The views expressed herein represent the views of a majority of the members of the Caravel’s Editorial Board and are not reflective of the position of any individual member, the newsroom staff, or Georgetown University.

Qorvis Communications, a D.C.-based PR firm, filed as a registrant under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to work as an agent for countries including Equatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Bahrain, and Yemen.

This is the first installment in a planned two-part series on foreign influence.

A glance over the website of Glover Park Group (GPG), a strategic communications consultancy based in Washington, D.C., reveals little about the firm claiming to provide “solutions, not services.” There is an inspirational quote from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotamayor below one employee’s bio on the Team page: “None of us can afford to be bystanders in life.”

GPG is something much worse than a bystander. It is an enabler of global human rights abuses. It is deeply involved in one of D.C.’s more niche industries: providing public relations expertise to foreign tyrants with a need to influence Congress and the White House. A bevvy of unassumingly named PR agencies like BGR Government Affairs and MSLGROUP toil behind the scenes to whitewash atrocities around the world and give their troubling clients access to Washington’s power-brokers.

According to the terms of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) of 1938, “any person who acts as an agent” of a foreign government or political party is required to file notice with the Attorney General within ten days. It also requires that registered foreign agents supplement the record within ten days of any changes to the agreement with their foreign principal or every six months regardless. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pushed for FARA amid growing fears that Nazi propaganda was infilitrating U.S. politics.

FARA is an imperfect system. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in 2008 that the Department of Justice’s FARA division had insufficient resources to maintain accountability for registrants. The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, which aims “to make our government and politics more accountable and transparent to all,” reports that FARA has a long history of lax enforcement, noting that “the actual reporting by foreign agents has been inconsistent, often incomplete, and shoddy.”

Many of the companies that register under FARA put profit over country every day. Even worse, they put profit over humanity. Bear with us as we untangle a web of disclosures under FARA and a trove of publically available and morally incriminating information that reveal the repressive governments around the world buying influence from D.C. firms all too happy to oblige.

Turkey

Kurds and Armenians protest against the Turkish government, which has a history of oppressing minority ethnic groups such as theirs. (Wikimedia Commons)

U.S.-Turkey relations were recently thrown into the spotlight after the United States suddenly removed its troops from northern Syria on October 6 and Turkish forces launched military operations in Kurdish-held territory. As a political rebuke for the attacks on the Kurds, who are traditionally close allies of the U.S., the House of Representatives passed a sweeping sanctions bill, as well as a bill formally recognizing the mass killing of Armenian citizens in 1915-1916 as a genocide. The recognition bill passed 405-11, with three lawmakers voting “present,” though the Trump administration has yet to sign it.

The Trump administration has held a positive view of the Turkish government since entering office, as the money that Turkey spent on lobbying progressively increased. In 2018 alone, the Turkish government and non-government Turkish actors spent nearly $9 million. Fourteen different lobbying firms have registered on behalf of Turkish actors. Of these, Greenberg Traurig received the largest single payment of $850,000, and Ballard Partners received two payments of $750,000 and $765,611. The FARA filings show that Greenberg Traurig also lobbies for the “Republic of Kurdistan,” but the differences are notable: the Turkish government will spend $1.5 million in 2019, Kurdistan will spend just $240,000.

The lobbying firms agree to propose and support legislation and U.S. government action that “promotes Turkey’s interests and provides a positive image” of Turkey. Articles in major newspapers, including a Washington Post article, aim to promote a positive image of Turkey to the American public.

It recently came out that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, also urged the president in 2017 to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a U.S. permanent resident accused of organizing a 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Giuliani, currently caught up in the Ukraine scandal for allegedly running a “shadow foreign policy,” historically pushed other pro-Erdogan agenda items. Giuliani is not currently registered as a foreign lobbyist. Other members of the Trump administration, notably former-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and his associates, have dubious ties to Turkey.

Turkey, a NATO ally, had the support of the United States prior to the events of October 9, when Turkish forces first moved against the Kurds. But, divisions in the U.S. government show how foreign lobbyists can influence U.S. policy-making. Despite the resolutions passed to rebuke Turkey and Erdogan in the House, Trump ordered the lifting of economic sanctions against Turkey and declared the Syrian maneuver a success on October 23.

Cameroon

Last week marked 37 years as president for Paul Biya, the longest-ruling non-royal leader in the world. Biya has amassed a large personal fortune while Cameroonians have suffered under his misrule. The past three years in particular have been fraught for Cameroon: an armed separatist conflict and a consequent humanitarian crisis erupted in the country’s Anglophone regions. Biya’s response—to crack down on peaceful protests and refuse to recognize the legitimate grievances held by the Anglophone population—directly escalated the crisis, which has displaced more than 600,000 people.

