Rod Dreher Should Register as Hungary鈥檚 Foreign Agent: Experts
Experts tell Hatewatch that conservative blogger Rod Dreher should register as a foreign agent for far-right Hungary under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, a 1938 law that regulates advocacy for foreign governments in the U.S.
Rod Dreher, a conservative writer whose columns have appeared at right-wing outlet The American Conservative for 12 years, should register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for his work with a Hungarian think tank funded by Hungary鈥檚 far-right government, according to two experts who reviewed Dreher鈥檚 contract.
Hatewatch obtained Dreher鈥檚 contract with the Danube Institute, a Hungarian think tank maintained by the Batthy谩ny Lajos Foundation (BLA), through a Hungarian public information request. The Danube Institute receives funds from the Hungarian government. The contract refers to Dreher as an 鈥渁gent鈥� who will 鈥渨rite articles about his experiences in Hungary in the America media.鈥� This agent activity 鈥渋s executed in a manner that advocates the achievement of Principal鈥檚 [the Danube Institute鈥檚] goals.鈥�
Dreher, a U.S. citizen who is currently based in Hungary, authored a blog at The American Conservative for 12 years. He penned his farewell post in late February, though he kept authoring posts until early March. The blog focused on his views on the conservative movement and Christianity鈥檚 role therein. Some of his posts are odd, and The Washington Post called them 听顿谤别丑别谤 聽over a million monthly readers in 2018.
The Hungarian government has long paid U.S. right-wing and far-right ideologues to speak in Hungary. These include , conservative radio host Dennis Prager听补苍诲 , former adviser to former President Donald Trump. All lauded Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n for his anti-migration, ultra-conservative policies in service of building what he calls an .
翱谤产谩苍鈥檚 聽have accused him and members of his Fidesz party of ending Hungary鈥檚 democracy by using state funds for re-election bids, 听补苍诲 聽to clamp down on critical media. He also faces accusations of 听补苍诲 racism in relation to Hungary鈥檚 anti-migration policies.
Hungarian experts say听迟丑别 government鈥檚 courting of hard-right and conservative ideologues is an attempt to soften and mainstream 翱谤产谩苍鈥檚 views and his role as the leader of the international right-wing movement.
Unlike Dreher鈥檚 agreement, none of the aforementioned contracts directed these figures to air their opinions about their experiences in Hungary in U.S. media. Dreher has written dozens of blog posts with glowing praise of Hungary and Orb谩n for The American Conservative.
Josh Rosenstein, a member of D.C. law firm Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C., specializes in FARA and reviewed the contract. 鈥淚f this were someone I was representing,鈥� Rosenstein said in an interview, 鈥淚 would recommend prophylactic registration.鈥�
Neither The American Conservative nor Dreher responded to a request for comment.
Principals and agents
FARA is a 1938 law that requires 鈥渁gents of foreign principals鈥� that engage 鈥渋n political activities鈥� to publicly disclose their 鈥渞elationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities,鈥� according to the Justice Department (DOJ) .
The DOJ includes the FARA Unit, which oversees and investigates FARA registrations.
鈥淭o be regulated, the activities would generally need to be considered 鈥榩olitical activities,鈥� defined broadly as any work which the agent 鈥榖elieves will, or that 鈥� intends to, in any way influence鈥欌�� the public or the U.S. government to its benefit, Rosenstein said, quoting the definition.
Dreher鈥檚 contract requires him to write at least two articles for the Hungarian Conservative or for the Hungarian Review, two government-aligned outlets also maintained by the BLA.
The BLA is a foundation that former Hungarian Prime Minister J贸zsef Antall founded in 1991. When Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n won his first supermajority in 2010, the BLA was nearly defunct, according to Hungarian . But 翱谤产谩苍鈥檚 government began funding the BLA.
In 2021, the BLA received 3,758,819,000 Hungarian forints from the government鈥檚 central budget, according to tax records. That is roughly $11 million at current exchange rates.
Dreher鈥檚 fellowship with the Danube Institute started in 2021, according to the organization鈥檚 website. The institute lists Dreher as the 鈥渄irector of Network Project.鈥� Dreher鈥檚 current contract, the only one Hatewatch obtained, lasts from January to June 2023. The Danube Institute did not respond to requests regarding possible differences between Dreher鈥檚 contracts since 2021.
FARA has no bearing on the contract鈥檚 provisions regarding Dreher鈥檚 activities inside Hungary, Rosenstein explained. However, Dreher鈥檚 requirement to write about his experience in U.S. media could be regulated under FARA.
