--- aliases: - Frank Koszorus Jr. - Frank Koszorus, Jr. - Frank Koszorus Jr - Frank Koszorus - Frank Koszorús - Frank Koszorús, Jr. - Frank Koszorús Jr. - Koszorus category: Law Enforcement & Legal created: 2026-10-08 location: Washington, D.C. relations: - end: 1987 fn: 4 role: attorney, Washington office start: 1987 type: employed_by with: '[[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey]]' - fn: 4 start: 1987 type: represented with: '[[Barbara Studley]]' - fn: 11 role: partner start: 1989 type: employed_by with: '[[Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc]]' - end: 1994 fn: 15 role: attorney, signatory for registration 4772 start: 1993 type: employed_by with: '[[Paul Hastings|Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker]]' - end: 1994 fn: 15 role: attorney for the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary under FARA registration 4772 start: 1993 type: represented with: '[[Hungary]]' - end: 2002 fn: 18 role: of counsel start: 2000 type: employed_by with: '[[Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC]]' - end: 2002 fn: 19 role: attorney for the Embassy of Hungary under FARA registration 3694 start: 2000 type: represented with: '[[Hungary]]' - end: 1986 fn: 3 role: pro bono attorney start: 1982 type: member_of with: '[[International Human Rights Law Group]]' - fn: 21 role: national president start: 2011 type: head_of with: '[[American Hungarian Federation]]' - fn: 1 role: son type: relative_of with: '[[Ferenc Koszorús]]' summary: Washington lawyer who wrote to the House Iran-Contra committee for Barbara Studley in 1987, signed Hungarian embassy lobbying registrations in 1993 and 2000, and later led the American Hungarian Federation. tags: - Person - Lawyer - IranContra - Contras - GeoMiliTech - AmericanHungarianFederation - HungarianAmerican - FinleyKumble - ForeignAgents - FARA title: Frank Koszorus Jr. updated: 2026-10-08 --- Frank Koszorus Jr. (1947 to 2024) was a Washington lawyer, the son of the Hungarian army colonel [Ferenc Koszorús](/people/ferenc-koszorús/). He wrote to the House Iran-Contra committee on behalf of [Barbara Studley](/people/barbara-studley/) in 1987, signed Foreign Agents Registration Act papers for the Hungarian embassy in 1993 and in 2000, and later led the American Hungarian Federation. ### Early life and the International Human Rights Law Group Koszorus was born in 1947 in Münsing, [West Germany](/places/west-germany/), to Gabriella and Ferenc Koszorús. He graduated from American University in 1966 and received a juris doctor cum laude from DePaul University College of Law, served as a judicial law clerk in [Chicago](/places/chicago/), and after his father's death in 1974 returned to [Washington, D.C.](/places/washington-dc/) to practice litigation.[^1] On July 12 and 13, 1982, the Subcommittee on Trade of the House Committee on Ways and Means held hearings on extending most-favored-nation status to Romania, [Hungary](/places/hungary/) and [China](/places/china/). Koszorus appeared as an attorney for the International Human Rights Law Group, which he described as a nonprofit legal organization established in September 1978 by the Procedural Aspects of International Law Institute with funding from the Ford Foundation and the [Rockefeller Brothers Fund](/organizations/rockefeller-brothers-fund/).[^2] On August 1, 1986, he testified as a pro bono attorney for the Law Group before the Subcommittee on International Trade of the Senate Committee on Finance on S. 1492 and S. 1817, "MFN Status for Romania." The Law Group asked for suspension of most-favored-nation status until Romania improved its human rights record, with particular attention to the Hungarian minority. The biography attached to the hearing record describes him as a member of the District of Columbia Bar, formerly law clerk to James B. Parsons, chief judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and a member of sections of the American Bar Association, the American Society of International Law and the Washington International Trade Association.[^3] ### Finley Kumble and the letter of April 28, 1987 On April 28, 1987, Koszorus signed a letter on the letterhead of Finley, Kumble, 1140 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, assistant counsel of the House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran. The letter is marked "By Hand," carries the caption "Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT" over the underlined line "Memorandum re Oliver North," and reads: "During your telephone conference with Paul L. Perito this afternoon, you requested a copy of the memorandum from Barbara F. Studley's file regarding Oliver North. Please find enclosed a copy of that memorandum which I also am forwarding to Chuck Kerr." The typed name beneath the handwritten signature is "Frank Koszorus, Jr."; the copy line reads "Enclosure" and "cc: Charles M. Kerr, Esq." A handwritten note at the upper right reads "Graham 5/26/87," and the letter is printed as an exhibit to the deposition of [Daniel O. Graham](/people/daniel-o-graham/).