A conservative watchdog group is calling on the Justice Department to investigate long-time Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal for his alleged activities on behalf of a politician in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) says that Blumenthal appears to have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires those lobbying U.S. officials on behalf of a foreign interest to register with the Justice Department.
In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder obtained by BuzzFeed News, FACT's executive director Matthew Whitaker points to a Gakwer report that documents Blumenthal acting as a kind of middle man for Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who built his fortune in Russia before becoming Georgia's president.
"I think this is what Americans always fear, is that politically connected people act above the law and don't follow the rules that are very clearly laid out for the rest of us to follow," Whitaker told BuzzFeed News. "It really boils down to the political class trying to take advantage of their access to Secretary Clinton. "
"In Sidney Blumenthal's view some people who are politically connected don't need to register while everybody else does."