American Orb谩nism
In July 2022, Dreher an 鈥淎merican Orbanism鈥� [sic] in The American Conservative, saying 鈥淥rban [sic] knows that he鈥檚 fighting to save what鈥檚 left of our civilization from the postliberal liberals who are tearing it apart.鈥�
The remarks comport with an international narrative that holds Orb谩n as the figurehead for traditional, far-right movements. Orb谩n has cultivated this narrative.
Ahead of the 2014 Hungarian national election, Orb谩n began , who is Jewish, for attempting to change Hungary鈥檚 ethnic makeup with migration. This conspiracy theory is a variation of the white nationalist 鈥済reat replacement鈥� narrative.
翱谤产谩苍鈥檚 party, Fidesz, passed . These laws forced NGOs with foreign funding to register and placed a 25% tax on funds to civil society organizations from foreign donors that totaled more than $24,000.
The prime minister has also made racist remarks regarding migration. Orb谩n 聽in 2018: 鈥淲e do not want our own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed with those of others.鈥� In 2022, Orb谩n 听迟丑别 racist French book The Camp of the Saints聽in anti-immigrant remarks during a speech.
Dreher 聽翱谤产谩苍鈥檚 2022 remarks in his American Conservative blog. Dreher, who does not speak Hungarian, claimed that his 鈥淗ungarian friend鈥� explained the Hungarian word for 鈥渞ace鈥� can also mean 鈥渘ation.鈥� He acknowledged The Camp of the Saints is racist, however.
Dreher鈥檚 defense of Orb谩n is likely genuine. The blogger has long held roles at conservative news outlets including the Washington Times and the New York Post. In a 2019 post at The American Conservative, Dreher called the fascist dictator Francisco Franco鈥檚 victory in Spain 鈥渘ecessary鈥� as a bulwark against 鈥渕odernity.鈥�
But whether or not he believes what he writes does not matter under FARA, according to Benjamin Freeman, a research fellow and FARA expert at the realist Quincy Institute think tank.
Freeman explained, 鈥淎 person鈥檚 beliefs can matter when it comes to establishing a principal/agent relationship,鈥� but 鈥渢hat鈥檚 really only when money doesn鈥檛 change hands and there isn鈥檛 a document that literally says you鈥檙e an agent of a foreign principal.鈥�
Dreher鈥檚 contract shows the Danube Institute pays him $8,750 a month, or $105,000 a year. The average Hungarian annual salary is roughly $17,480, according聽to Trading Economics.
Freeman said he believes the FARA unit would consider Dreher鈥檚 relationship with the Danube Institute 鈥渁 principal-agent relationship, as defined in the statute.鈥�
Given the tone of Dreher鈥檚 articles about Hungary under Orb谩n in The American Conservative, 鈥�This certainly seems to me like a relationship that would require registration under FARA,鈥� Freeman said.
Future projects
Dreher鈥檚 blog with The American Conservative聽 in late February. Vanity Fair 聽that one of Dreher鈥檚 posts that discussed in 鈥渦nsettling detail鈥� Dreher seeing 鈥渁 Black classmate鈥檚 uncircumcised penis鈥� contributed to its end. The report says that 鈥淗oward Ahmanson Jr., the heir to a California banking fortune and the sole benefactor of Dreher鈥檚 six-figure salary鈥� at The American Conservative, found Dreher鈥檚 blogs to be 鈥渢oo weird.鈥� Ahmanson thus decided to stop funding Dreher鈥檚 role at the outlet.
The decision came after not only years of odd posts, but also Dreher causing controversy when he 聽off-the-record remarks Orb谩n made about Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine. Orb谩n said NATO was at war with Russia and he wanted to leave the European Union, Dreher posted. Dreher later amended his post when became aware of the mistake, Vanity Fair said.
Dreher will remain an editor-at-large and move his blog to Substack, he said in his final American Conservative post.
His contract with The Danube Institute says he will reach out to 鈥渁 circle of Christian-conservative contacts, within the framework of which Agent organizes at least one conference. 鈥� The task of the Agent is to find and nominate at least 7 thinkers who are ready to cooperate with the Principal by May 1, 2023.鈥� The 鈥渢hinkers鈥� will participate in a conference named 鈥淭he Future of Christianity in the West,鈥� according to the contract.
The contract sets a deadline of May 1 for the conference. The Danube Institute has not yet listed information for the event on their website.
Rosenstein said the details of Dreher鈥檚 contract and his posts construct 鈥渢he type of fact pattern that the FARA Unit would do well to look into via their Letter of Inquiry process,鈥� which is the first step of investigating whether registration is necessary.
If the FARA Unit determines registration is necessary and Dreher fails to do so, it could potentially result in criminal charges or a civil injunction. These rarely happen, though.
Rosenstein 鈥渨ould recommend [Dreher tread] very carefully.鈥�
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
