Foreign Agents Registration Act Marked by History of Politicization, Selective Enforcement
NOVANEWS
The singling out of RT for treatment as a foreign agent — while entities such as Al Jazeera and AIPAC are ignored — reflects a history of selective enforcement and the politicization of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
by Whitney Webb
Though it garnered renewed interest thanks to Robert Mueller’s investigation of the Trump administration and the rise of “Russiagate” hysteria, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) of 1938 has been irregularly enforced over the course of its 79-year history. Despite nearly eight decades on the books, the law has resulted in only a handful of prosecutions and a single conviction, suggesting that the government’s enforcement of the law has been lax — to say the least.
Originally intended to counter pro-Nazi lobbyists active in...