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Executive Summary
As former Attorney General Bondi’s “first day” memos suggested would be the case, the theme of 2025 was the de-emphasis of Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) enforcement. This would not have been surprising to readers of the Bondi memos, one of which announced the disbanding of the Foreign Influence Task Force (“[t]o free
resources to address more pressing priorities, and end risks of further weaponization and abuses of prosecutorial discretion”). Furthermore, the memo instructed that “[r]ecourse to criminal charges under [FARA] and 18 U.S.C. § 951” would “be limited to instances of alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.” The FARA Unit was instead instructed to “focus on civil enforcement, regulatory initiatives, and public guidance.”
This seemed to mark a return to the pre-2016 era of FARA enforcement dormancy. FARA enforcement was re-energized after a 2016 Inspector General Report criticized the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) for its FARA enforcement and management practices. In the subsequent years of FARA’s resurgence, DOJ stepped up enforcement, issued clarifying guidance and advisory opinions, and initiated the first rulemaking process in years.
For most of 2025, FARA practice seemed routine, as we awaited evidence of the anticipated change in enforcement posture. Entity registrations continued apace, or increased, relative to the prior year, and pending prosecutions of individuals under FARA or FARA-related laws continued to wind their way through the judicial system. For many months, DOJ did not issue any new guidance or advisory opinions, and the status quo seemed to prevail.
By year-end, the much awaited sea change was apparent, as DOJ dismissed several charges in the Henry Cuellar case and President Trump pardoned Mr. Cuellar. President Trump also pardoned former New York Police Department officer Michael McMahon who had been accused of acting as an agent of China to harass certain Chinese dissidents. In addition, DOJ released several advisory opinions, only to quickly remove them from the FARA website. DOJ also announced its withdrawal of rulemaking for several statutes—although, interestingly, not yet for FARA.
In September, President Trump issued a new Presidential Memorandum, directing the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (“JTTFs”) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) to include the investigation of FARA and FARA-related issues within its mission. Congress, for its part, renewed or proposed new legislation to strengthen FARA enforcement, indicating bipartisan support for at least some of these initiatives. As the year drew to a close, the Linda Sun case went to trial and ended with a hung jury. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, it seems, intends to retry the case.
For the balance of the Trump Administration, we expect the closure of the Sun case, and enforcement actions involving espionage-like FARA cases, perhaps as a result of investigation by the JTTFs. We also anticipate added scrutiny of the nonprofit sector, particularly among academic and political institutions (such as think tanks) and cultural interest groups that receive some benefit from foreign actors.
Meanwhile, in addition to federal legislative initiatives to amend or enhance FARA, several states have adopted FARA-like statutes. It could be, therefore, that state enforcement fills the gaps left by the feds.
In sum, FARA is not frozen, but aspects of its enforcement are in a kind of thaw. We continue to believe that entities and individuals within the statute’s scope would do well to consider potential exposure—if not in this administration, then in a future administration—given the applicable five-year statute of limitations.
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