[^4] The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York described Finley Kumble as a New York partnership that was the fourth largest law firm in the United States, with offices in California, Florida, Maryland, Texas, Louisiana and Washington, before several banks filed an involuntary Chapter 7 petition against it on February 24, 1988.[^5] In the deposition of May 26, 1987, counsel asked Graham whether he had met "her attorney, Mr. Perito," and Graham answered, "The one I know is Perito."[^6] ### Representation of Studley, 1991 and 1992 Christopher Byron reported in New York Magazine in December 1991 that "Studley's lawyer, Frank Koszorus, last week denied that either Studley or GeoMiliTech had any involvement with Iran." Byron also reported that Koszorus refused to identify the company's place of business or a company spokesman and would not answer questions about the nature of the firm's work or the number of its employees.[^7] The Hartford Courant reported in May 1992 that attempts to reach Studley through Koszorus had been unsuccessful. Koszorus said he did not think anyone should infer from Studley's deposition that she had a written document signed by [E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.](/people/e-lawrence-barcella-jr/) "I'm not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion," he said. "Justice doesn't give, as a general matter, written opinions to private individuals." The same article reported that Barcella left the United States attorney's office in June 1986 and went into private practice in Washington "initially at the same firm where Koszorus, Studley's lawyer, worked," without naming the firm, and that Barcella said he did not know Koszorus before joining it.[^8] ### Washington, Perito & Dubuc The [Washington Post](/organizations/washington-post/) reported on December 23, 1987 that "Former senator Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.) and Robert B. Washington Jr., partners in the dissolving national law firm of Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, yesterday announced the formation of a Washington-based firm they hope will avoid the bitter power struggles that brought down Finley Kumble."[^9] The bankruptcy court found that the partnership, Washington, Perito & Dubuc, was organized under District of Columbia law in January 1988, that thirty-one partners of Finley Kumble who practiced in its Washington office formed it together with certain other attorneys, and that at its height it had about thirty-six partners and offices in Washington, New York, Baltimore and Fairfax County, Virginia.[^5] The Hungarian Reformed Federation of America's bulletin Fraternity reported in April 1989 that Koszorus, a partner of Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc in Washington, had been named one of four public members of the United States delegation to the Paris meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, held from May 30 to June 23, 1989. The item reports his work with the International Human Rights Law Group on emigration and the protection of national and religious minorities in East-Central Europe and a pro bono service award from the group in 1986.[^10] The Chicago Tribune reported in July 1991 that Katten Muchin Zavis & Dombroff had added Barcella, "a former assistant U.S. attorney in Washington and partner at Washington, Perito & Dubuc," to its Washington office.[^11] The Washington Post reported on July 20, 1991 that the firm was winding down and that Paul Perito, "one of the firm's name partners and head of its important white-collar litigation group," was moving on the following Monday with a half-dozen other lawyers to the Washington office of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.[^12] The bankruptcy court found that the firm ceased its practice in August 1991; the Post reported in January 1995 that thirty-three of its partners had agreed to contribute $5.2 million toward its debts.