Politico
By CAITLIN OPRYSKO and DANIEL LIPPMAN
October 21, 2024
FIRST IN PI: The south Caucasian country of Azerbaijan recently asked Washington lobbyists that it was considering working with to not register under FARA for work they considered necessary to register for, two people who they asked told Daniel.
— The country has worked with the Friedlander Group since February 2023, paying the firm $41,666 per month to “enhance US-Azerbaijan relations,” according to FARA records, which show numerous informational materials that the firm has sent to congressional staffers and other influencers and Capitol Hill roundtables that the firm has facilitated.
— But the two lobbyists said that the country was not happy with the firm’s progress on issues important to Azerbaijan. For instance, when a top Azerbaijani official visited Washington earlier this year, he felt slighted because his meetings with top Biden administration officials were canceled, according to one of the people.
— That discontent in part led Azerbaijan to talk with at least one other firm in the last year. But when Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov told the firm that the contract was contingent on there being no FARA registration, the firm backed away and didn’t attend a meeting to discuss the potential contract at the embassy, according to the lobbyist.