Contracts Between Hungarian Nonprofit and Christopher Rufo, Others, Raise Foreign Agent Concerns: Expert
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n鈥檚 government has long courted international conservative and far-right movements. Hatewatch obtained contracts between Hungarian U.S. conservative figures that suggest they should register as foreign agents under U.S. law.
Three right-wing ideologues signed contracts that may require they register as foreign agents for a Hungarian government-funded organization 鈥� and that the organization is possibly altering language in contracts to avoid this 鈥� according to a review of their contracts with the organization.
Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, right-wing writer Michael O鈥橲hea and Claremont Institute senior fellow Jeremy Carl signed contracts with the Hungarian government-funded nonprofit Batthy谩ny Lajos Foundation (BLA), which maintains the Danube Institute (DI), a Hungarian think tank. The contracts are from 2022 and 2023.
These contracts require either a speech, media appearance, reports or 鈥� in the case of O鈥橲hea 鈥� a minimum of two articles in U.S. or European media. They cover issues of , , 聽(CRT) and Hungary鈥檚 relations with regional allies. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n has used all these issues to win influence with the international conservative and far-right movements.
The Justice Department (DOJ)鈥� explains that FARA is a 1938 law requiring 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.鈥澛燭he law's purpose is to聽is 鈥渢o promote transparency with respect to foreign influence within鈥� the U.S. by informing the government and public of 鈥渢he source of certain information from foreign agents intended to influence American public opinion, policy, and laws.鈥�
Hatewatch shared the contracts with Josh Rosenstein, a partner at D.C. law firm Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C., which advises clients on FARA compliance. Rosenstein said the 鈥渁rrangements鈥� between BLA and the U.S. figures 鈥渟eem to raise significant FARA concerns.鈥�
Rosenstein said the FARA Unit, which oversees enforcement of the law and is housed inside the Department of Justice, has recently 聽on foreign 听补苍诲 听狈骋翱蝉鈥� 聽with foreign entities. 鈥淧articularly given the focus that the Department of Justice has recently and will continue to have on foreign-based nonprofits and NGOs and think tanks,鈥� Rosenstein said, the contracts seem 鈥渢o fall directly in line with the Department鈥檚 enforcement priorities.鈥�
The contracts between the U.S. figures and BLA came from a trove of 13 contracts Hatewatch obtained through a Hungarian public information request. Hatewatch then shared and reviewed the contracts with , a Hungarian investigative journalism outlet.
The other contracts deal with Canadian, Israeli, French and other U.S. figures. These do not appear to raise FARA concerns.
Two articles a month
Of the 13 contracts, Rufo and O鈥橲hea signed one each, and Carl signed two. All the contracts refer to BLA as the 鈥減rincipal鈥� and the other party as the 鈥渁gent.鈥�
The contract most likely to require FARA registration is between BLA and Michael O鈥橲hea, according to Rosenstein. The contract between BLA and O鈥橲hea says O鈥橲hea 鈥渟hall prepare at least two articles of at least 650 words per month, in particular on Hungarian family policy and Hungarian geopolitical topics, for American and European media.鈥�
Rosenstein explained there are exceptions for FARA, including those engaged in commerce, academic researchers, lawyers and diplomats. But O鈥橲hea鈥檚 example does not appear to qualify for these exemptions, he said.
O鈥橲hea is a young writer who took part in the 2021 round of the Budapest Fellowship sponsored by the Hungary Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit. The Hungary Foundation鈥檚 2022 tax filing shows the nonprofit made most of its money from assets and investments. The filing also shows the Hungary Foundation gave the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center considers an anti-immigrant hate group, a $118,000 grant in 2021 and 2022.
O鈥橲hea鈥檚 鈥渉ost institution鈥� for the fellowship program was DI. O鈥橲hea鈥檚 profile on the DI website says both the Hungary Foundation and the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, another Hungary-funded nonprofit that pays聽far-right U.S. personalities for speeches, sponsored O鈥橲hea in 2021 and 2022.
The document also states O鈥橲hea must 鈥減repare a study of at least 60,000 characters on the Polish election鈥� to be made available to BLA by Dec. 31. Poland鈥檚 far-right Law and Justice party, which has been a 聽for Fidesz since it won elections in 2015, suffered defeat in the 2023 national election.
The contract came into effect on June 1 and is active until Dec. 31. In that time, O鈥橲hea has published articles on Hungarian and Polish issues in The Federalist and The American Spectator, conservative online magazines, and The National Interest, an outlet that conservative think tank the Center for the National Interest publishes.
O鈥橲hea did not respond to a request for comment.
O鈥橲hea makes $4,500 a month for his work, according to the contract.
Culture warrior
BLA hired Rufo, a conservative activist whom Politico 聽as Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥檚 鈥渃ulture warrior,鈥� to give two lectures on the 鈥渢opics of critical race theory and 人兽性交 propaganda.鈥� The contract is not as explicit as O鈥橲hea鈥檚 but could require FARA registration.
