Potential FARA Reforms Take Center Stage In House Hearing

Potential FARA Reforms Take Center Stage In House Hearing

April 5, 2022, Law360

Robert Kelner was quoted by Law360 in an article covering a recent House Judiciary subcommittee hearing which focused on potential updates to the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
While both major parties have expressed interest in updating the law in terms of ambiguity around what constitutes a "foreign agent" and "foreign principal," the path to reforms being implemented remains uncertain.

"The consensus breaks down into which parts [of the law] you need to get clarified and how," Rob explained after the hearing, which he explained "also demonstrated how political this is, which complicates any effort to amend or improve."

Rob expressed his own view is that the law is "so filled with vague terms that a major overhaul of virtually the entire statute would be needed to resolve its problems and avoid it being used in inappropriate ways by prosecutors." He added that it was a "shame" the hearing did not include comments from FARA practitioners.

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