90 former members of Congress became lobbyists for foreign countries since 2000

That members of Congress become lobbyists after leaving office is “no secret” but an increasing number have begun representing foreign interests, including those with authoritarian governments.

A new report from the anti-war Quincy Institute of Responsible Statecraft found that at least 90 former members of Congress have registered as “foreign agents” since 2000, as required of all lobbyists for foreign governments by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Not all the former members went on to work for authoritarian regimes, like the 20 or so lawmakers who have been fired by South Korea and Taiwan. But at least 8 went on to work for China, 7 for Russia and 16 for Turkey, along with around 20 for Middle Eastern countries.

Ben Freeman, a Quincy research fellow who co-authored the report, said that lobbying for foreign governments, especially ones hostile to the U.S. and democratic principles, is dangerous because of the access senators and representatives to classified information and other dangerous secrets.

“I think first and foremost there’s at least the potential for a national security risk here in that when we’re talking about former members of Congress, we’re talking about people who had access to classified information,” Freeman told The Washington Times.

“And in some cases, we’re talking about people who had access to highly classified information, including military operations, intelligence operations overseas, or even domestic national security threats here in America.”

China only has only hired seven former legislators, but it has spent more on FARA registrants that any country since 2016.

The report included many examples of how former members recently influenced decision-making in the U.S., like how former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) played a central role in repairing Saudi Arabia’s image following the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) quit as a foreign agent of Chinese state-owned surveillance company Hikvision after only four days due to public backlash.

The lobbyists for foreign countries come from both political sides. In Quincy’s analysis, 49 are Republicans and 41 are Democrats.

Quincy drew attention to the bipartisan Fighting Foreign Influence Act, which, among other provisions, would ban former members of Congress and other senior government officials from working for foreign governments and organizations.