Rufo came to prominence for spearheading the right-wing crusade against inclusive education policies, critical race theory 鈥� a set of legal analysis asserting that racism is inherent to the U.S. legal system 鈥� and . He gained further notoriety after DeSantis appointed him to the board of The New School following what some 聽a 鈥渢akeover鈥� of the liberal college.
Rufo鈥檚 contract ran from March 20 until April 18. It also directed him to give 鈥渋nterviews to be broadcast to the public, especially for Hungarian media, so primarily in the context of this.鈥� 聽confirmed to Hatewatch that the Hungarian language is similarly vague.
Rufo does not appear to speak Hungarian. He shared an interview on his YouTube page that Rod Dreher, another BLA fellow who experts believe should register聽for FARA, conducted. The interview appears to have been conducted during the term of the contract. On March 30, he published an article on his Substack called the 鈥淏udapest Diaries鈥� that praised Orb谩n for establishing 鈥渃onstellation of right-leaning university programs, think tanks鈥� and 鈥渞esearch centers.鈥� Rufo later wrote an article for Compact Magazine that praised the policies of the Orb谩n government.
Orb谩n has faced international 聽for passing laws that critics say are meant to tamp down on dissent inside Hungary鈥檚 higher-education system. Orb谩n has 聽the criticisms 鈥渁bsurd.鈥�
Rosenstein said FARA鈥檚 enforcement arm would be interested in these posts. 鈥淚f a foreign principal asks him to do this鈥� even if 鈥渢he contract had expired,鈥� then 鈥渢hat technically is regulated鈥� activity, Rosenstein explained.
Rufo responded to Hatewatch鈥檚 request for comment on X, saying he 鈥減ublicly announced鈥� his 鈥渇ellowship with the institute and disclosed this relationship in both of the pieces [he wrote about] Hungary, following standard journalistic practice.鈥� He also said the DI had no editorial input on the pieces he wrote.
Rosenstein said that 鈥渋f FARA applies,鈥� agents who 鈥渄isseminate propaganda鈥� on behalf of foreign principals must label the propaganda with a 鈥減rominent disclaimer,鈥� and a copy of the propaganda 鈥� now called 鈥渋nformational materials鈥� under the law 鈥� must be filed with the Justice Department.
The contract shows Rufo received $35,000 for his work.聽
Rufo further said in the post that if FARA applied to fellowship at DI, then 鈥渆very left-wing professor, journalist, and academic who has done a visiting fellowship anywhere outside the United States should also be investigated by the Justice Department 鈥� a notion that would deeply damage the First Amendment.鈥�
Rufo did not acknowledge that DI is funded by the Hungarian government and pays fellows to discuss Hungarian political policies.
An 鈥榚xample for the American right-wing鈥�
Most of the contracts between BLA and the right-wing thinkers feature two columns of text, one in Hungarian and the other in English. In the 13 contracts, both sides read largely the same, according to Hatewatch and 鈥檚 review. But the contracts say the Hungarian text prevails if there is 鈥渄eviation.鈥�
But BLA鈥檚 first contract with Carl, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute who focuses on immigration, multiculturalism and nationalism in the U.S., features a discrepancy in the Hungarian and English-language sections that suggests an intent to influence U.S. political thought.
Carl briefly served as a deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks for the U.S. Interior Department in 2020. During his time there, he cited an opinion article from the white nationalist outlet American Renaissance聽to denounce the 鈥渁nti-discrimination work of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr.,鈥� The Washington Post 聽in 2020.
The English and Hungarian versions describe the scope of Carl鈥檚 work as conducting research and writing studies on the following topics: 鈥淗ungarian family support policy, with special regard to its connections with Hungarian immigration policy鈥� and 鈥淗ow could the Orb谩n government tame the Hungarian deep state while keeping Brussels away?鈥�
After naming the topics, the Hungarian-language side says, 鈥淭hese can serve as an example for the American right-wing.鈥�
Rosenstein said that contracts are usually not 鈥渟o explicit鈥� as to name a political movement or ideology which the principal hopes to influence. He further wondered if this section鈥檚 removal was an attempt to circumvent FARA.
Your suggestion that there is something improper about having accepted a brief visiting fellowship to research topics entirely of my own choosing at a think tank headed by internationally-renowned [sic] conservative scholar are [sic] bizarre and delusional,鈥� Carl told Hatewatch.
Carl did not respond to a follow-up question about whether he knew of the discrepancy in the English and Hungarian language sections of the contract. Nor did the DI respond to a request for comment about the discrepancy.
BLA paid Carl $7,000 for the work described in this contract, which ran from February to April 2022.
Carl had another contract with DI, which he signed on Oct. 29, that required him to give 鈥渢wo lectures, one on 鈥榝reedom of expression鈥欌�� and another on 鈥渆ducational policy鈥� at events in November. The contract also required Carl to participate in DI鈥檚 podcasts, write at least one article for a BLA-administered website and appear in DI media. BLA paid Carl $8,500 for his work. Carl is not the Claremont Institute鈥檚 only connection to Hungary. David Reaboi, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, is the only right-wing U.S. figure who 聽under FARA.
Photo illustration by 人兽性交 (L-R Christopher Rufo, Jeremy Carl, Michael O'Shea)
