Alleged ISI Agent Arrested for US Political Contributions

This raises a lot of issues from US foreign aid policy to campaign finance.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43811258/ns/us_news-security/

Pakistani accused of masking contributions to US politicians
FBI says agent of spy service gave thousands to congressmen, parties

The FBI has arrested a man investigators say was an agent of Pakistan's official state intelligence service, accusing him of making roughly $2 million in political contributions in the United States without disclosing his connections to the Pakistani government.

Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai will appear in federal court this afternoon in Alexandria, Va. He's not charged with being a spy. But he is charged with being an unregistered agent or lobbyist of the Pakistani government.

He's the executive director of a group called the Kashmiri American Council. Political contribution records show he has given tens of thousands of dollars to congressional candidates and party organizations. The FBI said in court documents released Tuesday that the council is effectively run by the Pakistani government.

An FBI investigator says an informant told the FBI that Pakistani's intelligence service, ISI, created the council "to propagandize on behalf of the government of Pakistan with the goal of uniting Kashmir." A call to the Kashmiri American Council's office in Washington went unanswered this morning.

Court documents reveal that the FBI has been investigating Fai for at least four years and that he has repeatedly denied that he has ever "provided any services to any foreign entity." To the contrary, the FBI says, "The government of Pakistan has long directed and funding his lobbying and public relations efforts in the United States" for at least 20 years, based on intercepted communications between Fai and Pakistani officials.

Agents say the government sent him at last $4 million since the mid-1990s, sent through several contacts in the U.S. who are not named in the court documents unsealed Tuesday.

According to federal campaign records, Fai began giving money in 1990, but his largest contributions have come in the past five years.

He is listed as giving substantial campaign contributions to U.S. politicians and parties over the past 15 years.

According to the records, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., head of the Pakistani caucus within the House, Burton received more than $10,000, including $2,000 each, the maximum allowable under U.S. law, in the 2004, 2008 and 2010 congressional campaigns.

In addition, Fai gave the National Republican Senatorial Committee $3,500 in 2004, $5,000 in 2006 and $1,000 in 2008. Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Pa., also received $2,000 in 2004. The only Democrat to receive a significant amount of money was Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who received $2,000 in 1998.

Among other politicians who received smaller contributions were the campaigns of Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-Calif., $500; and the presidential campaigns of Al Gore, $250, Dennis Kucinich, $500; and Barack Obama, $250.