JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LOBBYING/PAUL MANAFORT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “It was the summer of 1986, and Paul Manafort, then a top-tier Washington lobbyist, counted no fewer than 10 foreign governments and political groups as clients. He directed American media campaigns for them, met with officials in the White House, State Department and Congress on their behalf and strategized about how to sway United States policy toward their interests. What he did not do was disclose much of his activity to the Justice Department, as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the law governing lobbying for foreign interests. Federal investigators confronted him about those omissions, ordered him to correct his filings and warned him not to repeat the same mistakes. Thirty-two years later, Mr. Manafort’s undisclosed work for foreigners is in investigators’ cross hairs again. This time, they are being far less forgiving.”
–Sharon LaFraniere, “Manafort Case Puts New Scrutiny on Foreign Lobbying Law’s Shortcomings,” The New York Times online, September 13, 2018