Among President Donald Trump's six-point plan to change the way politicians raise money was a pledge to prevent foreign lobbyists from raising money in United States elections, which he said he would accomplish in his first 100 days in office.
The promise came after a chain of Clinton campaign emails were hacked and released online in October 2016. Some emails showed campaign aides debating whether to accept donations from U.S. citizens who are registered foreign lobbyists. Ultimately, they agreed that the campaign would take the money and deal with possible public criticism.
Days later, Trump vowed at a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisc.: "I'm going to ask Congress to pass a campaign finance reform that prevents registered foreign lobbyists from raising money in American elections and politics."
It is already illegal for foreign nationals to donate in American elections, but U.S. citizens can lobby on behalf of a foreign entity. Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), lobbyists representing foreign interests must disclose their relationship to the foreign governments as well as disclose any financial activity.
Whether FARA is actually enforced is an entirely different matter. A 2016 Department of Justice audit found that prosecutions and enforcement of the act are rare. From 1966 to 2015, the department only brought seven criminal cases relating to FARA. In a notable recent case, Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, retroactively registered as a foreign agent after news reports linked him to lobbying done on behalf of a Ukrainian governing party.
Because FARA enforcement is sparse, it's tough to get a true sense of how many lobbyists raising funds for campaigns or political causes are lobbying on behalf of foreign interests, according to Lydia Dennett, an investigator with the Project on Government Oversight. A simple ban on foreign lobbyist fundraising would likely make the campaign funding process less transparent.
"This kind of lifetime ban sounds good on its surface, but it could deter people from registering" as a foreign agent, Dennett said.
If Trump really wants to limit foreign money going toward elections, it would also mean closing up certain legal loopholes that allow people to donate in elections through shell companies and political nonprofits, said John Wonderlich, the executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, an organization that advocates for open government. Portions of the Citizens United Supreme Court case would have to be overturned and enforcement of lobbying laws would need to increase.
In a Jan. 28 executive order, Trump partially met other government ethics promises. The order prohibited White House Administration officials from lobbying for five years after their service, which was another goal in his six-point plan. No action on the promise to ban foreign lobbyist fundraising has been taken so far.
Until we see some movement on this, we'll continue to leave it unrated.