A conservative legal group has called on the Department of Justice to require the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its commissioner, Adam Silver, to register as agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The America First Legal (AFL) foundation stated that the NBA and Silver should register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires people and entities to register with the DOJ if they are lobbying or advocating on behalf of a foreign country. The NBA has an extensive and lucrative relationship with China, where the NBA is a big deal.
“The evidence is that Adam Silver and the National Basketball Association knowingly and intentionally advance the political and propaganda interests of the Chinese Communist Party and its instrumentalities in exchange for market access to the People’s Republic of China and billions of dollars in revenue. Specifically, Mr. Silver and the NBA provided publicity services to the People’s Republic of China Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qin Gang,” wrote Reed Rubinstein, AFL’s senior counselor and director of oversight and investigations, in a March 15 letter to Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen….