Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

Egyptian military aid still flying high

The planned delivery of 20 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter planes to Egypt is the perfect symbol of iron triangles at work--special interests and their lobbyists, federal agencies and the lawmakers who fund them. But in the years since President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his warning about the inertia of defense contracts in 1961, the lobbying has only grown more sophisticated. The U.S. government gives Egypt foreign aid, which it uses to buy U.S. military hardware. Lobbyists for the Egyptian government and Lockheed Martin (they both used the same firm) arranged meetings between the buyer and the seller, between representatives of Egypt's military and the Defense Department and key members of Congress who provided Egypt with the U.S. taxpayer dollars--some $213 million--to pay for the planes.

Mexico’s president-elect hires DC lobbyists

Mexico’s President-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, who takes office December 1, has hired lobbying firm Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates to represent him in Washington. According to documents filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the contract focuses on U.S. outreach and “monitoring of news and policy developments related to Mexico-U.S. interests.”

Despite 'unlikes' over Facebook, Morgan Stanley still has friends in high places

Gaddafi's long history of lobbying comes to an end

Libyan Dictator Moammar Gaddafi was killed today in his hometown of Sirte, a showman to the end, “brandishing a golden pistol.” Lobbying, in many ways, was part of his political arsenal that boosted Gaddafi’s international prowess, helped protect him from additional sanctions and promoted the business interests of the Libyan ruling elite and U.S. business. We’ve covered several of these instances in the past. Here’s a look at a few:

Longtime lobbying campaign pays off for South Korea with recent trade deal

Trade agreements stem from long-winded talks, some heavy handed diplomacy and, as it turns out, a substantial amount of lobbying. The newest trade deal between South Korea and the U.S. was a massive operation which cost the Koreans $39.9 million in lobbying and PR fees in 2010 alone.

Palestinian lobbyists meet with key decision makers

The Palestine Liberation Organization recently filed their bi-annual lobbying documents that show outreach to top decision makers, media and academia, and list meetings with up and coming policy leaders.

Three countries lobby to minimize fallout of political tug-of-war

South Korea, Panama and Colombia are lobbying to cement U.S. trade agreements that have been embroiled in political jockeying between the White House and Congress, recently filed foreign lobbying disclosures show.

Egypt's PR shop terminates their US operation

A few weeks after Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in response to the public outrage against his 30 year rule, the Egyptian government’s PR outfit in Washington terminated their operation, records show. Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter and Associates ended their representation of the Egyptian press office on February 28, 2011, shortly after Mubarak resigned on February 11.

Lobbyists for Morocco go on a meeting spree soon after political upheaval

A nonprofit established by the government of Morocco went on a lobbying frenzy earlier this year, coinciding with the time when pro-democracy demonstrations in the country took an ugly turn. The Moroccan-American Policy Council, which is the registered agent of the Moroccan government met with 130 congressional offices on February 23, 24 and 25 just days after the riots broke out, FARA records show.

Mexican government hires lobbyists, lawyer to help nationals facing capital punishment

The Mexican consulate in Tuscon hired Arizona-based lawyer Gregory Kuykendall  for legal service and advice for Mexican nationals charged with crimes that could lead to a death sentence and for those already sentenced, recently filed disclosures under the Foreign Agents Registration Act filing show.

Foreign agents lobbied on issues raised in Wikileaks cables

As the cache of internal State Department cables released by Julian Assange and Wikileaks.org amply demonstrates, U.S. government officials offer frank opinions about the leaders, policies and political developments in other countries. Another treasure trove of documents, disclosure of which is required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, shows how foreign governments use Washington lobbyists to challenge those judgments and plead their case in Washington. The Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, thanks to a grant from ProPublica.org, has digitized and made searchable data from FARA filings. To see all the data, click here.

International influence: Agents of foreign clients report thousands of lobbying contacts, millions in fees

In 2009, lobbying, public relations and other firms that represent some 328 clients —foreign governments, political parties and government-controlled entities including some for-profit corporations—reported receiving more than $60 million in fees—down by about $25 million from the total in the previous year, an analysis of disclosures required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) shows. The Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group has digitized and made searchable data from FARA disclosures. 

Lobbying disclosure upheld

Details available from Legal Times blog here:

Bush Era Visitor Logs Show Visits from Evangelicals, Conservatives and a Foreign Lobbyist

In addition to promising to release most White House visitor logs to the public, the Obama administration released nine pages of logs of former Vice President Dick Cheney's visitors and some 250 pages from George W. Bush's. The retroactive disclosures came in response to a lawsuit from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought records of meetings with evangelical leaders and Stephen Payne, a lobbyist who allegedly sold a foreign leader access to Cheney in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in "donations" to Bush's presidential library.