On his latest mail piece, Faisal Gill claims to be a lobbyist. Only problem- he has FAILED to register as a lobbyist with Virginia or the United States Government.
This is one of the worst crimes a lobbyist can commit and it involves major fines.
UPDATE: Faisal actually has a lobbying website while not being registered! UNBELIEVABLE.
Even worse is that his partner is Asim Ghafoor- who said this "Before the 2000 Presidential election, in another political debate sponsored by radioislam.com, Ghafoor said, "we are here not just to be nice to people, not to say great things about people but to bring truth and justice and Islamic ways to this country. . . . you should rule by Islam otherwise you're a Kafir "
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From his partner, it sounds like Faisal has been a lobbyist for Sharia Law- and unregistered on top of that. If BVBL is correct, and Faisal has been unregistered- the FBI needs to look into this immediately.
and why would a bunch of uber-conservatives coming to vote for him care?
Posted by: Invisible Hand | May 29, 2007 at 03:59 PM
"This is one of the worst crimes a lobbyist can commit." Oh, if only Randy Cunningham and Jack Abramoff hadn't proven that statement to be so patently and ridiculously untrue, it'd be so much easier to take this post seriously.
Posted by: | May 29, 2007 at 04:02 PM
If it wasn't for the registration system they never would have caught Cunningham or Abramoff.
Posted by: Not Larry Sabato | May 29, 2007 at 04:05 PM
Nonetheless, this is a bad move by Gill and could very well damage his campaign IF this story manages to have legs in the mainstream media.
Posted by: Phil Chroniger | May 29, 2007 at 05:05 PM
Ben, this is ridiculous. Perhaps if you had even the most basic knowledge of law firms and the way that they function, you would know this. Or, in your enthusiasm for Julie Lucas, do you simply not care?
Posted by: James Young | May 29, 2007 at 07:23 PM
Am I wrong that you need only register if you lobby the US Congress or the state legislature? Could someone who lobbies local governments or entities other than governments not be a professional lobbyist without being a registered lobbyist?
Posted by: ZB | May 29, 2007 at 07:34 PM
Ben, you nut. You said about Webb "plaigerism is the worst crime an author can commit." I said then, and I'll say now, no, murder is, or rape, and a whole bunch of others.
And Cunningham would have only been caught because of the registration system? I hate the guy, but I doubt this is close to true- he took bribes. He printed a bribes for votes list. I don't think registration was involved, but I could be wrong...
Posted by: Doug | May 29, 2007 at 08:22 PM
The federal provisions appear to be that if you lobby the government - either legislative or executive branch, you have to register with both the Senate and the House. Faisal specifically has mentioned in his resume that he lobbied "congress" and "legislators", which would certainly trigger these provisions. Whether executive branch is covered, I'll leave to the attorneys and lobbyists who frequent this site, but I believe executive branch lobbying is still subject to this 1995 law. I'm sure we'll get clarification of what the requirements actually are.
Of note, there is a connection between Jack Abramoff and Faisal Gill's mentor Grover Norquist. Some might find an appropriate google search instructive.
Posted by: Greg L | May 29, 2007 at 08:41 PM
Maybe he's one of those "consultants" like JMDD who don't really exactly lobby.
You know - he just sets up parties and stuff - he like *facilitates relationships* out of his basement for $80K/yr.
That's what JMDD does right? She doesn't have to register for that either, right?
Right?
Posted by: Not ICG's CEO | May 29, 2007 at 09:09 PM
Maybe someone can explain exactly how that website qualifies as a "lobbying" website. It appears to be a consulting firm. In fact, is any form of the word "lobby" on the site anywhere?
And what did lobbyist registration have to do with Duke Cunningham?
Posted by: I.Publius | May 30, 2007 at 01:03 PM
Ben,
Please don't pile on like this. This is beneath you. As much as I like Greg, he has been obsessive about attacking Faisal.
Posted by: ANO | May 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM
Publius and others, go to BVBL and view for yourself Gill's own flier that says he is a Republican lobbyist, just like Ed Gillespie and Haley Barbour. Greg isn't making this stuff up.
Posted by: Loudoun Insider | May 30, 2007 at 03:48 PM