 U.S.C. § 611(o);
see
also 28 C.F.R. § 5.304(d).