Over the years, Cameroon has cycled through several Washington, D.C., firms, including Squire Patton Boggs, Mercury Public Affairs, GPG, and Clout Public Affairs, to smooth over its image in the nation’s capital. These contracts come at a hefty price: for several years, Squire Patton Boggs charged Cameroon $400,000 a year.

Cameroon’s most recent firm turnover was in June 2019 when GPG and Cameroon’s contract was terminated. The country wasted no time hiring a new PR firm, Clout Public Affairs, a division of Axiom Strategies, a Republican political consulting firm. For $55,000 a month, Cameroon tasked Clout with “promoting the positive and favorable image [of Cameroon] through earned media, digital and research campaign services,” including “placing targeted op eds in conservative-oriented outlets.”

Despite these PR efforts, Cameroon’s image in the U.S. government is declining. In 2019, the president, Congress, and the State Department have all taken numerous actions in response to Cameroon’s human rights abuses and malfeasance, including passing Congressional resolutions and imposing targeted sanctions on certain Cameroonians. Most recently, Trump revoked Cameroon’s status as an African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) country. Of course, some speculate that in the coming weeks, Cameroon’s lobbyists will try to reverse this decision.

Saudi Arabia

Former-Secretary of Defense James Mattis meets Saudi officials, including King Salman, in Riyadh. (Department of Defense)

It is challenging to find mainstream American organizations and politicians that did not condemn Saudi Arabia for the October 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Yet, as recently as May 2019, the U.S. government continued to ink massive arms deals with the country. Such cognitive dissonance can, of course, be attributed to Trump’s erratic rule or to stated security goals, but many U.S. dealings with Saudi Arabia operate through a number of lobbying and PR firms.

Saudi companies like Aramco and Saudi Petroleum International regularly operate in the United States. Hogan Lovells, which requires its lawyers to volunteer at least 25 hours a year “as part of their normal work duties,” will receive more than $1.5 million this year from the Saudi embassy. The firm was contracted to provide “litigation support and specific advocacy assignments” involving American government and media organizations. Such support concerns Middle East security issues, economic reforms such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, and the release of Congressional documents relating to Saudi Arabia.

In March 2019, the Caravel reported on the potential transfer of American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, noting that the Gulf Kingdom stressed its desire to domestically produce nuclear fuel. Any transfers of American nuclear technology concern Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, which stipulates that technology recipients commit not to enrich uranium. The Saudi desire to produce nuclear fuel domestically throws such a promise into doubt. The Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources contracted Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw and the Law Office of David B. Kultgen to interact with the U.S. government on their behalf, including in discussions regarding Section 123. (The contract with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw mentions work with the Kultgen Law Office for this purpose.)

The Saudi government insists such nuclear work would be strictly for civilian purposes, but the New York Times reported that their “negotiators stirred more worries by telling the Trump administration that Saudi Arabia would refuse to sign an agreement that would allow United Nations inspectors to look anywhere in the country for signs that the Saudis might be working on a bomb.” For a government that denied that it planned Khashoggi’s murder and that bombed an airport to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching Yemen, such double-speak is par for the course.

Support for Saudi Arabia is declared circumspectly as a business endeavor or a financial opportunity in an emerging market. For this, we can thank the many U.S. firms engaged in shoring up government support for Saudi Arabia even as public sentiment sours: just last week, in fact, the CEO of Uber—for which Saudi Arabia is the fifth largest stockholder—called Kashoggi’s slaying a “mistake.”

Saudi Arabia’s paychecks to U.S. lobbyists and firms literally create millionaires. In such morally taxing conditions, human rights become a secondary consideration. The Saudi government has proven it possesses the inertia to remain a potent political and economic actor in the United States—no matter how forcefully the American public may condemn it.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan scored a dismal 11 out of 100 in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2019 report. Criticized for “an extensive crackdown on civil liberties in recent years” under President Ilham Aliyev, the country is also waging an aggressive public relations campaign in the U.S. According to FARA filings, from 2017 to 2019, Azerbaijan’s government employed two PR firms, Rasky Partners and BGR Government Affairs, and a law firm, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz.

The fees ranged from $15,000 to $50,000 a month. In its filing, Rasky Partners contracted with Azerbaijan’s embassy to provide “public relations services and support” from April to October 2019. During the same period, Azerbaijani police arrested and allegedly tortured prominent opposition politician Tofiq Yaqublu for holding an unauthorized rally. It was not the only human rights abuse to take place in 2019 in the country ranked 166th on press freedom by Reporters Without Borders. Human Rights Watch writes, “While criticizing the increasing crackdown, Azerbaijan’s international partners have failed to set conditions for future cooperation that will help secure rights improvements.”

