- Mauritius extends lobbying for control over US Navy base at Diego Garcia; Iraqi Kurdish envoy discloses two and a half years of lobbying; Glover Park director quits Argentina account
NEW FOREIGN LOBBYING FILINGS (FARA)
Africa
Mauritius: McLarty Inbound has extended its $35,000-per-month contract with the Embassy of Mauritius until the end of the year. The firm founded by former US ambassador to Germany Richard Burt was retained last year to help the east African nation gain sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The group of 60 tropical islands includes Diego Garcia, the site of a US Navy base. Read our June 5 story about the lobbying effort here.
Americas
Argentina: Glover Park Group director Elliott Stein has stopped lobbying for the Embassy of Argentina as of July 1.
Asia/Pacific
Japan: Mercury Public Affairs government affairs consultant Trent Lefkowitz has registered as a foreign agent for the Okinawa prefecture. He was already a registered lobbyist for the Embassy of Qatar, the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Zimbabwe, the Turkey-US Business Council (TAIK) and Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra in Nigeria.
Japan: Washington communications firm Seven Letter has added public relations director Elizabeth Joenler to its new account with the Embassy of Japan. She joins employees Amber McDowell and Ralph Posner and consultant Michael Treon. The embassy hired the firm for $40,000 per month earlier this month to provide “media outreach and advertising campaigns to support the goals of the foreign principal, including the promotion of tourism in Japan, as well as raise awareness of Japan’s public health initiatives and COVID response.”
Middle East/North Africa
Iraq: The US liaison office of the Kurdistan Regional Office has just disclosed FARA-covered activities for US representative Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman going all the way back to January 2018. In the first half of this year, Abdul Rahman disclosed meetings with multiple lawmakers including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Senate then-Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-Ind.). She also held meetings or calls with the following administration officials:
- Pentagon: Then-Acting Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs Kathryn Wheelbarger and Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Middle East Simone Ledeen;
- State Department: Then-Director of Iraq Affairs Rob Waller (now the US consul general in Erbil) and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq Affairs David Copley;
- USAID: Middle East Bureau Assistant Administrator Michael Harvey;
- Energy Department: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Matthew Zais.
Morocco: The Moroccan National Tourist Office in New York disclosed $423,000 in payments from its home office in the first half of this year and another $872,000 in the first and second half of 2019. During the period the office participated in tourism trade shows in the US, organized press trips to Morocco for “travel agents, journalists and social media influencers” and organized informational meetings with US travel agents.