The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating a Harvard-connected consulting firm for helping the government of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi without complying with federal law.

 

Monitor Group, an international consulting firm headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has admitted it violated the Foreign Agent Registration Act by failing to register that it was lobbying on behalf of Gaddafi’s regime.

 

In one document released by The National Conference of the Libyan Opposition, Monitor stated that one of its goals was “to introduce Muammar Qadhafi as a thinker and intellectual, independent of his more widely-known and very public persona as the Leader of the Revolution in Libya.”

 

The firm earned millions of dollars for directing Libya’s publicity campaign after it was revealed that Libyan forces tortured Bulgarian nurses doing humanitarian work in Libya. Monitor Group also advised the regime on restructuring the Libyan secret police to make it more efficient, and it arranged for prominent Americans and others to visit Libya and meet with Gaddafi. These included Joseph Nye, the former Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; Robert Putnam, a professor at Harvard; Richard Perle, who was Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee under President George W. Bush; and political economist Francis Fukuyama.

 

One of Monitor Group’s founders is Harvard professor Michael Porter, who helped the firm secure deals with Libya. Some university faculty members have called for Porter’s censure after learning of his work helping the Libyan dictatorship.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Monitor Group Admits Breaking Federal Law with Illegal Lobbying for Libya (by Michael Richardson, Boston Progressive Examiner)

Law Expert Says Monitor Group Likely Under Probe by Dept. of Justice over Libya (by Michael Richardson, Boston Progressive Examiner)

Justice Department Ignored Monitor Group Failure to Disclose Libya Connection (by Michael Richardson, Boston Progressive Examiner)

Project to Enhance the Profile of Libya and Muammar Qadhafi (Monitor Group) (pdf)