[^5][^13] A Paul L. Perito is the lawyer named in the April 1987 letter, and a Paul Perito was a name partner of the firm in 1991; the records found do not state that the two are the same man. ### Paul Hastings and the Hungarian embassy, 1993 to 1995 Registration 4772 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act lists Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker as registrant for the Republic of Hungary, Embassy. The Exhibit A, filed March 1, 1993, gives the registrant's address as 1050 Connecticut Avenue N.W. and the principal's address as 3910 Shoemaker Street, Washington, and names Ambassador Pál Tar as the official with whom the registrant deals.[^14] The Exhibit B of the same date, signed by Koszorus as "Attorney," attaches a retainer agreement between the firm and the Embassy of the Government of the Republic of Hungary for December 1992 through December 1993. Its services included assistance with "administrative and legislative strategies relating to the Government's interests," help in "securing economic aid and assistance from the Government of the United States," and work to "enhance good will in the U.S." and the priority accorded Hungary in United States funding, foreign policy, trade and finance deliberations. The fee was $8,334 per month, and the agreement anticipated total payments of $100,000. The Exhibit B states that the registrant may communicate with executive and legislative branch personnel on United States policy affecting diplomatic and economic relations with Hungary.[^15] The registrant's supplemental statement for the six months ending September 30, 1994, sworn by Koszorus before a notary on December 16, 1994, reports a payment of $49,999.98 from the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary on May 27, 1994 for legal fees and costs. It lists the registrant's activities for the embassy in connection with Budapest Expo '96: conferring with private-sector members interested in an official United States presence through the [United States Information Agency](/organizations/united-states-information-agency/); coordinating with Representative Tom Lantos's office on possible USIA support and on legislation (section 241 of H.R. 2333 and section 217 of S. 1281); and conferring with Ambassador Donald Blinken and staff of the United States embassy in Budapest and with USIA and Commerce Department officials. Communications with Lantos's office are listed on fifteen dates from April 18 to July 30, 1994, with USIA officials on five dates, with the embassy in Budapest on eleven dates, with the Commerce Department on April 28 and with State Department staff on June 22.[^16] The same supplemental statement lists [E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.](/people/e-lawrence-barcella-jr/) as having become a partner of the registrant on July 18, 1994, and Christopher A. Barreca as having become a partner on July 26, 1994. Under the heading of activity on his own behalf that benefited the principal, it records that on September 28, 1994 Koszorus took part in a panel discussion on Central Europe and the protection of national minorities at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and that he wrote letters to the editor of the Budapest Sun (April 12, on historical inaccuracies and minorities), The New York Times (April 27, on the Holocaust in Hungary and his father's role in saving Jews from deportation) and The Washington Post (September 8, similar to the Times letter).[^16] A registrant's amendment received May 1, 1995 corrects the supplemental statement to show that the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary ceased to be a foreign principal on August 5, 1994, and that the statement for the period ending September 30, 1994 was the registrant's final one. The Justice Department's bulk data list the principal's termination as May 1, 1995, the date of that amendment.[^17] ### Collier Shannon Scott and the Hungarian embassy, 2000 to 2002 Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC had held registration 3694 since June 24, 1985. By a letter of September 14, 2000 on its letterhead, which gives Koszorus's direct telephone line and e-mail address, the firm told Ambassador Géza Jeszenszky that the Embassy of Hungary had engaged it to represent the embassy on foreign operations legislation, with a monthly retainer of $10,000, a one-year term, and a request for a waiver of conflicts. The Exhibit A and Exhibit B, filed September 25, 2000, name the Ambassador as the official dealing with the registrant, and the Exhibit B is signed by Koszorus as "Of Counsel." It states that the registrant may communicate with executive and legislative branch personnel on policy affecting diplomatic and economic relations, "including foreign assistance," between the United States and Hungary.