LATEST UPDATES Last updated on May 1, 2020
US Mission of the Syrian Democratic Council
(for Syrian Democratic Council)
Registered: Jan. 2018
2018 receipts: Approximately $96,000-$120,000
NEW Related news
The US Mission of the Syrian Democratic Council, which represents the political wing of the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, is touting a new report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom that called on the US government to “exert significant pressure on Turkey to provide a timeline for its withdrawal from Syria” and “expand US engagement with and assistance to” the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria.
Ballard Partners
(for Citizens for a Secure and Safe America)
Hired: Dec. 2019
NEW Q1 domestic lobbying filing
Hawkish Syria advocacy group Citizens for a Secure and Safe America paid Ballard Partners $50,000 in the first quarter; the firm lobbied the White House on Syria policy.
Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting
(for Citizens for a Secure and Safe America)
Hired: Aug. 2019
NEW Q1 domestic lobbying filing (termination)
Former Rep. Luke Messer and his firm, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath (formerly Faegre Baker Daniels) stopped working for the hawkish Syria advocacy group Citizens for a Secure and Safe America March 12. The firm lobbied the National Security Council, State Department, office of Vice President Mike Pence and Executive Office of President Donald Trump in separate filings submitted because of the firm’s name change. In each filing, the firm disclosed less than $5,000 in fees.
Americans for a Free Syria
(In-house)
Registered: 2017
2019 fees: $40,000
NEW Q1 domestic lobbying filing
The pro-opposition advocacy group Americans for a Free Syria is revamping its lobbyist roster, with government relations director Erica Hanichak and policy and public affairs strategist Jameson Cunningham leaving the organization while Thomas Georges and Dana Mosa-Basha registered as lobbyists during the first quarter of 2020. Georges has been a fellow at Americans for a Free Syria since March 2018 while Mosa-Basha joined as a program manager in November 2019.
Hanichak left Americans for a Free Syria in February after working at the organization since April 2017. She was congressional affairs coordinator at the Michigan nonprofit United for a Free Syria for two years before that. Cunningham is a former staffer for ex-Reps. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., and Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., who joined Americans for a Free Syria in July 2018. His last day is April 9.
Squire Patton Boggs
(for High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian Opposition)
Hired: Sept. 2016
2018 fees: $0
NEW Supplemental
(July 1, 2019 – Dec. 31, 2019)
Squire Patton Boggs did not disclose any lobbying activity on behalf of the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian Opposition (terminated in October) in the six-month period ending Dec. 31.
Ballard Partners
(for Citizens for a Safe and Secure America)
Hired: April 2018
2018 fees: $180,000
NEW Q3 domestic lobbying filing (termination)
Ballard Partners stopped lobbying for the US-based Syria advocacy group, Citizens for a Safe and Secure America, on Sept. 4. The group paid the firm $330,000 since hiring it in April 2018 to advocate for the “promotion of democratic change in Syria.” Lobbyists on the account had included former Donald Trump Florida lobbyist Brian Ballard, former Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin, Sylvester Lukis and Justin Sayfie.