Ex-CIA director registers to lobby for Turkish government: report

Former CIA director Porter Goss has registered to lobby for the government of Turkey, The Intercept reported on Friday.

The Intercept, a news website dedicated to reporting on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, published a registration form disclosing Goss’s appointment.

The form was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice on April 23 pursuant to the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires “persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal.” The registration in question expires on April 30th 2017.

Received by the Department of Justice on 23rd April, the form gives details of Goss’s new Turkish engagement, which will continue “indefinitely.”

The form was filed through Goss’s current employer Dickstein Shapiro, a D.C.-based law firm and lobbying group with a long-standing relationship with the Turkish government, according to the Intercept.

The form states that Goss will work on a part-time basis, advising Turkey on counter-terrorism efforts, trade and energy security issues, and “efforts to build regional stability in the broader Middle East and Europe.”

He will also lobby members of Congress on “issues of importance to Turkey” and notify his new employer of actions in Congress or the Executive Branch relevant to their national interests.

Goss worked for the Bush administration from 2004 to 2006, during which time he championed individual liberty by declaring that “only freedom offers men and women their full potential.” However, Human Rights Watch recently said Turkey needs to stop putting people on trial for insulting public officials.