The Justice Department had two major setbacks in its crackdown on agents of foreign governments on Tuesday, dealing a blow to a high-profile enforcement effort that took center stage during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, reports the Wall Street Journal. A federal judge overturned the criminal conviction of a former business partner to ex-Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Separately, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said they wouldn’t bring criminal charges against two prominent Washington, D.C., lobbying firms. Those decisions come three weeks after Democratic attorney Greg Craig was acquitted of lying to the unit that enforces foreign agent laws.
All three cases grew out of the Mueller inquiry. DOJ has been ramping up its enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) since 2015. Those efforts grew more urgent after Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election showed how the law was flouted by lawyers, public relations consultants and lobbyists whose lucrative work on behalf of foreign governments was rarely reported in required public filings. The department asked Mueller prosecutor Brandon Van Grack to pursue consultants and lawyers who didn’t properly file. That crackdown had an aggressive start, ensnaring President Donald Trump’s confidants Flynn and Paul Manafort. Flynn’s partner Bijan Kian was convicted in July of conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of Turkey. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga said the jury’s verdict went against “the heavy weight of the evidence” and ordered Kian’s acquittal. Prosecutors closed a probe into whether the Podesta Group or Mercury LLC, or then-leaders Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta and former Republican Rep. Vin Weber violated the law handling a project involving Ukraine. The firms listed their client as a nonprofit entity although the government of Ukraine ultimately directed the work.