Last Friday a jury in the Southern District of Florida found former Florida congressman David Rivera guilty of failing to register after a foreign agent in connection with a $50 million deal with a Venezuelan state-owned oil company. The conviction, which could carry a lengthy prison sentence, is notable given the relative rarity of prosecutions under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), 22 US.C. § 612, and raises a question as to whether similar prosecutions could be forthcoming from President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Statute

FARA requires all agents of foreign principals in the United States to file a detailed registration statement with the U.S. attorney general within 10 days of becoming an agent and before acting on behalf of the principal. “Foreign principals” is defined to include all foreign governments, political parties, people and organizations. “Agents,” meanwhile, includes those who: (1) engage in political activities in the United States; (2) act as public relations representatives; (3) solicit or dispense contributions or other things of value; or (4) interact with a U.S. government agency on behalf of a foreign principal. Following the initial registration, agents must file supplements every six months and amendments whenever the initial statement becomes inaccurate. In addition, agents must file any informational materials they disseminate on behalf of the foreign principal with the attorney general within 48 hours.

There are a variety of exemptions from FARA, set forth in 22 U.S.C. § 613. First, diplomatic or consular officers and their staff members need not register under FARA, nor should officials of foreign governments. In addition, certain activities can be undertaken without requiring registration, such as “private and nonpolitical activities”; the solicitation of contributions for medical aid, food or clothing; activities in furtherance of bona fine religious, scholastic, academic or scientific pursuit or the fine arts; the practice of law within ordinary judicial or investigatory proceedings; and lobbying by registered lobbyists. 

FARA violations are punishable as criminal felonies. Specifically, anyone who willfully violates any provision of FARA may be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

A Limited Enforcement History

FARA was enacted in 1938 as a means of combatting Nazi propaganda within the United States and revised several times to focus more on foreign advocacy and lobbying. It was not enforced very much, however, with only seven criminal prosecutions under FARA between 1966 and 2015. That began to change in 2016, however, when the DOJ Office of the Inspector General issued a major audit with recommendations to improve the enforcement of FARA. September 2018 saw the high-profile guilty plea of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to charges under FARA. Other recent FARA activity has included a February 2018 indictment of several companies and Russian nationals on FARA and conspiracy charges, an April 2018 indictment of a Pakistani national for failing to file a FARA registration statement, a January 2019 FARA civil settlement with a prominent law firm, and an April 2019 sentencing of a Washington political consultant for failing to register under FARA despite helping to set up meetings on Capitol Hill for two foreign individuals and advocating in the media for Ukrainian interests. These matters suggest that DOJ’s enforcement of FARA in the Manafort case was not just a flash in the pan.

The Rivera Matter

The November 2022 indictment of Rivera charged him with conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 371, failure to register under FARA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in transactions in criminally derived property. Specifically, Rivera and a business associate were alleged to have obtained a $50 million contract with a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company to advance the interests of the Venezuelan regime in the U.S. Then, without registering under FARA, they lobbied U.S. officials—including then-U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and U.S. Representative Pete Sessions—and arranged meetings between U.S. policymakers and high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including then-President Nicolás Maduro and then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez. The government also charged that Rivera used approximately $600,000 from the contract proceeds to fund his Florida state congressional campaign, among other personal uses. 

Following the verdict, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones stated that “these convictions expose a simple truth: the defendants sold access and influence to a hostile foreign regime for money. They accepted millions tied to the Maduro regime, concealed that relationship from the United States government, and used trusted personal and political relationships to secretly advance the interests of Venezuela’s regime. In South Florida, where so many families fled communist oppression, that kind of betrayal carries real weight. The Foreign Agents Registration Act exists to protect transparency and safeguard our democracy from covert foreign influence. If you secretly act on behalf of a foreign government in violation of federal law, you will be investigated, prosecuted, and convicted.”

Conclusion

The jury’s verdict in this serious criminal FARA case shows that, despite many decades of relative enforcement inactivity, FARA is alive and well in the United States. Although there were some signs from former Attorney General Pam Bondi early in her tenure that FARA enforcement might be deemphasized, the President himself referenced FARA as a potential tool for targeting domestic terrorism and organized political violence in a September 2025 Presidential Memorandum. So those who represent international interests would do well to consider their FARA registration statuses and their risk of liability under the statute. Though the decision of whether a FARA registration is necessary or advisable may be a complex one, it is one that should be made with a full awareness of the statutory scheme and the very real specter of future criminal liability.