Comer probes DOJ enforcement of FARA requirements

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Thursday opened a probe in the Department of Justice's enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act in connection with Al Jazeera and TikTok.

Writing to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Comer pressed the Department of Justice to provide him materials related to the agency's handling of FARA and its decision-making process on the law's enforcement, including such materials related to Al Jazeera and TikTok.

"Specifically, the Committee seeks to understand the administration, enforcement, and recordkeeping practices associated with delays or decisions not to enforce FARA compliance with certain entities," Comer wrote. "As two prominent examples, statements by Administration officials and other material in the public record indicate the Department appears to have considered extra-legal factors in passing on or delaying FARA registration enforcement requirements for news media company Al Jazeera and social media company TikTok."

Al Jazeera receives funding from the Qatari government. Comer pointed specifically to leaked documents suggesting a U.S. affiliate, AJ+, was using its reporting to influence U.S. opinion at the direction of a foreign government and a DOJ requirement that AJ+ register under FARA. 

"The DOJ asked AJ+ to register within thirty calendar days, but to date, this has not occurred and DOJ has not exercised its prosecutorial discretion to seek injunctive relief, provided by 22 U.S.C. § 618(f)," he stated.

With respect to TikTok, Comer pointed to parent ByteDance's relationship with the Chinese government and myriad reports indicating the app presented security risks to American users. 

"The growing public evidence that TikTok is used as a tool to advance a global pro-CCP agenda is troubling," he went on. "Researchers are increasingly worried that TikTok could be 'one of China’s most effective weapons in the global information war,' using Chinese-style censorship and transforming how users intake and understand real-world events."

"Given Al Jazeera’s and TikTok’s public prominence in the U.S., mounting evidence of their use to advance foreign agendas, and the Biden Administration’s own national security concerns with the two companies, the Committee is puzzled that the Department appears to have either ceased or paused enforcement of FARA registration requirements for the companies without explanation," Comer said. "This lack of clarity raises unfortunate questions about the Department’s commitment to the objective enforcement of FARA, including aforementioned questions raised by Al Jazeera, that link the Department’s commitment to enforcing the law with diplomatic negotiations on unrelated matters."

He set a deadline of Feb. 22 for the DOJ to provide him with the request materials. 

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.