EXCLUSIVE — A Justice Department database documenting political operations carried out by foreign agents was updated Thursday morning after sitting dormant since September 2024 following a Washington Examiner inquiry.
On Wednesday, the Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Justice to request information on when the agency’s “Foreign Principal Political Activities” dashboard would be updated, noting that the most recent entries displayed were nearly a year old. On Thursday morning, a DOJ spokeswoman told the Washington Examiner that the lack of updates had been the result of a technical issue and that it had been resolved.
Recommended Stories
- Amazon wages quiet war to stop states from taking Chinese equipment out of government offices
- How Big Pharma’s web of interests groups pushes its agenda across the country
- Liberal philanthropies tap Chinese industry to fill endowments
The dashboard contains information about who foreign agents are contacting and how, when the communications occurred, and for what purpose. For example, the newly released data shows that the firm Neale Creek, working on behalf of the Qatari Embassy, sent an email to Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) deputy legislative assistant on March 31 to discuss “U.S.-Qatar relations.”
A Washington Examiner review of the DOJ’s Foreign Agents Registration Act webpage shows that much of the information included within the Foreign Principal Political Activities database does not appear to be publicly accessible elsewhere on the site. Additionally, the link to download bulk data about foreign agents on the DOJ’s website was nonfunctional as of publication.
The newly released data will be of particular interest to observers interested in learning more about Qatari foreign influence, as Doha’s reach has become an increasingly salient issue in Washington.
The DOJ did not respond when reached with follow-up questions.