[^18] The supplemental statement for June 25 to December 24, 2000 describes the registrant's work for the embassy as monitoring foreign military programs and representing the embassy before members of the Senate and House and their staffs and before officials of the [National Security Council](/organizations/national-security-council/), the [Department of Defense](/organizations/department-of-defense/), the [State Department](/organizations/state-department/) and the Helsinki Commission. Its list of political activity names Koszorus in telephone conferences or meetings on September 18, 2000 with Robin Cleveland, majority staff clerk of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and with staff of Senator Barbara Mikulski; on September 21 and 22 with Robert Hand of the Helsinki Commission staff and on September 22 and 26 with Philip T. Reeker, deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Public Affairs, about United States monitoring of elections in Yugoslavia and minority rights; on September 30 at a dinner at the Hungarian embassy with Representative Tom Lantos and the Ambassador; on October 13 with Cameron Munter of the National Security Council about foreign military assistance to Hungary; on October 18 with the legislative director of Representative Sonny Callahan; on October 23 with an official of the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for NATO at an embassy reception; and on October 31 with a legislative assistant to Senator Mitch McConnell. The firm's receipt history for the period shows no payment from the Embassy of Hungary.[^19] On May 20, 2002 the firm filed an amendment to terminate Koszorus's short-form registration and the registration of the Embassy of Hungary. It states: "Although Mr. Koszorus is still employed by the firm, he is no longer actively involved in the representation of any of the firm's foreign principals," and that the embassy "is no longer a client of the firm."[^20] ### Hungarian American leadership The American Hungarian Federation, founded in 1906, describes itself in Koszorus's statement as an umbrella organization for the Hungarian American community. In July 2011 Koszorus submitted a statement as "National President, American Hungarian Federation" to the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for its hearing "Eastern Europe: The State of Democracy and Freedom." The statement's first issue is "minority rights as the prerequisite to democracy in the multi-national states of Romania and Slovakia," and it addresses "the intolerance of and discrimination against the Hungarian minorities living there."[^21] His obituary states that he testified before congressional committees on Hungary's [NATO](/organizations/nato/) accession and on minority rights and submitted written statements to the Helsinki Commission on minority rights in Eastern Europe and on the state of democracy in Hungary, without giving dates. It records that Hungary awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit in 2014, that the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania gave him its Báthory Award, and that he died on May 24, 2024 at his home in Great Falls, Virginia, aged 76.[^1] [^1]: "In Memoriam: Frank Koszorus, Jr. (1947-2024)," Hungarian American Coalition. https://hacusa.org/in-memoriam-frank-koszorus-jr-1947-2024/ The obituary names Ferenc and Gabriella Koszorús as his parents. [^2]: Extension of MFN Status to Romania, Hungary, and the People's Republic of China, hearings before the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, 97th Congress, 2nd Session, July 12 and 13, 1982, statement of Frank Koszorus, Jr., attorney, International Human Rights Law Group. Internet Archive item micro_IA41152659_0288, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152659_0288 [^3]: MFN Status for Romania, hearing before the Subcommittee on International Trade of the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, 99th Congress, 2nd Session, on S. 1492 and S. 1817, August 1, 1986, statement and prepared statement of Frank Koszorus, Jr., for the International Human Rights Law Group, with the Law Group's exhibits and biographies of its delegation. Internet Archive item micro_IA41152829_1087, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152829_1087 [^4]: Letter from Frank Koszorus Jr., Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, Assistant Counsel, House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, April 28, 1987, Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT, Memorandum re Oliver North, in Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Depositions), printed p. 1040 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234). Read from the page image. [^5]: In re Washington, Perito & Dubuc, 154 B.R. 853 