Gulf Lobbyist Fails to Disclose Ties to Qatar in Media Appearances « LobeLog
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On Monday, MapLight’s Andrew Perez published an excellent investigation into Ed Rogers’ advocacy against the Iran nuclear agreement while working as an undisclosed lobbyist for Saud Arabia. Rogers’ behavior is particularly troubling since he registered as a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) seven months after signing a contract with the Saudis. In the time period between signing the contract and registering under FARA, Rogers published two columns in The Washington Post criticizing the Obama administration’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran, neither of which identified him as a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia.
Rogers’ actions may have violated the law due to the gap between the contract’s signing date and his registration under FARA. But other lobbyists for Sunni-Arab Gulf states have been slow to identify their paid roles when quoted as experts criticizing the White House’s Iran diplomacy.
One of the most prominent examples of this trend is J. Adam Ereli, U.S. ambassador to Bahrain from 2007 to 2011, a lobbyist for Qatar since January 2015, and an outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s efforts to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.