[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 201 (Monday, November 30, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7103-S7104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FOREIGN ACTORS

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as America waits for the results of the 
2020 election to be certified in a couple of weeks, former Vice 
President Joe Biden has begun to announce his picks for his Cabinet and 
other high-ranking positions.
  Some of these nominees have close ties to investment and other 
consulting firms whose clients are largely unknown or who may be even 
the subjects of nondisclosure agreements. The truth is that these 
individuals could be working on behalf of a ``feel good'' nonprofit, a 
malicious foreign actor, or a large company with business before the 
government. The truth of the matter is, we have simply no idea what 
kind of business or financial relationships these individuals have with 
foreign powers that could influence their actions as high-ranking 
government officials. This goes way beyond compliance with the Foreign 
Agents Registration Act. This is an ethical issue. It is a conflict-of-
interest issue, and Americans deserve to know if these nominees have 
connections or relationships that could cloud their judgment on behalf 
of the American people if they are confirmed.
  When it comes to the business dealings of those who could serve in 
high-ranking government positions, full transparency is the only 
option. So I encourage each of these individuals, if nominated, to take 
an open-book approach throughout the hearings and confirmation 
processes. In fact, I will make a pledge here today that I will not 
support any nominee who doesn't provide full transparency into his work 
on behalf of a foreign government. I will not do it. The American 
people deserve to know if these or any future nominees are beholden to 
anything other than our national interest.
  Just to make the point that this is not some imaginary or 
hypothetical problem, let me refer to an article that was written today 
in the Associated Press News, entitled: `` `Mercenary' donor sold 
access for millions in foreign money.'' This is a story of a so-called 
elite political fundraiser, Imaad Zuberi, who, maybe not surprisingly, 
raised a lot of money for Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama 
and who also became the top donor to the Trump Presidential Inaugural 
Committee. In other words, he wasn't particularly partisan. He just 
wanted to be close to power and be able to influence it.
  Prosecutors who have now prosecuted him for a variety of violations 
of campaign finance laws and foreign lobbying laws have called him a 
mercenary political donor. His foreign entanglements were quite 
extensive. He lobbied as an unregistered foreign agent for at least 
half a dozen countries and officials, including a Ukrainian oligarch 
who was close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He lobbied for 
countries like Turkey and Sri Lanka, among others. As I said, it really 
doesn't make a difference so much which country. It was the fact that 
he was lobbying in an undisclosed fashion, raising money for political 
candidates, and violating campaign finance laws for which he has now 
pled guilty and will be awaiting sentencing after the first of the 
year.
  We spent a lot of the last 4 years--and, certainly, as a member of 
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, we spent about 3\1/2\ 
years--investigating Russian interference with the 2016 election. Yet, 
as this story makes clear,

[[Page S7104]]

Zuberi's story shows there are far easier ways to bend American foreign 
policy than by using sophisticated hacking tools or well-funded troll 
farms. In other words, you can do it the way he has done it, which is 
by violating our foreign agent registration laws, representing foreign 
governments and foreign interests, and hiring lobbyists and cutting out 
donors in a way that funnels foreign money into the American political 
process--unbeknownst to people like us unless it is disclosed.
  Between 1966 and 2015, the Department of Justice brought just seven 
criminal cases for violating the law relating to registering as a 
foreign lobbyist, according to a 2016 inspector general's report. So 
this is a serious topic.
  The incoming chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, Senator 
Grassley, and the current ranking member, Senator Feinstein, and I have 
a bipartisan bill to reform the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but 
this is going to be front and center in the confirmation process for 
any nominee by the incoming administration, and I just think it is fair 
to place everybody on fair notice that full transparency is the only 
option.

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