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. June 2, 1993), statement of facts, paragraphs 1 to 3, 17 to 19 and 21. https://static.case.law/br/154/cases/0853-01.json [^6]: Deposition of Daniel O. Graham, May 26, 1987, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234). [^7]: Christopher Byron, "Did Convict Arif Durrani Help Set the Stage for Iran/Contra?," *New York*, December 16, 1991, pp. 42, 44. https://books.google.com/books?id=6ugCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 [^8]: Lyn Bixby, "Head of Iran Hostage Probe Linked to Arms Deal," *Hartford Courant*, May 29, 1992. https://www.courant.com/1992/05/29/head-of-iran-hostage-probe-linked-to-arms-deal/ [^9]: Karlyn Barker and Kathleen Day, "Robert Washington, Laxalt Team Up to Replace Failed Law Firm," *The Washington Post*, December 23, 1987. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/12/23/robert-washington-laxalt-team-up-to-replace-failed-law-firm/71c2b588-772c-47c4-acdb-68bc9bdfe123/ [^10]: "Frank Koszorús, Jr. Selected as U.S. Public Delegate to Paris Human Rights Conference," *Fraternity-Testvériség*, 1989 (67. évfolyam), issue of April 1, 1989, no. 2, Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. https://library.hungaricana.hu/en/view/TestverisegFraternity_USAHUN_1989/?pg=45 [^11]: "Kinder, gentler profession urged," business column, *Chicago Tribune*, July 23, 1991. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/07/23/kinder-gentler-profession-urged/ [^12]: Sharon Walsh and Saundra Torry, "Washington, Perito Law Firm Losing Additional Attorneys; Name Partner Among Those Leaving," *The Washington Post*, July 20, 1991. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/07/20/washington-perito-law-firm-losing-additional-attorneys/0a7d8d2e-2958-4283-9860-874855bd0ca6/ [^13]: Saundra Torry, "In the Struggle Over a Dead Firm's Debts, Nobody Wins," *The Washington Post*, January 23, 1995. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1995/01/23/in-the-struggle-over-a-dead-firms-debts-nobody-wins/88d3a9d7-ef4b-4e02-83a3-2fea87ad65e5/ [^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, registration 4772, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Exhibit A, filed March 1, 1993. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Exhibit-AB-19930301-D1Y3N102.pdf [^15]: Registration 4772, Exhibit B, March 1, 1993, with Retainer Agreement between Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker and the Embassy of the Government of the Republic of Hungary (same document as note 14, pages 3 to 8). [^16]: Registration 4772, Supplemental Statement for the six months ending September 30, 1994, with Attachments 1 to 4, sworn December 16, 1994. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Supplemental-Statement-19940930-DHFIFJ02.pdf The short-form record for Koszorus, Frank, Jr., is dated March 1, 1993 in the Justice Department's FARA_All_ShortForms.csv bulk file (https://efile.fara.gov/). [^17]: Registration 4772, Amendment received May 1, 1995. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Amendment-19950501-DHFJ1K02.pdf Foreign principal termination date as listed in FARA_All_ForeignPrincipals.csv. [^18]: U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, registration 3694, Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, Exhibits A and B with engagement letter of September 14, 2000, filed September 25, 2000. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3694-Exhibit-AB-20000925-GTYJTV01.pdf [^19]: Registration 3694, Supplemental Statement for June 25 to December 24, 2000, Attachments 2 to 4 (activities, political activity, receipt history); amended April 10, 2001 as to political contributions. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3694-Supplemental-Statement-20001224-GKCAF601.pdf The firm's registrant record is in FARA_All_Registrants.csv (registration date June 24, 1985; terminated December 23, 2003). [^20]: Registration 3694, Amendment, May 20, 2002. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3694-Amendment-20020520-GWISEQ03.pdf [^21]: Statement of Frank Koszorus, Jr., National President, American Hungarian Federation, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia, hearing "Eastern Europe: The State of Democracy and Freedom," July 26, 2011. https://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/docs/AHF_CongressionalStatement_2011-07-26.pdf --- *The Info Web has an MCP server for agents at https://theinfoweb.org/mcp (streamable HTTP, no auth): search by meaning, exact text, source or date, and follow typed, footnoted connections. Setup and the same tools over GET: https://theinfoweb.org/llms.txt*