Orbán’s Chief of Staff Faces ‘Radioactive’ U.S. Sanctions Blowback

Szabolcs Panyi (VSquare),
Photo: Zoltán Fischer (Hungarian PM's Office) 2025-01-15

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The U.S. has sanctioned Antal Rogán, Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, under the Global Magnitsky Act for corruption, warning that associates with financial ties to Rogán may also face consequences. Meanwhile, Hungarian propaganda, overseen by Rogán, enlisted MAGA activist Bryan E. Leib in a sanctions defense effort, raising potential FARA compliance issues.

VSquare’s Goulash newsletter reported in October 2023 “the Biden administration informed some European allies that it is compiling a list of Hungarian individuals to be sanctioned for involvement in corruption.” At the time, we didn’t know the identities of the potential targets. However, a few months later, we heard rumors that the sanctions being prepared in Washington D.C. might target individuals who had amassed considerable wealth due to their proximity to Antal Rogán, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff (his official title is minister for the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office) — and possibly Rogán himself.

The initial sources cautioned that nothing was finalized and everything could change at the last minute, so we held off on reporting about the potential targeting of Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff until confirmation was obtained. U.S. diplomacy, for its part, remained extremely discreet throughout.

Then, on January 7, the bombshell dropped: Antal Rogán was indeed sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act for corruption.

SANCTIONS ON ORBÁN’S CHIEF OF STAFF DEEMED “RADIOACTIVE”

Rogán is the most powerful minister in Viktor Orbán’s government, managing Fidesz’s campaign machinery, overseeing the extensive pro-government propaganda media empire, and controlling all civilian intelligence services. His role in consolidating Orbán’s power cannot be overstated.

At the same time, Rogán has been extensively featured in media reports on corruption and business deals harmful to national security. In the mid-2010s, he notoriously led the Orbán government’s controversial golden visa scheme, enabling offshore companies linked to his associates to sell residency permits and Schengen visas for €300,000 each.

This scheme facilitated the entry of 15,000 poorly vetted Chinese nationals, 1,200 Russians, and, in third place, a few hundred Iranians. Among those obtaining residency permits and entry to the whole Schengen Zone were Syrian dictator Assad’s money launderers, Russian spy chief Sergey Naryshkin’s son and family, a Russian mobster, and other questionable figures.

However, Rogán’s eventual U.S. designation under the Global Magnitsky Act did not explicitly extend to others closely linked to him in corruption scandals — such as his ex-wife, his longtime right-hand man Balázs Kertész, or Gyula Balásy, whose companies have received government advertising contracts worth tens of billions of forints. The official U.S. Treasury statement, however, repeatedly emphasizes that Rogán enriched “cronies loyal to himself” and warns that “other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the individual may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.”

To clarify whether Rogán’s potential proxies might also face consequences, VSquare consulted a source with knowledge of the designation’s details. According to this source, the sanctions on Rogán are “radioactive,” meaning that “anyone handling his money, whether a bank or a proxy, is affected by this designation. Anyone with financial ties to a designee should seriously reconsider.”

Later, on January 10, the U.S. Embassy in Budapest issued a statement warning associates of Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff: “We encourage those who are in business with Minister Rogán, his many proxies, entities he de facto controls, and those from which he benefits to review their activities carefully.”

HUNGARIAN PROPAGANDA ENLISTS AMERICAN MAGA ACTIVIST IN ROGÁN SANCTIONS DEFENSE

Meanwhile, Hungary’s government-controlled propaganda — directly overseen by Antal Rogán — immediately framed the sanctions as political vengeance by the Biden administration and U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman. Notably, reports on the sanction in pro-Orbán media omitted any reference to the reason for Rogán’s designation, particularly the word “corruption.”

At the same time, Rogán’s media gave significant attention to criticism from Bryan E. Leib, a low-profile MAGA activist, who lashed out at the Biden administration while praising the Orbán government. To inflate his significance, Leib was portrayed as a potential Trump nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, despite lacking political weight. (In 2018, Leib ran for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 3rd District and lost decisively to a Democratic incumbent, receiving just 6.6% of the vote; he also lost in the Republican primary to represent Florida’’s 25th Congressional district in 2024.)

In reality, Bryan E. Leib is a senior fellow at the Budapest-based Center for Fundamental Rights, an ultra-conservative think tank that receives substantial funding from Rogán’s ministry via an intermediary foundation. (This is the same think tank that authored a four-page anonymous report on Poland’s rule of law, which Viktor Orbán later used to justify granting political asylum to Marcin Romanowski, a fugitive Law and Justice MP wanted for corruption and abuse of office in Poland.)

This setup reflects the usual modus operandi of far-right commentators funded by the Orbán government to influence public opinion. However, Leib’s involvement raises legal questions under longstanding U.S. foreign lobbying regulations, given his status as an American citizen.

We sent Leib a series of questions to clarify whether he receives payments from the Hungarian government-supported Center for Fundamental Rights while being in talks with Donald Trump’s team about a potential ambassadorship, and if he is lobbying for the lifting of sanctions on Rogán at the same time. If so, it seems likely that he would be required to register as a foreign agent (or lobbyist) under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

As of the publication of this article, he has not responded, nor has he registered himself.

Szabolcs Panyi

VSquare’s Budapest-based lead investigative editor in charge of Central European investigations, Szabolcs Panyi is also a Hungarian investigative journalist at Direkt36. He covers national security, foreign policy, and Russian and Chinese influence. He was a European Press Prize finalist in 2018 and 2021.