correction
An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized the expected resolution of the charges against Barry Bennett and Douglas Watts. Rather than pleading guilty, they are expected to enter a diversion agreement in which they admit their conduct and pay fines, and the charges are later removed from their records. The article has been corrected.
Two Republican operatives are preparing to admit to trying to evade foreign lobbying laws in 2017 and 2018, according to court papers filed Tuesday — bringing an end to a long-running probe into whether they surreptitiously ran a D.C.-based advocacy group on behalf of Qatar.
One of those charged, Barry Bennett, served as an unpaid adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Douglas Watts, an associate of Bennett, was also charged in separate court papers. Bennett and Watts also once worked for the campaign of Ben Carson, then a GOP presidential candidate.
