Deborah Curtis Talks Rare FARA Filing With Global Investigations Review

Deborah Curtis, Co-Chair of Arnold & Porter’s White Collar Defense & Investigations practice, was recently quoted in the Global Investigations Review article, “Argentine intelligence agency hires consultants to liaise with US counterparts,” discussing a recent Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing that disclosed Argentina’s State Intelligence Secretariat’s had hired consulting firm Tactic Global to liaise with U.S. intelligence officials.

Curtis, a former National Security Division prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice, explained that foreign agencies and organizations would recruit lobbyists with access to the U.S. government but clarified that disclosing third-party brokering meetings and advice is unique.

“Intelligence agencies typically don’t like to have public acknowledgments of their interactions, obviously, because they’re highly, highly sensitive,” Curtis said. “In my position in the intelligence community, I’m not certain I’ve seen anything quite like this before.”

Curtis called the circumstance “a success story for FARA” and noted that she’s “curious how the U.S. intelligence community will react” to the disclosure.

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