http://www.nationalreview.com/article/418809/did-sid-blumenthal-violate-foreign-lobbying-law-brendan-bordelon
Clinton consigliere Sidney Blumenthal’s now-notorious e-mails to Hillary Clinton on Libya could constitute a criminal violation of U.S. foreign lobbying laws. According to several experts, if his business and intelligence ties with Libyan interim government officials were as extensive as evidence suggests, Blumenthal’s repeated communications to America’s top diplomat broke a federal criminal statute requiring the registration and reporting of foreign agents engaged in lobbying foreign officials.
“I think there is both smell and smoke,” says Elliot Berke, a Washington D.C. lawyer who works regularly on cases involving the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Designed to prevent U.S. officials from being unwittingly influenced by representatives of foreign governments, the law requires individuals to do more than simply identify themselves as foreign lobbyists. “FARA doesn’t just require registration,” says Berke. “It requires ongoing reporting of specific contacts and the labeling and filing of information like memos with the Justice Department within 48 hours of dissemination.”