US lawmakers are pushing legislation that would force foreign business leaders to divulge sensitive information about their contacts with US government officials in a crackdown on lobbying spurred by concern about Russian political meddling.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference has injected new life into a bill causing concern among non-US multinationals because it could class their employees as “foreign agents” subject to stringent American disclosure requirements that could put them at a disadvantage to US rivals..
The bill would strengthen an obscure 1930s law aimed at Nazi propagandists that was thrust into the spotlight by Mr Mueller’s October indictment of Paul Manafort, US President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager accused of failing to register as a foreign agent lobbying for a Ukrainian political party.