The first priority of U.S.-Azerbaijani relations, according to the State Department website, is to “promote European energy security.” Azerbaijan is the only over-land route for trade in oil and gas between Asia and Europe that avoids passing through the territory of Iran or Russia. As such, it is a vital strategic interest of the United States and its European allies. The country’s ties in Washington run deep.

Larry Rasky of Rasky Partners, who was on the staff of both Vice President Joe Biden’s previous presidential campaigns, is the treasurer of Unite the Country PAC, which is working to funnel big-dollar donations to support Biden’s third attempt. Rasky served in the position while still registered as an agent of Azerbaijan.

Politico reported on November 6 that Rasky had reached out to a senior staffer in the office of Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN), co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, to discuss a “potential op-ed piece.” It is unclear whether plans for the opinion piece proceeded, and both Rasky Partners and Cohen’s office did not respond to Politico’s requests for comment.

Azerbaijan does not appear on a list of clients on the Rasky Partners website despite the fact that the firm’s contract with the embassy specifically grants it the right to “publicize [the] agreement… in the form of press releases and announcements” and list Azerbaijan’s “name and logo in [their] client roster and website.” Perhaps this is because Rasky Partners—itself a communications firm—knows that being closely associated with anti-gay crackdowns and other human rights abuses in Azerbaijan is bound to have a negative brand impact.

Equatorial Guinea

Corruption, mismanagement and exploitation of vast oil reserves, human rights violations, and the sharp contrast between the poverty of most citizens and lavish lifestyles of the political elite are longstanding concerns in Equatorial Guinea, which ranks 141 out of 189 on the Human Development Index. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea has been in power for 40 years. His party currently controls 99 of 100 seats in Parliament. In 2017, 147 members of the opposition party were arrested and in 2018, Equatorial Guinea’s Supreme Court approved the opposition party’s dissolution.

In the context of widespread poverty, deep inequality, corruption, and repression, two companies serve Equatorial Guinea’s government as propaganda and misinformation machines: Qorvis Communications and MSLGROUP Americas. MSLGROUP is the parent organization of Qorvis, and both are agencies of Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s largest advertising and communications firms.

Both Qorvis and MSLGROUP have tried to influence U.S. policymakers and news outlets on behalf of the Equatorial Guinean government by spinning stories to improve the country’s image and present Obiang as a reform-minded advocate of rights and progress, while drawing attention from the government’s abuses of power.

Since 2009, Qorvis has worked relentlessly to make up for Equatorial Guinea’s faults by trying to influence news organizations such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and CNBC, among others. Qorvis first filed as an active registrant for Equatorial Guinea in 2009. A website “maintained by Qorvis Communications, LLC, on behalf of Equatorial Guinea's government” has publications as recent as November 19, 2018. Among the publications by “Equatorial Guinea News” are 153 posts on “Government and Transparency.”

In MSLGROUP’s most recent FARA filling from 2018, it checked a box that states: “The agreement or understanding between the registrant and the foreign principal is the result of neither a formal written contract nor an exchange of correspondence between the parties.” If checked, the group must “describe fully the nature and method of performance of the above indicated agreement or understanding.” MSLGROUP gave a one-sentence response: “The registrant continues to provide public relations and other assistance to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for a monthly retainer of $37,500.”

The lack of transparency raises questions about the relationship and about the effectiveness of a FARA system that permits such obfuscation. Additionally, the fact that the agreement between MSLGROUP and Equatorial Guinea is not formally written is suspicious given that MSLGROUP is a subsidiary of a major multinational company with global revenues of $10.9 billion in 2018.

MSLGROUP revealed that it has engaged with public officials, legislators, editors, civic groups, and media outlets as part of its work. U.S. politicians and media outlets are aware of groups like MSLGROUP and Qorvis, yet these organizations continue to work in our midst.

Conclusion

One GPG senior associate chose the quote, “Go Forth and set the world on fire,” to accompany her biographical information. St. Ignatius’ statement is, of course, one of Georgetown’s favorite quotes to throw around. It comes as no surprise, then, that this GPG employee is an alumna of Georgetown University.

Glover Park Group—named for a park just steps from campus—is not the only firm working for despots that employs Hoyas. A quick scroll through any of these firm’s websites yields staff pages littered with countless Georgetown graduates.

As the Cameroonian military burns civilians’ homes to the ground and the Saudi military drops American bombs over Yemen, Georgetown alumni and employees are indeed setting the world on fire—by enabling these atrocities to be whitewashed in Washington, D.C. We urge our classmates to refuse to work for these firms and pursue a path that does not aid autocrats in oppressing people around the world.

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