Foreign Influence Map

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) is a United States law enacted in 1938. It requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to disclose their relationship with the foreign principal. They must also disclose their activities, and the receipts and disbursements in support of those activities.

A “foreign principal” can be a foreign government, a foreign political party, a person outside the United States, or an entity organized under the laws of a foreign country. A “foreign agent” is anyone who acts at the order, request, or under the direction or control of a foreign principal and engages in political activities, public relations, political consulting, fundraising, or lobbying for that principal.

FARA is administered by the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) within the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Registrations, supplemental statements, and informational materials are filed with the FARA Registration Unit and made publicly available.