The

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

lobby in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

is a collection of lawyers, public relation firms and professional lobbyists paid directly by the government of Libya to lobby the public and government of the United States on behalf of the interests of the government of Libya. The Libyan government has engaged a number of American firms who have disclosed their work under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, including White & Case,

Blank Rome Blank Rome (formerly known as Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley) is an Am Law 100 firm (ranked 81st in the 2019 AmLaw 100 Survey) with 14 offices and more than 600 attorneys and principals who provide legal and advocacy services to clients in the Un ...

The Livingston Group The Livingston Group (TLG) is the lobbying firm founded by former Congressman Bob Livingston in 1999 after he stepped down as Speaker-elect and resigned his seat. TLG describes its services on its official website, saying it provides comprehensive ...

, and Monitor Group. In 2008, law firm White & Case gave Libya “a special 15 percent discount off of our standard rates” in its effort to cement a “significant relationship" with the Libyan government under led by

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

. Eric Lichtblau
Arab Unrest Puts Their Lobbyists in Uneasy Spot

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, March 1, 2011. In 2008 and 2009, the Gaddafi government paid over $2 million to lobbyists White and Case, Blank Rome, and The Livingston Group, led by Former Congressman Bob Livingston, to lobby on their behalf. Monitor Group was hired in 2005 to assess the state of Libya’s economy, develop plans for economic modernization and reform of the banking system, and train leaders from different sectors of society. The work did not involve any wider political reforms in the North African nation. According to a 2007 memo from Monitor to Libya's intelligence chief which was subsequently obtained by the

National Conference for the Libyan Opposition The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition (NCLO) was a Libyan opposition organization during the later years of the Gaddafi government. Its stated goal was to bring "an end to tyranny and the establishment of a constitutional and democrat ...

and posted on the internet in 2009, Monitor entered into further contracts with the Libyan regime in 2006 which were worth at least $3m (£1.8m) per year plus expenses. According to the memo these contracts were for a campaign to "enhance international understanding and appreciation of Libya... emphasize the emergence of the new Libya... ndintroduce Muammar Qadhafi as a thinker and intellectual." Monitor’s work became the subject of controversy with the onset of the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

. In March 2011 Monitor announced that it had launched an internal investigation into its work for the Libyan government and in May 2011 registered past work in Libya.

References

{{Lobbying in the United States Libya–United States relations Lobbying in the United States