Dr. Seuss represented Tom Watson as Sylvester McMonkey McBean in Sneetches. 
Posted on 03/15/2007 8:06:18 AM PDT by Alter Kaker
Given the recent news that Rudolph Giuliani's law firm / lobbying shop, Bracewell-Giuliani works for the Hugo Chavez-owned CITGO oil company, I'm curious as to whether Bracewell may have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938.
The Act makes it a felony for an American citizen to do any of the following on behalf of a foreign government, without registering with the criminal division of the Justice Department:
Since those activities are essentially the definition of lobbying, it seems unlikely that Bracewell could have avoided violating the act. Moreover, it is clear that CITGO is indistinguishable from the Venezuelan government, which owns 100% of its shares, and which has placed cronies of Mr. Chavez at all levels of its operations.
- Engage in political activities
- Act in a public relations capacity for a foreign principal
- Solicit or dispense any thing of value within the United States for a foreign principal
- Represent the interests of a foreign principal before any agency or official of the U.S. government.
For more information on FARA, go the applicable DoJ website here. Bracewell's lobbying does not appear to be exempted by the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Has Giuliani/Bracewell committed a crime? Thoughts?
That is at least as plausible as most of the other arguments the Rudyites are making.
Godwin's Law comes into effect once Nazis are mentioned. You lose an argument.
A more effective analogy would be Bill Clinton and "what the meaning of 'is' is." Is CITGO foreign or not? That's the big question here.
I'm not making that argument, I'm just merely saying that the statement is reminiscent.
I do think the Nazi comparison is unfortunate, but it's worth noting the history of FARA, which was passed in 1938 in order to make it easy to prosecute Nazi agents, given the higher evidentiary threshold necessary for prosecuting treason and espionage cases.
Dr. Seuss represented Tom Watson as Sylvester McMonkey McBean in Sneetches.
It looks like it is as per the DOE
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/FTPROOT/financial/fdi2002.pdf
Foreign Direct Investment in U.S. Energy 2002
Citgo is listed as a foreign direct investment.
I don't have a motive in mind; I posted a question.
No. Being employed as a lobbyist for Citgo would not, in my opinion, be the same as lobbying for a foreign government.
If a Saudi Prince bought a majority stake in GM, I wouldn't expect the GM lobbyists to have to register as foreign representatives.
This is just my opinion, and not a statement of legal fact.
Oh, and in case it is:
There is no evidence that the firm is NOT registered as a foreign lobbyist. In fact, given that the firm has ties to foreign activity, I'd be surprised if they were NOT registered.
Call Bracewell-Giuliani. Ask for their comments.
He just gets a check.
Cnn/Blitzer will talk about Rudy/Chavez coming on in a few minutes.
*** The law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani is among the nation's largest, with approximately 400 attorneys and 9 offices worldwide. The firm's extensive complement of practices encompasses business transactions, litigation and government relations, including a specific focus on bank finance and securities law, tax, corporate restructuring, intellectual property, environmental law, labor and employment law, energy and telecommunications regulation, and federal and state legislative strategies. Bracewell serves a wide array of U.S. and international clients, including Fortune 500 companies and government and public entities.***
Yeah, he just gets a check. The company didn't offer him the Senior partner position to recruit international business, such as Citgo. Rudy's name has nothing to do with it, I'm sure. /sarcasm
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