Well-Connected Political Consultants Charged in Covert Lobbying Campaign
Court records unsealed on Tuesday revealed that two well-connected political consultants provided false information about lobbying work on behalf of a wealthy Persian Gulf country during the Trump administration.
According to the charging documents filed in federal court in Washington, Barry P. Bennett, an adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, spearheaded a covert and lucrative lobbying campaign aimed at advancing the interests of a foreign country, including by denigrating a rival nation.
Although the country for whom the work was done is not named in the documents, it matches the description of Qatar, which in 2017 paid Bennett’s company $2.1 million for lobbying work. The country was also identified in a 2020 Justice Department subpoena that sought records related to Bennett’s foreign lobbying.
Federal prosecutors filed two criminal counts against Bennett in a charging document known as an information, which is typically filed only with a defendant’s consent. Prosecutors said the case will be dismissed after he complies with the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement, including the payment of a $100,000 fine.
The Justice Department also reached a similar agreement with Douglas Watts, a New Jersey political consultant who prosecutors say worked alongside Bennett and failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The law requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby, or perform public relations work in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government or political entity.
According to the Justice Department, Bennett signed a contract in 2017 for his company, Avenue Strategies, to perform lobbying work on behalf of the Qatari embassy. However, as part of that strategy, prosecutors said he also covertly operated another company called Yemen Crisis Watch that conducted a public relations campaign to denigrate one of Qatar’s unnamed rivals.
The case is among several probes by federal law enforcement officials related to Qatar’s aggressive influence campaign during the Trump administration, when it was the target of a blockade by Saudi Arabia and other neighbors.
A lawyer for Bennett did not immediately return messages, and a lawyer for Watts declined to comment. An email to the Qatari embassy was not immediately returned as well.
This content was reported by Suderman from Richmond, Virginia.