Top-tier law firm, Cravath, represented Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, in a minor issue eight years ago. This relation, though dealing with a small sum compared to Cravath’s typical operation, involved meeting with U.S. government officials, which is subject to foreign agent reporting requirements. Links to these records show that Cravath omitted this filing up until now.
The fact that Cravath found itself representing a foreign body is not the issue at hand, however, the company’s relevance due to Hunter Biden, once a board member of Burisma, and the subsequent conspiracy theories around Joe Biden’s alleged involvement strikes a chord. These controversies, as illustrated by this assertive headline, is sure to cause a stir in the legal fraternity.
From a report by Reuters, Cravath was hired in January 2016 to represent Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky around possible U.S investigations. This representation was later broadened to include Burisma itself. This involved the firm’s interaction with U.S. government officials three times in March 2016, and one letter sent to an official later that year. For these services, Cravath received nearly $350,000, per their latest filings.
Cravath’s minor involvement was relatively transparent and differs from typical foreign agent cases that involve lobbying elected officials clandestinely for a foreign government. Yet despite this, the firm didn’t assume that lobbying regulations extend to addressing officials regarding case dismissal. However, with the government seeking to extend the scope of these disclosures, potentially further than ever intended, Cravath decided to report their litigation work as lobbying.
Technically, the law has severe penalties for disclosure failure, but applying them in this context might not make a lot of sense. But with the disorder these controversies create, who knows what the aftermath will be?