Latest news with #FARA
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Meet Jason Miller, India's $1.8 million man in Washington
In an effort to bolster its diplomatic outreach to the Trump administration, the Indian government hired lobbying firm SHW Partners LLC last month. The firm –– helmed by former Trump adviser Jason Miller –– will be paid a monthly fee of $150,000 by the Indian government for its services. 'This is not a new practice. This has been in place for several decades and under successive governments since the 1950s. These firms have been regularly engaged by the Embassy as per the requirement of the situation. All such engagements are available in the public domain. In the run up to the Nuclear Deal in 2007 and thereafter, firms were engaged to strengthen India's case. I should also add that such a practice is common among Embassies and other organizations in Washington DC and in other parts of the US,' said Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs at a press briefing on Thursday. 'SHW's representation will encompass providing strategic counsel, tactical planning, and government relations assistance on policy matters before the US Government, the U.S. Congress, state governments, academic institutions, think tanks, and any other relevant stakeholders as required,' the firm disclosed on April 24 about its one-year, $1.8 million contract with the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. Miller is a veteran of Trump's political campaigns and shot to prominence in 2016 when he served as Trump's chief media spokesperson. Known for his acerbic and voluble defence of Trump, Miller was initially slated to assume the powerful role of White House communications director after Trump won the 2016 election. Miller was forced to withdraw from consideration after he was accused of having an extramarital affair with and impregnating another Trump campaign official. He has subsequently been accused of sexual abuse and rape by the concerned official. Despite the scandal, Miller has remained firmly entrenched in Donald Trump's orbit. He returned to assist Trump in both his 2020 and 2024 Presidential campaigns as a key adviser. Along the way, Miller has also served as a political commentator for news networks such as CNN and Newsmax. He also has a long professional history working with top Republican politicians including Senator Ted Cruz, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin. Miller registered as a lobbyist in 2020 through his newly set up firm SHW Partners LLC. Prior to his recent contract with the Indian government, Miller's firm has also worked for real estate and financial services companies. 'In 1949, (the) Embassy hired Rosen & Fred; 1954 GOI hired Schaler, Butler Associates; 1958 GOI hired Moss Edward K; 1969-1974 GOI hired Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLC; 1981-83 GOI hired Baron / Canning & Co Inc; 1992-93 GOI hired International Development Systems Inc; 2005- till date GOI hired BGR Govt affairs LLC. All such information is available on the US DOJ website - FARA filings,' Jaiswal added on Thursday, detailing a list of other lobbying firms used by India in the past. The development comes even as Pakistan has hired a suite of lobbying firms to assist in its diplomatic outreach. Javelin Advisers, Squire Patton Boggs, Conscience Point Consulting, Seiden Law and Orchid Advisers registered as foreign agents representing the government of Pakistan over just the last two months. According to one filing by Javelin Advisers with the US Department of Justice, the firm will help Pakistan communicate its perspective on India-Pakistan relations and the Kashmir dispute to America's executive branch, Congress and the general public.
Asia Times
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
New McCarthyism: Trump's America turns to racialized persecution
When national security becomes a weapon of political fear mongering, it doesn't just fail – it backfires. In Trump's second term, the United States isn't just guarding its borders or secrets. It's waging war on its own people – especially those who look or sound foreign. Federal surveillance, visa crackdowns and prosecutorial overreach are no longer rare or cautionary tales. They are the operating logic of a government that equates ethnic identity with disloyalty. And the victims are not just foreign nationals –they are Americans citizens, permanent residents, students, professors, researchers and community leaders from Chinese and other nonwhite diasporas. This is not an immigration issue. It's a civil liberties crisis. Since President Trump's second inauguration, his administration has rapidly escalated surveillance and legal action targeting Chinese and other Asian communities. While the White House calls it 'countering espionage,' what's unfolding is a racialized purge of talent, dignity and due process. International students are being detained at airports under vague suspicions. Professors are facing FARA investigations for attending academic conferences. People are being tracked, profiled and in some cases jailed – based not on what they did, but who they are and where they've been. Consider this: Since January 2025, more than 60 Chinese and Chinese American scholars have been subjected to federal inquiries or visa denials without clear evidence of wrongdoing. Multiple international graduate students were denied reentry or detained without formal charges. The Department of Homeland Security's 'foreign influence' watchlists have quietly expanded to include individuals merely affiliated with Chinese institutions – no espionage, no funding, no intent – just association. This is the new normal. The Biden-era DOJ memos tempering overreach under FARA (the Foreign Agents Registration Act) have been rescinded. Surveillance programs such as Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) are turbocharged. And the prosecutorial machinery once used to pursue terrorists is now being deployed against students, researchers and public intellectuals of Asian descent. Let's name the problem: This is racialized persecution under the banner of national security. And it's spreading. Programs like SAR encourage anonymous reporting of 'suspicious behavior,' a term so vague it now includes things like speaking Mandarin in public, taking photos near infrastructure or attending a foreign policy panel. These reports, entered into federal databases with no due process, can follow a person for life. There is no way to appeal or clear your name. Meanwhile, the Foreign Agents Registration Act has become a cudgel used to intimidate international researchers and journalists. Originally designed to counter Nazi propaganda, FARA has morphed into a tool for casting suspicion on academics who collaborate across borders – even when their work is open-source, unfunded and entirely legal. The result? Fear. Chilling effects. Reputations destroyed. Families separated. Careers derailed. Trust broken. This is how soft power collapses – not from foreign interference, but from domestic overreaction. Let's be clear: The focus is not on foreign spies. It's on foreigners , or those who look like them. Among the most scrutinized are members of the Chinese diaspora, which includes 5.4 million people in the US and nearly 370,000 Chinese international students – the largest foreign student population in the country. Add to that the growing number of South Asian, Arab, and African scholars flagged by new interagency screening initiatives, and the pattern becomes undeniable. This isn't about national security. It's about national identity – and who gets to claim belonging. This crackdown also serves as political theater. It plays well to the nativist base and offers headlines about being 'tough on China.' But the real consequences are borne by communities who now live in fear of arbitrary detention, loss of visa status or public vilification. Let's be brutally honest: This strategy is not only unjust – it's self-defeating. By alienating the very communities that fuel our scientific breakthroughs, diplomatic fluency and international reach, we are sabotaging our future. The US has long led the world not just because of military power but because of its openness – its ability to attract, integrate and elevate the best minds. Now, those minds are going elsewhere. A 2025 survey by the Association of American Universities shows that 43% of Chinese graduate students in STEM fields are reconsidering their plans to remain in the US, citing fear of legal harassment. Canada, the UK and Australia are actively recruiting talent fleeing this crackdown. We are bleeding soft power. And we're doing it to ourselves. This isn't just policy failure. It's a moral emergency. And the response must match the scale of the threat. Here's what we must demand: Congressional hearings into racial profiling, prosecutorial abuse, and DHS/FBI surveillance of diaspora communities; A legislative rollback of FARA overreach and SAR-based watchlisting, with enforceable due process protections; Establishing a permanent inspector general task force with subpoena power to audit ICE and DHS activities as a mandate to review racial and religious targeting; Defunding surveillance and enforcement programs that rely on anonymous tips and racial heuristics, particularly within ICE's Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit (CTCEU); Legal defense and civil rights campaigns led by universities, civil society, and Asian American advocacy groups; A federal civil liberties watchdog agency – similar to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board – empowered to audit domestic surveillance and academic interference; Community-based engagement, without excluding resistance movements, to support grassroots movements advocating for immigrant rights and transparency in federal enforcement actions – including sanctuary campuses, data privacy shields for international scholars and refusal to comply with unlawful federal data requests; Congressional hearings and investigations into potential racial profiling and prosecutorial overreach by ICE and DHS; Legislative reforms amening laws like the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to prevent misuse against international scholars and students. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's arrest serves as a stark reminder of the potential for federal overreach and the importance of safeguarding civil liberties for all individuals, regardless of their background or status. This is not the time for neutrality or technocratic reform. This is a fight over the soul of the American republic. The Trump administration's second term has made clear that national security is being weaponized against perceived outsiders. The real threat is not only at the border – it's in our institutions, our data systems, and our laws, silently turning difference into guilt. To accept this is to abandon the principles that once made America credible, powerful and free. We cannot let that happen. Yujing Shentu, PhD, is an independent scholar and writer on digital politics, international political economy and US-China strategic competition.
