www.FARA.us

Over its 87-year history, enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act has ebbed and flowed.  Here is a snapshot of recent and current developments in FARA enforcement:

• Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty to FARA Charge. Dale Bendler, a former CIA Senior Intelligence Service officer turned Agency contractor, pleaded guilty on April 23, 2025, to two federal charges: (1) acting as an unregistered foreign agent while serving as a public official under 18 U.S.C. § 219; and (2) unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials up to the SECRET//NOFORN level.  According to a Statement of Facts attached to his plea agreement, Bendler engaged in undisclosed lobbying and public relations work on behalf of foreign nationals, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation.  His activities included influencing a foreign government's embezzlement investigation of one client and to secure a U.S. visa for another client allegedly associated with terrorism financing.  Bendler consented to forfeit $85,000 and faces maximum combined penalties of seven years' imprisonment—two years under § 219 for acting as a foreign agent while serving as a public official, and five years for mishandling classified material.  As part of his plea agreement, Bendler also consented to make accurate and complete FARA filings.  The case underscores continuing criminal enforcement priorities under FARA-related statutes, particularly 18 U.S.C. § 219, which criminalizes public officials acting as unregistered foreign agents—a distinct charge from FARA violations under 22 U.S.C. § 611 et seq.  Bendler’s sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for November 20, 2025.
• Superseding Indictment Filed against Linda Sun, with Trial Set to Begin. On June 26, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a second superseding indictment against Linda Sun, a former high-ranking New York State government employee, and her husband Chris Hu, adding charges of honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, bribery, and conspiracy to defraud the United States—along with tax evasion charges against Hu—to the existing counts of FARA violations, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering. The June 2025 charges allege that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun exploited her position in the state's PPE procurement process by steering multi-million-dollar contracts to vendors connected to her family and associates while falsely representing them as referrals from the Chinese government, specifically altering documents to fabricate endorsements from the Jiangsu Department of Commerce.  Trial is set for this month, November 2025.
• FARA-Related Charge Dropped against Congressman Henry Cuellar. Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife were indicted in May 2024 for violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal required to register under FARA under 18 U.S.C. § 219 and for a related conspiracy charge.  The federal prosecutors subsequently sought dismissal of those FARA-related charges because a February 2025 Attorney General policy memorandum limited FARA criminal prosecutions to espionage-type conduct.  A federal judge granted this dismissal request in August 2025, but the case against the Cuellars will continue for other non-FARA charges.
• The Curious Matter of AJ+. It has been 1,879 days since the FARA Unit sent a Determination Letter that directed AJ+, a U.S. affiliate of media outlet Al Jazeera, to register “within thirty (30) calendar days.”  This appears to be the only instance where a Determination Letter has not resulted in a either a registration or in a civil suit by the Department of Justice.  Multiple Republican Members of Congress attempted to pressure the Biden Department of Justice to move forward with requiring AJ+ to register.  It is uncertain whether a renewed effort will move forward under the Trump Administration.      

Of course, the most important FARA enforcement development in the past year has been a September 25, 2025 Presidential Memorandum (NPSM-7) that reprioritized FARA enforcement for “non-governmental organizations and American citizens residing abroad or with close ties to foreign governments, agents, citizens, foundations, or influence networks” and perhaps for other categories of individuals and organizations.  The consequences of this Presidential Memorandum are not yet apparent, but additional and new FARA enforcement efforts are expected in the coming months.   

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