And That Word Is FARA: The Wall Street Journal has slammed Democrat double-standards over a law that could soon be used to prosecute Hunter Biden.
This comes after the DOJ admitted on Wednesday that the President’s son was still under investigation over potentially breaching a law that requires foreign lobbyists to register.
The newspaper’s editorial article, published on Sunday, discusses the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law dating back to 1938, which special counsel Mueller used to prosecute individuals associated with Donald Trump.
The law requires Americans acting as “agents of a foreign principal” to register with the U.S. government. Before 2016, the Justice Department brought few criminal FARA cases, leading to confusion about its application.
However, Mueller utilized FARA to target Trump associates accused of lying about their work for foreign governments. Notably, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and Greg Craig faced FARA-related charges as part of the Mueller investigation.
While Democrats supported these prosecutions when they targeted Trump associates, they may now “regret that legal standard” as federal prosecutors indicate that FARA charges could be lodged against Hunter Biden. Hunter’s dealings with a Chinese company and his activities in Ukraine have raised questions about potential FARA violations.
A FARA prosecution involving Hunter Biden could have political implications for President Biden, making it harder to distance himself from his son’s foreign dealings and potentially becoming an issue in his 2024 re-election bid.
FARA: What Could It Mean Hunter Biden and Family?
Earlier this month the White House refused to comment on the potential legal exposure for President Biden, his son Hunter, and his brother James after a US citizen was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) while working for the same Chinese-state-linked firm that paid the Biden family.
The individual, Gal Luft, allegedly violated FARA by accepting money from CEFC China Energy in exchange for co-hosting conferences and attempting to influence a 2016 Trump campaign adviser.
Congressional Republicans and legal experts claim that CEFC paid significantly more to the Biden family than to Luft, and they contend that the first son likely violated FARA by not registering as an agent of CEFC and other foreign employers.
Democrat Hypocrisy on FARA?
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election involved the use of the federal law which requires individuals and entities acting on behalf of foreign governments, political parties, or other foreign principals to disclose their activities and relationships to the United States government.
During the course of his investigation, Mueller utilized FARA to examine potential violations by individuals and entities associated with the Trump campaign and other political actors. One prominent example of FARA-related charges brought by Mueller was against Paul Manafort, who served as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman for several months during the 2016 election.
Mueller’s team charged Manafort with various offenses, including conspiracy against the United States, bank fraud, and tax evasion. Part of the charges against Manafort were related to his failure to register as a foreign agent under FARA for his lobbying work on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests. Manafort had conducted this lobbying work without disclosing his activities and connections to the U.S. government as required by the law.
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
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