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Evening Edition: Bipartisan Work On Threats From China And Prescription Drug Prices
Virginia Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA), member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) which would ensure that individuals who were once acting as a foreign agent will be required to register for their foreign lobbying work. The bill is getting solid bipartisan support, along with support of President Trump's announcement the United States and China have agreed to lower most tariffs for 90 days saying the deal will cut tariffs on most Chinese products from 145 to 30 percent. FOX's Ryan Schmelz speaks with Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA), member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Committee on Appropriations, who says he hopes to get Democrats onboard to combat threats from China, lowering prescription drug prices and ways to save Medicaid. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Epoch Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Judge Declines to Drop Charges Against Gov. Hochul's Former Top Aide in Chinese Spy Case
A Brooklyn federal judge has ruled against a motion to drop the charges against the New York governor's former aide, who is accused of acting as an agent of the Chinese regime, saying prosecutors had presented sufficient allegations that she knowingly used her position to advance Beijing's interests. On May 5, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan issued an Sun, who also worked under former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was initially The Cogan dismissed the defendants' argument that the superseding indictment 'fails to state several essential elements of a FARA violation and fails to allege a FARA violation as a matter of law.' The judge pointed to several incidents in the superseding indictment, including how Sun allegedly reminded a politician to publicly 'thank the PRC government' for facilitating a donation of ventilators to the Greater New York Hospital Association in April 2020, at the request of a Chinese official. Related Stories 2/12/2025 3/26/2025 Another incident, which took place in 2018, involved Sun being allegedly tasked by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with arranging for a delegation from central China's Henan Province to the United States to meet another politician. Cogan also cited allegations from the superseding indictment that Sun had used her position to exert influence. For instance, Sun allegedly bragged about her success at preventing the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) from meeting with politicians in written communications. Taiwan's de facto embassy in the United States, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Sun allegedly also directed a politician's staff to 'decline a request for a meeting' between a Taiwanese mayor and the politician in February 2019, the judge said. He pointed out that Sun knew 'her purported conduct was unlawful under FARA,' contrary to her argument, given that the FBI had warned her about her activities. The judge also didn't throw out the charge of conspiracy to commit FARA against Sun, saying that the defendant conspired with two alleged Chinese agents by carrying out their requests. Additionally, Sun allegedly acted at the direction of four Chinese consulate officials. Cogan stated that he agreed that the Chinese consulate officials couldn't be charged with conspiracy to violate FARA. 'But that does not mean they could not be considered unindicted co-conspirators with Sun,' he wrote. Sun's argument that prosecutors had stretched FARA to criminalize political activities by state officials was also dismissed by Cogan. 'If political and policy activities by state officials, with nothing more, was all that the superseding indictment sought to criminalize, this Court would agree,' the order reads. 'However, that is not what the superseding indictment charges,' it continues. 'The superseding indictment charges Sun with acting as an agent for a foreign principal without registering with the Attorney General, as FARA requires.' In the superseding indictment, prosecutors referenced several unlawful activities, including alleged bribery in the third degree under New York state law and a violation of FARA, to bring the money laundering charges against Sun and Hu. Cogan said Sun's argument contesting the bribery statute had 'some common sense.' However, the judge explained that the statute 'is broad enough to encompass money related to giving a bribe, in addition to receiving one.' The judge dismissed Sun's argument that the superseding indictment 'does not link the alleged violation of FARA with any particular payment that could constitute proceeds under the money laundering statute.' Cogan pointed out that prosecutors had stated that Sun allegedly 'received substantial economic and other benefits from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP,' including travel benefits, tickets to events, employment of Sun's cousin in China, and facilitation of millions in transactions for Hu's business activities in China. Cogan also declined to dismiss charges against Hu, saying that he found 'no arguments or independent basis' for the dismissal of charges against the defendant, even though he had joined Sun's motion. Sun's lawyer, Jarrod Schaeffer, told The Epoch Times in an email that he was disappointed in the judge's ruling, 'but grateful for the Court's careful consideration of the issues.' 'As the decision noted, dismissing an indictment is an extraordinary remedy that only occurs in extremely limited circumstances,' Schaeffer said. 'But alleging the bare minimum necessary to proceed to trial—the argument that the government has made repeatedly in this case—says nothing about whether those allegations are true based on the evidence, and the Court's decision rightly passed no judgment on whether the government will actually be able to prove what it has claimed. We remain confident in our client and believe that she will prevail at trial.'
Fashion Network
07-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Kidswear Collective unveils link-up with FARA Kids charity
By Nigel TAYLOR Fast-growing re-sale platform Kidswear Collective has partnered with FARA Kids, a Romania-focused charity. The past-season-designer specialist for babies and children will donate any items that cannot be sold to FARA Kids, to be distributed across its 14 stores throughout London. Kidswear Collective said it will provide regular shipments of stock throughout the year to ensure it's made available to FARA's customers 'to support the work they are doing to help transform the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people living in Romania'. FARA Foundation CEO Libby Gordon said: 'Our stores are a much-loved part of our wider FARA Charity Shops network, and we're thrilled to have been asked to partner with Kidswear Collective. We both share a passion for circularity and extending the lifecycle of clothes and this collaboration will provide a wonderful addition of stock into our neighbourhood stores.' Kidswear Collective founder Shoshana Kazab added: 'Ever since we launched, charity and supporting communities is at the heart of what we do. We have worked with various charities throughout the years and are particularly excited about the partnership with FARA Kids as a London-based charity shop chain. 'We see great synergy between the two brands and are looking forward to collaborating with them on other projects and fundraising activities throughout our partnership.'
