The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published on Thursday, May 28, 2026, the strategic consulting and lobbying contract signed between the Romanian Presidential Administration and the American law firm Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP.
The document, filed in the public FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) registry, confirms in detail what NewsCenter.ro officially asked the Presidential Administration as early as May 20: whether there were discussions or lobbying contracts related to the visit of Republican adviser Jason Miller to Bucharest.
The Presidential Administration did not respond at the time. It announced the contract five days later, on May 25. Now, the full document is publicly available in Washington.
What the lobbying contract signed by the Presidential Administration provides
The contract, titled “Letter of Engagement” and dated May 21, 2026, was signed on Romania’s behalf by Andreea-Mihaela Miu, Presidential Adviser and Authorizing Officer of the General Secretariat of the Presidential Administration, and on behalf of the American firm by Theodore H. Cominos Jr., a partner at Eversheds Sutherland. The firm is headquartered at 200 West Monroe, Suite 600, Chicago, Illinois.
The maximum total value of the contract is $3.39 million — equivalent to $565,000 per month for six months — including all fees for the firm, external strategic advisers, and related expenses. The Presidential Administration is responsible for all applicable taxes, including those owed in Romania.
The engagement covers representation of the Romanian Presidential Administration before the U.S. Government, Congress, state governments, think tanks, and academic institutions on issues related to trade, foreign direct investment, security, defense, energy security, and diplomatic cooperation. The FARA filing explicitly states that the activities include political activities, defined as actions intended to influence U.S. domestic or foreign policy.
The individuals providing services are Mark D. Herlach, Theodore H. Cominos Jr., and Jason J. Miller, the latter acting as a subcontractor through his company, SHW Partners LLC.
Activities declared before registration
The filing submitted to the DOJ contains a section requiring the registrant to disclose activities carried out before formal registration.
Eversheds Sutherland reported two such activities:
- On May 18, 2026, Jason Miller gave an interview on Antena 3 concerning strategic issues of interest to both the United States and Romania during Mihai Gâdea’s program.
- On May 25, 2026, the Presidential Administration issued the press release announcing the signing of the contract.
In other words, Miller’s Antena 3 interview, in which Trump’s adviser praised Nicușor Dan’s performance and spoke about Romania’s importance, is officially declared as an activity conducted under this lobbying contract — not as an independent opinion.
The President’s objective: a meeting with Trump
Beyond the diplomatic language of the official press release — “strengthening the strategic partnership,” “national security,” and “bilateral relations” — the real purpose of the $3.4 million contract signed by the Presidential Administration with Eversheds Sutherland appears to be immediate and concrete: securing a meeting between Nicușor Dan and Donald Trump in Washington.
Since taking office, the Romanian president has not succeeded in obtaining an audience at the White House. The Trump administration has been selective in its dealings with European leaders, depending on their alignment with the MAGA agenda and the strategic value they can offer in return.
This year, the Romanian head of state has made several statements about relations with Washington without announcing a specific official visit or bilateral meeting.
The clearest statement came on April 16 during an interview with journalist Sebastian Zachmann on Europa FM:
Sebastian Zachmann: “Will you travel to the United States this year?”
Nicușor Dan: “I think so.”
Sebastian Zachmann: “Do you still want to appear in a photo with Trump?”
Nicușor Dan: “Romania needs the strategic partnership with the United States. I am the President of Romania.”
Nicușor Dan and Donald Trump have so far only shaken hands at the Council for Peace event.
The context: the same channel, the same projects
The Presidential Administration’s contract is not the first Romania-related lobbying document filed under FARA in recent months.
NewsCenter.ro previously revealed that in December 2025, two American firms simultaneously registered with the DOJ, declaring that they represented the Romanian-American Strategic Advancement Initiative (RASAI) — a coalition formed by three private Romanian energy companies: CIS Gaz SA of Sântana de Mureș, IRIGC Impex SRL, and MVN Structural Consulting SRL of Bucharest.
The first contract, signed by Putala Strategies LLC, provides for a monthly fee of $75,000. On that account, Matt Schlapp — President of the American Conservative Union and former White House Political Director under George W. Bush — works as an external consultant, receiving $100,000 per month, according to a Short Form personally signed by him on December 9, 2025. In other words, out of the $750,000 paid to Putala Strategies during the contract period, approximately $600,000 went to Schlapp.
The second contract in the RASAI package was signed by the same Eversheds Sutherland, with a ceiling of $50,000 from a $600,000 fund financed by the three Romanian companies.
The projects promoted through these contracts are the same as those Jason Miller advocated before Romanian officials during his visit to Bucharest: the Vertical Gas Corridor — a regional pipeline system intended to transport American LNG from Greece to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine — and the SMR nuclear power project at Doicești, a $5–6 billion initiative in which NuScale Power serves as the technological partner of Nuclearelectrica.
Schlapp, Miller, and the MAGA network
The connection between Jason Miller and Matt Schlapp is not accidental. Both operate in the same international conservative circles, both attended CPAC Brazil in 2021, and Schlapp was invited in 2025 to a conference organized by Romania’s AUR party, where George Simion introduced him as “a true friend.” Simion had previously attended CPAC Washington as a special guest of Schlapp.
Miller did not respond to any of NewsCenter.ro’s questions regarding the purpose of his visit to Romania or his links to the RASAI lobbying contracts.
Romania and the Vertical Corridor
President Nicușor Dan has publicly embraced the Vertical Corridor agenda. On April 29, in Dubrovnik, during the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum, he stated:
“It is in all of our interests to decouple from Russian gas supplies. It is in the American interest to bring LNG into the European market. We want an American presence in Romania, and we want this economic configuration to be favorable to Romania.”
The overall picture emerging from the American public filings is that of a coordinated lobbying effort on several levels: private Romanian energy companies paying Eversheds Sutherland and Putala Strategies to promote the Vertical Corridor in Washington; Jason Miller visiting Bucharest and promoting the same projects before Romanian officials; and, finally, the Presidential Administration signing its own contract with Eversheds Sutherland — this time financed with public funds.
The Presidential Administration did not answer NewsCenter.ro’s questions. The documents filed in Washington answered them instead.
